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Thread: AltaVista Traversal?

  1. #1
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    AltaVista Traversal?

    I can't access any AltaVista site. It's my preferred Search Engine. I've been running Norton and strangely do not recall being warned about getting attacked. What's my solution? I read that AltaVista has a patch but remember I cannot access their site. How best to go about this. I am an absolute novice so easy on the techie lingo.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Hi,

    Welcome to AO.

    Do you mean that you cannot get to AltaVista in say Canada, Australia and the UK? try this link:

    http://www.google.com/

    If it is some sort of spyware/adware (that Norton probably won't detect) it should be blocking the Word's most popular search engine as well?

    I just looked on the AltaVista site and I cannot see any "patches" I wouldn't have thought that there was anything resident on your PC that would require patching anyway?

    What internet browser are you using? Dooes it still open in your normal home page?

    Cheers

  3. #3
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    one more thing

    [i]

    Do you mean that you cannot get to AltaVista in say Canada, Australia and the UK? try this link:

    http://www.google.com/

    If it is some sort of spyware/adware (that Norton probably won't detect) it should be blocking the Word's most popular search engine as well? [/B]

    i agree to nihil that it'll block google too!
    one more thing: i also bought the Norton Anti Virus (original, not pirated) but i uninstalled it and the reason behind it is that norton never detects significant spywares/adwares. so why not try "avg" thats the best antivirus at the moment and maybe thats the solution to ur problem! try it out!!!

  4. #4
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    Hey Nihil & Akshayakrsh & everyone else who can help

    I don't know if this clarifies what you were asking about, but Yes, live in the USA and I am trying to access http://www.altavista.com

    No my homepage is not hijacked.
    Yes I can access Google. But I want to use the AltaVista Search engine.

    This is what Norton Symantec says about altavista traversal
    AltaVista Traversal
    The AltaVista search engine includes a CGI that accepts "../" in standard queries. This allows an attacker to access sensitive files in the HTTP directory which is one level above the search engine. Sensitive files in this directory include the trivially encrypted password for the remote administration utility. The CGI in question also processes additional "../" strings if they are encoded in Hex (%2e%2e%2f). This would allow an attacker to access files throughout the host system. This signature detects an attempt to exploit this vulnerability.
    http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=2000-0039

    This is the remedy posted by http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/896/solution/ as well as other sites.
    AltaVista has released a patch for this issue, available at:

    http://doc.altavista.com/business_so...intranet.shtml

    It is under the 'patches' heading, and is called:
    AltaVista Search Intranet V2.3A Security Patch 12/99
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  5. #5
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    Sorry, I truncated the solution site

    http://doc.altavista.com/business_so...intranet.shtml
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  6. #6
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    damm carla! you did it again!

    j/k the site does that but the link contains the whole address. put your mouse over it to see

    can you ping altavista? if so what happens if you enter the ip address in the browser
    Bukhari:V3B48N826 “The Prophet said, ‘Isn’t the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?’ The women said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This is because of the deficiency of a woman’s mind.’”

  7. #7
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    Nope
    Even even when I manually enter the URL it doesn't work. Is that what you mean by Ping?
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  8. #8
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Hi Carla,

    Please try this one:

    http://uk.altavista.com/

    I am afraid that link to the patch does not work for me It just takes me to the main page.

    Another thing you might try is use the Google link............search for AltaVista and see if you can get in that way.

    Also update your Norton and run it in safe mode.

    I must say that the description of the vulnerability does not seem like the symptoms you are having................yours looks like a search engine hijack?

  9. #9
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    Smile

    Hi Nihil

    Thanks for the link to UK AltaVista. But that was a no-go too.
    Over the last few days I have tried every existing link I can find to altavista but have not been able to get there. I've tried it in all my webrowsers too (Internet Explorer, Netscape and Mozilla).

    It is quite possible that I've been afflicted with a "Search Enginge Hijack' as you put it and not this altavista traversal thingy. I have no idea - saying I am a Newbie or Novice is really an overstatement when it comes to Techie stuff - oh to be young and male! Ah well.

    So, if this is a hijack, what can I do? I've seen some info on the Hijack-This program but.....

    Is Norton useless for this? I have the most up-todate version of Norton Internet Security 2005 running on Windows XP. I thought I was safe.

    Let me know what you think.

    Carla
    Not Applicable

  10. #10
    It would be simplest (initially) to run a hijack/spyware killer. If this doesn't work - we can look for alternatives.

    So, if this is a hijack, what can I do? I've seen some info on the Hijack-This program but.....
    Firstly click on this link http://tomcoyote.org/hjt/ and hit the "Hijack This" button half way down on the left

    This will download a zipped copy. Unzip it and run the program.

    Hit the "Scan" button

    You will be presented with a list - tick anything which shouldn't be there (be aware - there may be legitimate programs here (Norton, ISP stuff etc) so sift through the list carefully - if in doubt - ask here )

    Once done click "Fix Checked"

    If this doesn't work...

    Try spybot search and destroy... click here to download http://www.download.com/3001-8022_4-10289035.html?idl=n

    This program is pretty straight forward. Once done it may be worth running Hijack this again.

    Technically with Norton Security running you shouldn't have hijack problems - however we can worry about that later

    IF this doesn't work - can you open altavista with this link? http://66.94.229.254

    Good luck
    # Now if I ever needed inspiration,
    Right about now where I lose my patience,

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