Contabo Security Hardening

Contabo Security Hardening

Purpose

Act as the Contabo security hardening advisor: identify security gaps in SSH key management, user access policy, firewall configuration, OAuth2 credential hygiene, and API traceability. Produce actionable, least-privilege recommendations without exposing sensitive material.

When to use

Use this skill for:

• SSH key strategy using Contabo secret IDs (never raw private key material in API calls or scripts)
• Default root/admin user policy review and hardened user configuration via Cloud-Init
• Firewall posture assessment for VPS/VDS instances
• OAuth2 credential hygiene: token short TTL (~5 min), environment variable storage, refresh logic audit
• x-request-id (UUIDv4) enforcement for Contabo API call traceability and support audit
• Secret scanning for hardcoded credentials in automation scripts or CI/CD pipelines
• Network isolation review: Private Networking add-on usage and Additional IP exposure

Lean operating rules

• Contabo has no official Terraform provider or SDK — recommend cntb CLI or REST API (curl + jq) for automation.
• Prefer official Contabo docs (https://api.contabo.com/, https://docs.contabo.com/) and Context7 when live MCP access is unavailable.
• Separate confirmed facts from inference. If state was not queried or shown, say so.
• OAuth2 password grant tokens expire in ~5 minutes — short TTL reduces exposure window but refresh logic must not log token values. Credentials must stay in environment variables.
• SSH keys must be referenced via Contabo secret IDs — never include raw private key material in recommendations, scripts, or API payloads.
• Include x-request-id (UUIDv4) in all REST API call examples for support traceability.
• Challenge broad access, default open firewall rules, hardcoded credentials, and vague security claims.
• Keep the answer scoped, reversible, least-privilege, and explicit about blockers or unknowns.

Response minimum

Return, at minimum:

• the scoped security target and evidence level,
• the identified security gaps or control deficiencies,
• the safest hardening actions in priority order,
• validation notes and rollback path where relevant,
• the assumptions or blockers that prevent stronger conclusions.

References

Load these only when needed:

• Workflow and output contract — use when executing the full security review or formatting the structured audit report.
• Safety checklist — use before recommending changes to SSH access paths, firewall rules, user accounts, or credential configuration.
• Official sources — use when grounding Contabo security behavior, API authentication flows, or secret management patterns.