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One of the servers I frequently log into via SSH has changed it's IP address. So, now I'm getting man in the middle attack warnings when I try to use SSH via Windows Powershell and OpenSSH for Windows.

On a linux machine, I would just remove the offending line from ~/.ssh/known_hosts. But, the ~/.ssh directory seems to be empty.

Where is the known_hosts file for Powershell/OpenSSH? I've checked in C:\Program Files\OpenSSH\home\anschauung\.ssh, but that folder is empty as well.

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    Don't remove it. Update the line to change the IP address from the old one to the new one to avoid opening a window for an attacker to impersonate the host.
    – cjs
    Commented Dec 12, 2016 at 2:07

2 Answers 2

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On windows it is usually stored in the %USERPROFILE%\ssh or %USERPROFILE%\.ssh folders. If you type %USERPROFILE% into the Windows explorer address bar it will be expanded automatically. You can also try cd /d "%USERPROFILE%\ssh" or cd /d "%USERPROFILE%\.ssh" from a command prompt.

Also see: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/32945533/is-there-a-definitive-path-for-known-hosts-in-windows

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    On linux there is also a system level file - /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts. Is there an equivalent for windows?
    – openCivilisation
    Commented May 3, 2022 at 7:10
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Had a similar issue not fixed with the user profile's known_hosts, so for anyone looking: If you have installed git, TortoiseGit, etc on Windows, the location of the overriding known_hosts file is in your git folder, e.g. Programs/Git/.ssh or Programs (x86)/Git/.ssh.

As per the error message

Add correct host key in /.ssh/known_hosts to get rid of this message.
Offending key in /.ssh/known_hosts:1

open the known_hosts file in an editor like Sublime with admin rights, remove the corresponding entry for your server in Programs/Git/.ssh/known_hosts and the new key fingerprint will get added on the next connection.

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  • For me: C:\Users[My User]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Git\.ssh
    – Dunc
    Commented Sep 7, 2015 at 11:05
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    I do not have that ssh directory in C:\Program Files\Git. This answer is perhaps outdated?
    – questionto42
    Commented Mar 11, 2021 at 21:16

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