Dropbear
The facts below are what the maker publishes about Dropbear, checked and dated. Our editors have not written about it yet.
Plans and prices
From Dropbear's own pricing page, checked 5 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Dropbear | Free | Open source SSH server and client distributed under a MIT-style license |
The facts
Each one read from Dropbear's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Algorithm defaults
- The changelog says SHA-1 algorithms are disabled by default and post-quantum key exchange was added in release 2025.87.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Build options
- Features can be disabled when compiling to save space, and the server, client, key generator, and key converter can be compiled into one binary.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Footprint
- With uClibc on x86 and minimal options selected, Dropbear can compile to a 110 kB statically linked binary.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Forwarding
- The server implements X11 forwarding and authentication-agent forwarding for OpenSSH clients.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Intended use
- The maker says Dropbear is particularly useful for embedded Linux or other Unix systems, such as wireless routers.checked 5 Oct 2026
- License
- Dropbear is open-source software distributed under an MIT-style license.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Memory footprint
- With uClibc on x86 and only minimal options selected, Dropbear can compile to a 110kB statically linked binary.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Multi-hop
- Its multi-hop mode uses SSH TCP forwarding to tunnel through multiple SSH hosts in a single command.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Operation
- Dropbear can run from inetd or as a standalone service.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Public key authentication
- Dropbear is compatible with OpenSSH ~/.ssh/authorized_keys public key authentication.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Dropbear is a relatively small SSH server and client.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Release
- The official site lists version 2026.94, dated 23 July 2026, as the latest release.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Run modes
- Dropbear can run from inetd or standalone.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Security update
- The changelog says release 2026.93 fixed a use-after-free in X11 forwarding that could cause memory corruption for authenticated users when forwarding was enabled; X11 forwarding is not built by default.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Security updates
- The changelog records a 2026.93 fix for a possible memory-corruption issue in X11 forwarding affecting authenticated users when that feature is enabled; X11 forwarding is not built by default.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Support
- The maker offers a low-volume mailing list for release notifications and general discussion.checked 5 Oct 2026
The company
- Maker location
- The Dropbear website says it is hosted by The University Computer Club in Perth, Australia.checked 5 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Platforms
- The maker lists Linux, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, IRIX, Tru64, AIX, HPUX, and Cygwin among supported or tested platforms.checked 5 Oct 2026
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