VPS Audit — Lightweight Linux Server Security Audit Script

Introduction

VPS Audit is a lightweight, dependency-free bash script that performs comprehensive security and performance auditing on Linux servers. It checks system configuration, network security, user accounts, and service hardening in a single run, producing a clear report without requiring any additional software installation.

What VPS Audit Does

• Audits SSH configuration for security best practices
• Checks firewall rules and open ports for unnecessary exposure
• Analyzes user accounts, permissions, and sudo configuration
• Reviews system resources including disk usage, memory, and CPU
• Inspects running services and identifies potentially unnecessary daemons

Architecture Overview

VPS Audit is a single bash script with no external dependencies beyond standard Unix utilities. It runs a series of checks organized by security domain (network, authentication, services, filesystem) and collects results into a structured report. Each check returns a pass, warning, or fail status with remediation guidance.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Download and run the single bash script — no installation required
• Execute with sudo for complete system access during audits
• Customize check categories via command-line flags to focus on specific areas
• Schedule periodic audits via cron for continuous compliance monitoring
• Export results in machine-readable format for integration with reporting tools

Key Features

• Zero dependencies — runs on any Linux system with bash
• Comprehensive security checks covering SSH, firewall, users, and services
• Clear pass/warn/fail reporting with actionable remediation advice
• Single-file deployment with no package installation or setup
• Works on Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, RHEL, and other major distributions

Comparison with Similar Tools

• Lynis — comprehensive security auditing tool; VPS Audit is simpler with zero dependencies
• OpenSCAP — NIST/CIS compliance scanner; VPS Audit is lighter for quick checks
• CIS-CAT — official CIS benchmark tool; VPS Audit covers key points without the full framework
• Tiger — Unix security audit tool; VPS Audit is more modern and actively maintained
• Prowler — cloud security tool for AWS/Azure; VPS Audit focuses on the server OS itself

FAQ

Q: Does VPS Audit modify my system? A: No. VPS Audit is read-only. It inspects configuration and state but makes no changes.

Q: Can I run it on a production server? A: Yes. The script is designed to be safe for production use. It reads system state without modification.

Q: What Linux distributions are supported? A: Any modern Linux distribution with bash. It has been tested on Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, RHEL, and their derivatives.

Q: Can I automate regular audits? A: Yes. Schedule the script via cron and pipe output to a log file or monitoring system for continuous compliance tracking.

Sources

• https://github.com/nuver-labs/vps-audit