I am using a small embedded linux setup generated by
buildroot to run on a x86 device. It was generated to use
busybox init system and also runs dropbear so I can ssh into the device.
I wanted to block the
ssh access so I went to edit the `/etc/hosts.deny' file. It did not exist so I created it with the following content
ALL : ALL
and rebooted. I expected it to block any attempts to ssh into it but to my surprise I found that I could still do so.
I have tried to find further details about this but I have come to the conclusion that the
buildroot system is not configured to use this file. My question is about what applications on a linux system actually read the contents of
/etc/hosts.deny and act upon it.
I have read the man pages but I cannot find anything that tells me this. Is it possible that this is just incompatible approach to the
buildroot generated system?? Or is there something wrong with the content of the file?