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Thread: Denial of Service

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    Denial of Service

    Hey guys i been workin on this tut for about 1 month now so i hope u like it... i been gone from AO for a while and so i decided to write this tut. to becoem part of the system again


    ===================================
    =INTRODUCTION TO DENIAL OF SERVICE=
    ===================================

    .0. FOREWORD

    .A. INTRODUCTION
    .A.1. WHAT IS A DENIAL OF SERVICE ATTACK?
    .A.2. WHY WOULD SOMEONE CRASH A SYSTEM?
    .A.2.1. INTRODUCTION
    .A.2.2. SUB-CULTURAL STATUS
    .A.2.3. TO GAIN ACCESS
    .A.2.4. REVENGE
    .A.2.5. POLITICAL REASONS
    .A.2.6. ECONOMICAL REASONS
    .A.2.7. NASTINESS
    .A.3. ARE SOME OPERATING SYSTEMS MORE SECURE?

    .B. SOME BASIC TARGETS FOR AN ATTACK
    .B.1. SWAP SPACE
    .B.2. BANDWIDTH
    .B.3. KERNEL TABLES
    .B.4. RAM
    .B.5. DISKS
    .B.6. CACHES
    .B.7. INETD

    .C. ATTACKING FROM THE OUTSIDE
    .C.1. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FINGER
    .C.2. UDP AND SUNOS 4.1.3.
    .C.3. FREEZING UP X-WINDOWS
    .C.4. MALICIOUS USE OF UDP SERVICES
    .C.5. ATTACKING WITH LYNX CLIENTS
    .C.6. MALICIOUS USE OF telnet
    .C.7. MALICIOUS USE OF telnet UNDER SOLARIS 2.4
    .C.8. HOW TO DISABLE ACCOUNTS
    .C.9. LINUX AND TCP TIME, DAYTIME
    .C.10. HOW TO DISABLE SERVICES
    .C.11. PARAGON OS BETA R1.4
    .C.12. NOVELLS NETWARE FTP
    .C.13. ICMP REDIRECT ATTACKS
    .C.14. BROADCAST STORMS
    .C.15. EMAIL BOMBING AND SPAMMING
    .C.16. TIME AND KERBEROS
    .C.17. THE DOT DOT BUG
    .C.18. SUNOS KERNEL PANIC
    .C.19. HOSTILE APPLETS
    .C.20. VIRUS
    .C.21. ANONYMOUS FTP ABUSE
    .C.22. SYN FLOODING
    .C.23. PING FLOODING
    .C.24. CRASHING SYSTEMS WITH PING FROM WINDOWS 95 MACHINES
    .C.25. MALICIOUS USE OF SUBNET MASK REPLY MESSAGE
    .C.26. FLEXlm
    .C.27. BOOTING WITH TRIVIAL FTP

    .D. ATTACKING FROM THE INSIDE
    .D.1. KERNEL PANIC UNDER SOLARIS 2.3
    .D.2. CRASHING THE X-SERVER
    .D.3. FILLING UP THE HARD DISK
    .D.4. MALICIOUS USE OF eval
    .D.5. MALICIOUS USE OF fork()
    .D.6. CREATING FILES THAT IS HARD TO REMOVE
    .D.7. DIRECTORY NAME LOOKUPCACHE
    .D.8. CSH ATTACK
    .D.9. CREATING FILES IN /tmp
    .D.10. USING RESOLV_HOST_CONF
    .D.11. SUN 4.X AND BACKGROUND JOBS
    .D.12. CRASHING DG/UX WITH ULIMIT
    .D.13. NETTUNE AND HP-UX
    .D.14. SOLARIS 2.X AND NFS
    .D.15. SYSTEM STABILITY COMPROMISE VIA MOUNT_UNION
    .D.16. trap_mon CAUSES KERNEL PANIC UNDER SUNOS 4.1.X

    .E. DUMPING CORE
    .E.1. SHORT COMMENT
    .E.2. MALICIOUS USE OF NETSCAPE
    .E.3. CORE DUMPED UNDER WUFTPD
    .E.4. ld UNDER SOLARIS/X86

    .F. HOW DO I PROTECT A SYSTEM AGAINST DENIAL OF SERVICE ATTACKS?
    .F.1. BASIC SECURITY PROTECTION
    .F.1.1. INTRODUCTION
    .F.1.2. PORT SCANNING
    .F.1.3. CHECK THE OUTSIDE ATTACKS DESCRIBED IN THIS PAPER
    .F.1.4. CHECK THE INSIDE ATTACKS DESCRIBED IN THIS PAPER
    .F.1.5. EXTRA SECURITY SYSTEMS
    .F.1.6. MONITORING SECURITY
    .F.1.7. KEEPING UP TO DATE
    .F.1.8. READ SOMETHING BETTER
    .F.2. MONITORING PERFORMANCE
    .F.2.1. INTRODUCTION
    .F.2.2. COMMANDS AND SERVICES
    .F.2.3. PROGRAMS
    .F.2.4. ACCOUNTING

    .G. SUGGESTED READING
    .G.1. INFORMATION FOR DEEPER KNOWLEDGE
    .G.2. KEEPING UP TO DATE INFORMATION
    .G.3. BASIC INFORMATION

    .H. COPYRIGHT

    .I. DISCLAIMER

    .0. FOREWORD
    ------------

    In this paper I have tried to answer the following questions:

    - What is a denial of service attack?
    - Why would someone crash a system?
    - How can someone crash a system.
    - How do I protect a system against denial of service attacks?

    I also have a section called SUGGESTED READING were you can find
    information about good free information that can give you a deeper
    understanding about something.

    Note that I have a very limited experience with Macintosh, OS/2 and
    Windows and most of the material are therefore for Unix use.

    You can always find the latest version at the following address:
    http://www.student.tdb.uu.se/~t95hhu...ial/DENIAL.TXT

    Feel free to send comments, tips and so on to address:
    t95hhu@student.tdb.uu.se

    .A. INTRODUCTION
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    .A.1. WHAT IS A DENIAL OF SERVICE ATTACK?
    -----------------------------------------

    Denial of service is about without permission knocking off
    services, for example through crashing the whole system. This
    kind of attacks are easy to launch and it is hard to protect
    a system against them. The basic problem is that Unix
    assumes that users on the system or on other systems will be
    well behaved.

    .A.2. WHY WOULD SOMEONE CRASH A SYSTEM?
    ---------------------------------------

    .A.2.1. INTRODUCTION
    --------------------

    Why would someone crash a system? I can think of several reasons
    that I have presentated more precisely in a section for each reason,
    but for short:

    .1. Sub-cultural status.
    .2. To gain access.
    .3. Revenge.
    .4. Political reasons.
    .5. Economical reasons.
    .6. Nastiness.

    I think that number one and six are the more common today, but that
    number four and five will be the more common ones in the future.

    .A.2.2. SUB-CULTURAL STATUS
    ---------------------------

    After all information about syn flooding a bunch of such attacks
    were launched around Sweden. The very most of these attacks were
    not a part of a IP-spoof attack, it was "only" a denial of service
    attack. Why?

    I think that hackers attack systems as a sub-cultural pseudo career
    and I think that many denial of service attacks, and here in the
    example syn flooding, were performed for these reasons. I also think
    that many hackers begin their carrer with denial of service attacks.

    .A.2.3. TO GAIN ACCESS
    ----------------------

    Sometimes could a denial of service attack be a part of an attack to
    gain access at a system. At the moment I can think of these reasons
    and specific holes:

    .1. Some older X-lock versions could be crashed with a
    method from the denial of service family leaving the system
    open. Physical access was needed to use the work space after.

    .2. Syn flooding could be a part of a IP-spoof attack method.

    .3. Some program systems could have holes under the startup,
    that could be used to gain root, for example SSH (secure shell).

    .4. Under an attack it could be usable to crash other machines
    in the network or to deny certain persons the ability to access
    the system.

    .5. Also could a system being booted sometimes be subverted,
    especially rarp-boots. If we know which port the machine listen
    to (69 could be a good guess) under the boot we can send false
    packets to it and almost totally control the boot.

    .A.2.4. REVENGE
    ---------------

    A denial of service attack could be a part of a revenge against a user
    or an administrator.

    .A.2.5. POLITICAL REASONS
    -------------------------

    Sooner or later will new or old organizations understand the potential
    of destroying computer systems and find tools to do it.

    For example imaginate the Bank A loaning company B money to build a
    factory threating the environment. The organization C therefor crash A:s
    computer system, maybe with help from an employee. The attack could cost
    A a great deal of money if the timing is right.

    .A.2.6. ECONOMICAL REASONS
    --------------------------

    Imaginate the small company A moving into a business totally dominated by
    company B. A and B customers make the orders by computers and depends
    heavily on that the order is done in a specific time (A and B could be
    stock trading companies). If A and B can't perform the order the customers
    lose money and change company.

    As a part of a business strategy A pays a computer expert a sum of money to
    get him to crash B:s computer systems a number of times. A year later A
    is the dominating company.

    .A.2.7. NASTINESS
    -----------------

    I know a person that found a workstation where the user had forgotten to
    logout. He sat down and wrote a program that made a kill -9 -1 at a
    random time at least 30 minutes after the login time and placed a call to
    the program from the profile file. That is nastiness.

    .A.3. ARE SOME OPERATING SYSTEMS MORE SECURE?
    ---------------------------------------------

    This is a hard question to answer and I don't think that it will
    give anything to compare different Unix platforms. You can't say that
    one Unix is more secure against denial of service, it is all up to the
    administrator.

    A comparison between Windows 95 and NT on one side and Unix on the
    other could however be interesting.

    Unix systems are much more complex and have hundreds of built in programs,
    services... This always open up many ways to crash the system from
    the inside.

    In the normal Windows NT and 95 network were is few ways to crash
    the system. Although were is methods that always will work.

    That gives us that no big different between Microsoft and Unix can
    be seen regardning the inside attacks. But there is a couple of
    points left:

    - Unix have much more tools and programs to discover an
    attack and monitoring the users. To watch what another user
    is up to under windows is very hard.

    - The average Unix administrator probably also have much more
    experience than the average Microsoft administrator.

    The two last points gives that Unix is more secure against inside
    denial of service attacks.

    A comparison between Microsoft and Unix regarding outside attacks
    are much more difficult. However I would like to say that the average
    Microsoft system on the Internet are more secure against outside
    attacks, because they normally have much less services.

    .B. SOME BASIC TARGETS FOR AN ATTACK
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    .B.1. SWAP SPACE
    ----------------

    Most systems have several hundred Mbytes of swap space to
    service client requests. The swap space is typical used
    for forked child processes which have a short life time.
    The swap space will therefore almost never in a normal
    cause be used heavily. A denial of service could be based
    on a method that tries to fill up the swap space.

    .B.2. BANDWIDTH
    ---------------

    If the bandwidth is to high the network will be useless. Most
    denial of service attack influence the bandwidth in some way.

    .B.3. KERNEL TABLES
    -------------------

    It is trivial to overflow the kernel tables which will cause
    serious problems on the system. Systems with write through
    caches and small write buffers is especially sensitive.

    Kernel memory allocation is also a target that is sensitive.
    The kernel have a kernelmap limit, if the system reach this
    limit it can not allocate more kernel memory and must be rebooted.
    The kernel memory is not only used for RAM, CPU:s, screens and so
    on, it it also used for ordinaries processes. Meaning that any system
    can be crashed and with a mean (or in some sense good) algorithm pretty
    fast.

    For Solaris 2.X it is measured and reported with the sar command
    how much kernel memory the system is using, but for SunOS 4.X there
    is no such command. Meaning that under SunOS 4.X you don't even can
    get a warning. If you do use Solaris you should write sar -k 1 to
    get the information. netstat -k can also be used and shows how much
    memory the kernel have allocated in the subpaging.

    .B.4. RAM
    ---------

    A denial of service attack that allocates a large amount of RAM
    can make a great deal of problems. NFS and mail servers are
    actually extremely sensitive because they do not need much
    RAM and therefore often don't have much RAM. An attack at
    a NFS server is trivial. The normal NFS client will do a
    great deal of caching, but a NFS client can be anything
    including the program you wrote yourself...

    .B.5. DISKS
    -----------

    A classic attack is to fill up the hard disk, but an attack at
    the disks can be so much more. For example can an overloaded disk
    be misused in many ways.

    .B.6. CACHES
    -------------

    A denial of service attack involving caches can be based on a method
    to block the cache or to avoid the cache.

    These caches are found on Solaris 2.X:

    Directory name lookup cache: Associates the name of a file with a vnode.

    Inode cache: Cache information read from disk in case it is needed
    again.

    Rnode cache: Holds information about the NFS filesystem.

    Buffer cache: Cache inode indirect blocks and cylinders to realed disk
    I/O.

    .B.7. INETD
    -----------

    Well once inetd crashed all other services running through inetd no
    longer will work.


    .C. ATTACKING FROM THE OUTSIDE
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    .C.1. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FINGER
    --------------------------------

    Most fingerd installations support redirections to an other host.

    Ex:

    $finger @system.two.com@system.one.com

    finger will in the example go through system.one.com and on to
    system.two.com. As far as system.two.com knows it is system.one.com
    who is fingering. So this method can be used for hiding, but also
    for a very dirty denial of service attack. Lock at this:

    $ finger @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@host.we.attack

    All those @ signs will get finger to finger host.we.attack again and
    again and again... The effect on host.we.attack is powerful and
    the result is high bandwidth, short free memory and a hard disk with
    less free space, due to all child processes (compare with .D.5.).

    The solution is to install a fingerd which don't support redirections,
    for example GNU finger. You could also turn the finger service off,
    but I think that is just a bit to much.

    .C.2. UDP AND SUNOS 4.1.3.
    --------------------------

    SunOS 4.1.3. is known to boot if a packet with incorrect information
    in the header is sent to it. This is the cause if the ip_options
    indicate a wrong size of the packet.

    The solution is to install the proper patch.

    .C.3. FREEZING UP X-WINDOWS
    ---------------------------

    If a host accepts a telnet session to the X-Windows port (generally
    somewhere between 6000 and 6025. In most cases 6000) could that
    be used to freeze up the X-Windows system. This can be made with
    multiple telnet connections to the port or with a program which
    sends multiple XOpenDisplay() to the port.

    The same thing can happen to Motif or Open Windows.

    The solution is to deny connections to the X-Windows port.

    .C.4. MALICIOUS USE OF UDP SERVICES
    -----------------------------------

    It is simple to get UDP services (echo, time, daytime, chargen) to
    loop, due to trivial IP-spoofing. The effect can be high bandwidth
    that causes the network to become useless. In the example the header
    claim that the packet came from 127.0.0.1 (loopback) and the target
    is the echo port at system.we.attack. As far as system.we.attack knows
    is 127.0.0.1 system.we.attack and the loop has been establish.

    Ex:

    from-IP=127.0.0.1
    to-IP=system.we.attack
    Packet type:UDP
    from UDP port 7
    to UDP port 7

    Note that the name system.we.attack looks like a DNS-name, but the
    target should always be represented by the IP-number.

    Quoted from proberts@clark.net (Paul D. Robertson) comment on
    comp.security.firewalls on matter of "Introduction to denial of service"

    " A great deal of systems don't put loopback on the wire, and simply
    emulate it. Therefore, this attack will only effect that machine
    in some cases. It's much better to use the address of a different
    machine on the same network. Again, the default services should
    be disabled in inetd.conf. Other than some hacks for mainframe IP
    stacks that don't support ICMP, the echo service isn't used by many
    legitimate programs, and TCP echo should be used instead of UDP
    where it is necessary. "

    .C.5. ATTACKING WITH LYNX CLIENTS
    ---------------------------------

    A World Wide Web server will fork an httpd process as a respond
    to a request from a client, typical Netscape or Mosaic. The process
    lasts for less than one second and the load will therefore never
    show up if someone uses ps. In most causes it is therefore very
    safe to launch a denial of service attack that makes use of
    multiple W3 clients, typical lynx clients. But note that the netstat
    command could be used to detect the attack (thanks to Paul D. Robertson).

    Some httpd:s (for example http-gw) will have problems besides the normal
    high bandwidth, low memory... And the attack can in those causes get
    the server to loop (compare with .C.6.)

    .C.6. MALICIOUS USE OF telnet
    -----------------------------

    Study this little script:

    Ex:

    while : ; do
    telnet system.we.attack &
    done

    An attack using this script might eat some bandwidth, but it is
    nothing compared to the finger method or most other methods. Well
    the point is that some pretty common firewalls and httpd:s thinks
    that the attack is a loop and turn them self down, until the
    administrator sends kill -HUP.

    This is a simple high risk vulnerability that should be checked
    and if present fixed.

    .C.7. MALICIOUS USE OF telnet UNDER SOLARIS 2.4
    -----------------------------------------------

    If the attacker makes a telnet connections to the Solaris 2.4 host and
    quits using:

    Ex:

    Control-}
    quit

    then will inetd keep going "forever". Well a couple of hundred...

    The solution is to install the proper patch.

    .C.8. HOW TO DISABLE ACCOUNTS
    -----------------------------

    Some systems disable an account after N number of bad logins, or waits
    N seconds. You can use this feature to lock out specific users from
    the system.

    .C.9. LINUX AND TCP TIME, DAYTIME
    ----------------------------------

    Inetd under Linux is known to crash if to many SYN packets sends to
    daytime (port 13) and/or time (port 37).

    The solution is to install the proper patch.

    .C.10. HOW TO DISABLE SERVICES
    ------------------------------

    Most Unix systems disable a service after N sessions have been
    open in a given time. Well most systems have a reasonable default
    (lets say 800 - 1000), but not some SunOS systems that have the
    default set to 48...

    The solutions is to set the number to something reasonable.

    .C.11. PARAGON OS BETA R1.4
    ---------------------------

    If someone redirects an ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) packet
    to a paragon OS beta R1.4 will the machine freeze up and must be
    rebooted. An ICMP redirect tells the system to override routing
    tables. Routers use this to tell the host that it is sending
    to the wrong router.

    The solution is to install the proper patch.

    .C.12. NOVELLS NETWARE FTP
    --------------------------

    Novells Netware FTP server is known to get short of memory if multiple
    ftp sessions connects to it.

    .C.13. ICMP REDIRECT ATTACKS
    ----------------------------

    Gateways uses ICMP redirect to tell the system to override routing
    tables, that is telling the system to take a better way. To be able
    to misuse ICMP redirection we must know an existing connection
    (well we could make one for ourself, but there is not much use for that).
    If we have found a connection we can send a route that
    loses it connectivity or we could send false messages to the host
    if the connection we have found don't use cryptation.

    Ex: (false messages to send)

    DESTINATION UNREACHABLE
    TIME TO LIVE EXCEEDED
    PARAMETER PROBLEM
    PACKET TOO BIG

    The effect of such messages is a reset of the connection.

    The solution could be to turn ICMP redirects off, not much proper use
    of the service.

    .C.14. BROADCAST STORMS
    -----------------------

    This is a very popular method in networks there all of the hosts are
    acting as gateways.

    There are many versions of the attack, but the basic method is to
    send a lot of packets to all hosts in the network with a destination
    that don't exist. Each host will try to forward each packet so
    the packets will bounce around for a long time. And if new packets
    keep coming the network will soon be in trouble.

    Services that can be misused as tools in this kind of attack is for
    example ping, finger and sendmail. But most services can be misused
    in some way or another.

    .C.15. EMAIL BOMBING AND SPAMMING
    ---------------------------------

    In a email bombing attack the attacker will repeatedly send identical
    email messages to an address. The effect on the target is high bandwidth,
    a hard disk with less space and so on... Email spamming is about sending
    mail to all (or rather many) of the users of a system. The point of
    using spamming instead of bombing is that some users will try to
    send a replay and if the address is false will the mail bounce back. In
    that cause have one mail transformed to three mails. The effect on the
    bandwidth is obvious.

    There is no way to prevent email bombing or spamming. However have
    a look at CERT:s paper "Email bombing and spamming".

    .C.16. TIME AND KERBEROS
    ------------------------

    If not the the source and target machine is closely aligned will the
    ticket be rejected, that means that if not the protocol that set the
    time is protected it will be possible to set a kerberos server of
    function.

    .C.17. THE DOT DOT BUG
    ----------------------

    Windows NT file sharing system is vulnerable to the under Windows 95
    famous dot dot bug (dot dot like ..). Meaning that anyone can crash
    the system. If someone sends a "DIR ..\" to the workstation will a
    STOP messages appear on the screen on the Windows NT computer. Note that
    it applies to version 3.50 and 3.51 for both workstation and server
    version.

    The solution is to install the proper patch.

    .C.18. SUNOS KERNEL PANIC
    -------------------------

    Some SunOS systems (running TIS?) will get a kernel panic if a
    getsockopt() is done after that a connection has been reset.

    The solution could be to install Sun patch 100804.

    .C.19. HOSTILE APPLETS
    ----------------------

    A hostile applet is any applet that attempts to use your system
    in an inappropriate manner. The problems in the java language
    could be sorted in two main groups:

    1) Problems due to bugs.
    2) Problems due to features in the language.

    In group one we have for example the java bytecode verifier bug, which
    makes is possible for an applet to execute any command that the user
    can execute. Meaning that all the attack methods described in .D.X.
    could be executed through an applet. The java bytecode verifier bug
    was discovered in late March 1996 and no patch have yet been available
    (correct me if I'am wrong!!!).

    Note that two other bugs could be found in group one, but they
    are both fixed in Netscape 2.01 and JDK 1.0.1.

    Group two are more interesting and one large problem found is the
    fact that java can connect to the ports. Meaning that all the methods
    described in .C.X. can be performed by an applet. More information
    and examples could be found at address:

    http://www.math.gatech.edu/~mladue/HostileArticle.html

    If you need a high level of security you should use some sort of
    firewall for protection against java. As a user you could have
    java disable.

    .C.20. VIRUS
    ------------

    Computer virus is written for the purpose of spreading and
    destroying systems. Virus is still the most common and famous
    denial of service attack method.

    It is a misunderstanding that virus writing is hard. If you know
    assembly language and have source code for a couple of virus it
    is easy. Several automatic toolkits for virus construction could
    also be found, for example:

    * Genvir.
    * VCS (Virus Construction Set).
    * VCL (Virus Construction Laboratory).
    * PS-MPC (Phalcon/Skism - Mass Produced Code Generator).
    * IVP (Instant Virus Production Kit).
    * G2 (G Squared).

    PS-MPC and VCL is known to be the best and can help the novice programmer
    to learn how to write virus.

    An automatic tool called MtE could also be found. MtE will transform
    virus to a polymorphic virus. The polymorphic engine of MtE is well
    known and should easily be catch by any scanner.

    .C.21. ANONYMOUS FTP ABUSE
    --------------------------

    If an anonymous FTP archive have a writable area it could be misused
    for a denial of service attack similar with with .D.3. That is we can
    fill up the hard disk.

    Also can a host get temporarily unusable by massive numbers of
    FTP requests.

    For more information on how to protect an anonymous FTP site could
    CERT:s "Anonymous FTP Abuses" be a good start.

    .C.22. SYN FLOODING
    -------------------

    Both 2600 and Phrack have posted information about the syn flooding attack.
    2600 have also posted exploit code for the attack.

    As we know the syn packet is used in the 3-way handshake. The syn flooding
    attack is based on an incomplete handshake. That is the attacker host
    will send a flood of syn packet but will not respond with an ACK packet.
    The TCP/IP stack will wait a certain amount of time before dropping
    the connection, a syn flooding attack will therefore keep the syn_received
    connection queue of the target machine filled.

    The syn flooding attack is very hot and it is easy to find more information
    about it, for example:

    [.1.] http://www.eecs.nwu.edu/~jmyers/bugtraq/1354.html
    Article by Christopher Klaus, including a "solution".

    [.2.] http://jya.com/floodd.txt
    2600, Summer, 1996, pp. 6-11. FLOOD WARNING by Jason Fairlane

    [.3.] http://www.fc.net/phrack/files/p48/p48-14.html
    IP-spoofing Demystified by daemon9 / route / infinity
    for Phrack Magazine

    .C.23. PING FLOODING
    --------------------

    I haven't tested how big the impact of a ping flooding attack is, but
    it might be quite big.

    Under Unix we could try something like: ping -s host
    to send 64 bytes packets.

    If you have Windows 95, click the start button, select RUN, then type
    in: PING -T -L 256 xxx.xxx.xxx.xx. Start about 15 sessions.

    .C.24. CRASHING SYSTEMS WITH PING FROM WINDOWS 95 MACHINES
    ----------------------------------------------------------

    If someone can ping your machine from a Windows 95 machine he or she might
    reboot or freeze your machine. The attacker simply writes:

    ping -l 65510 address.to.the.machine

    And the machine will freeze or reboot.

    Works for kernel 2.0.7 up to version 2.0.20. and 2.1.1. for Linux (crash).
    AIX4, OSF, HPUX 10.1, DUnix 4.0 (crash).
    OSF/1, 3.2C, Solaris 2.4 x86 (reboot).

    .C.25. MALICIOUS USE OF SUBNET MASK REPLY MESSAGE
    --------------------------------------------------

    The subnet mask reply message is used under the reboot, but some
    hosts are known to accept the message any time without any check.
    If so all communication to or from the host us turned off, it's dead.

    The host should not accept the message any time but under the reboot.

    .C.26. FLEXlm
    -------------

    Any host running FLEXlm can get the FLEXlm license manager daemon
    on any network to shutdown using the FLEXlm lmdown command.

    # lmdown -c /etc/licence.dat
    lmdown - Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Highland Software, Inc.

    Shutting down FLEXlm on nodes: xxx
    Are you sure? [y/n]: y
    Shut down node xxx
    #

    .C.27. BOOTING WITH TRIVIAL FTP
    -------------------------------

    To boot diskless workstations one often use trivial ftp with rarp or
    bootp. If not protected an attacker can use tftp to boot the host.


    .D. ATTACKING FROM THE INSIDE
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    .D.1. KERNEL PANIC UNDER SOLARIS 2.3
    ------------------------------------

    Solaris 2.3 will get a kernel panic if this
    is executed:

    EX:

    $ndd /dev/udp udp_status

    The solution is to install the proper patch.

    .D.2. CRASHING THE X-SERVER
    ---------------------------

    If stickybit is not set in /tmp then can the file /tmp/.x11-unix/x0
    be removed and the x-server will crash.

    Ex:

    $ rm /tmp/.x11-unix/x0

    .D.3. FILLING UP THE HARD DISK
    -----------------------------

    If your hard disk space is not limited by a quota or if you can use
    /tmp then it`s possible for you to fill up the file system.

    Ex:

    while : ;
    mkdir .xxx
    cd .xxx
    done

    .D.4. MALICIOUS USE OF eval
    ---------------------------

    Some older systems will crash if eval '\!\!' is executed in the
    C-shell.

    Ex:

    % eval '\!\!'

    .D.5. MALICIOUS USE OF fork()
    -----------------------------

    If someone executes this C++ program the result will result in a crash
    on most systems.

    Ex:

    #include
    #include
    #include

    main()
    {
    int x;
    while(x=0;x<1000000;x++)
    {
    system("uptime");
    fork();
    }
    }

    You can use any command you want, but uptime is nice
    because it shows the workload.

    To get a bigger and very ugly attack you should however replace uptime
    (or fork them both) with sync. This is very bad.

    If you are real mean you could also fork a child process for
    every child process and we will get an exponential increase of
    workload.

    There is no good way to stop this attack and
    similar attacks. A solution could be to place a limit
    on time of execution and size of processes.

    .D.6. CREATING FILES THAT IS HARD TO REMOVE
    -------------------------------------------

    Well all files can be removed, but here is some ideas:

    Ex.I.

    $ cat > -xxx
    ^C
    $ ls
    -xxx
    $ rm -xxx
    rm: illegal option -- x
    rm: illegal option -- x
    rm: illegal option -- x
    usage: rm [-fiRr] file ...
    $

    Ex.II.

    $ touch xxx!
    $ rm xxx!
    rm: remove xxx! (yes/no)? y
    $ touch xxxxxxxxx!
    $ rm xxxxxxxxx!
    bash: !": event not found
    $

    (You see the size do count!)

    Other well know methods is files with odd characters or spaces
    in the name.

    These methods could be used in combination with ".D.3 FILLING UP THE
    HARDDISK". If you do want to remove these files you must use some sort
    of script or a graphical interface like OpenWindow:s File
    Manager. You can also try to use: rm ./. It should work for
    the first example if you have a shell.

    .D.7. DIRECTORY NAME LOOKUPCACHE
    --------------------------------

    Directory name lookupcache (DNLC) is used whenever a file is opened.
    DNLC associates the name of the file to a vnode. But DNLC can only
    operate on files with names that has less than N characters (for SunOS 4.x
    up to 14 character, for Solaris 2.x up 30 characters). This means
    that it's dead easy to launch a pretty discreet denial of service attack.

    Create lets say 20 directories (for a start) and put 10 empty files in
    every directory. Let every name have over 30 characters and execute a
    script that makes a lot of ls -al on the directories.

    If the impact is not big enough you should create more files or launch
    more processes.

    .D.8. CSH ATTACK
    ----------------

    Just start this under /bin/csh (after proper modification)
    and the load level will get very high (that is 100% of the cpu time)
    in a very short time.

    Ex:

    |I /bin/csh
    nodename : **************b

    .D.9. CREATING FILES IN /tmp
    ----------------------------

    Many programs creates files in /tmp, but are unable to deal with the problem
    if the file already exist. In some cases this could be used for a
    denial of service attack.

    .D.10. USING RESOLV_HOST_CONF
    -----------------------------

    Some systems have a little security hole in the way they use the
    RESOLV_HOST_CONF variable. That is we can put things in it and
    through ping access confidential data like /etc/shadow or
    crash the system. Most systems will crash if /proc/kcore is
    read in the variable and access through ping.

    Ex:

    $ export RESOLV_HOST_CONF="/proc/kcore" ; ping asdf

    .D.11. SUN 4.X AND BACKGROUND JOBS
    ----------------------------------

    Thanks to Mr David Honig for the following:

    " Put the string "a&" in a file called "a" and perform "chmod +x a".
    Running "a" will quickly disable a Sun 4.x machine, even disallowing
    (counter to specs) root login as the kernel process table fills."

    " The cute thing is the size of the
    script, and how few keystrokes it takes to bring down a Sun
    as a regular user."

    .D.12. CRASHING DG/UX WITH ULIMIT
    ---------------------------------

    ulimit is used to set a limit on the system resources available to the
    shell. If ulimit 0 is called before /etc/passwd, under DG/UX, will the
    passwd file be set to zero.

    .D.13. NETTUNE AND HP-UX
    ------------------------

    /usr/contrib/bin/nettune is SETUID root on HP-UX meaning
    that any user can reset all ICMP, IP and TCP kernel
    parameters, for example the following parameters:

    - arp_killcomplete
    - arp_killincomplete
    - arp_unicast
    - arp_rebroadcast
    - icmp_mask_agent
    - ip_defaultttl
    - ip_forwarding
    - ip_intrqmax
    - pmtu_defaulttime
    - tcp_localsubnets
    - tcp_receive
    - tcp_send
    - tcp_defaultttl
    - tcp_keepstart
    - tcp_keepfreq
    - tcp_keepstop
    - tcp_maxretrans
    - tcp_urgent_data_ptr
    - udp_cksum
    - udp_defaultttl
    - udp_newbcastenable
    - udp_pmtu
    - tcp_pmtu
    - tcp_random_seq

    The solution could be to set the proper permission on
    /sbin/mount_union:

    #chmod u-s /sbin/mount_union

    .D.14. SOLARIS 2.X AND NFS
    --------------------------

    If a process is writing over NFS and the user goes over the disk
    quota will the process go into an infinite loop.

    .D.15. SYSTEM STABILITY COMPROMISE VIA MOUNT_UNION
    --------------------------------------------------

    By executing a sequence of mount_union commands any user
    can cause a system reload on all FreeBSD version 2.X before
    1996-05-18.

    $ mkdir a
    $ mkdir b
    $ mount_union ~/a ~/b
    $ mount_union -b ~/a ~/b

    The solution could be to set the proper permission on
    /sbin/mount_union:

    #chmod u-s /sbin/mount_union

    .D.16. trap_mon CAUSES KERNEL PANIC UNDER SUNOS 4.1.X
    ----------------------------------------------------

    Executing the trap_mon instruction from user mode can cause
    a kernel panic or a window underflow watchdog reset under
    SunOS 4.1.x, sun4c architecture.


    .E. DUMPING CORE
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    .E.1. SHORT COMMENT
    -------------------

    The core dumps things don't really belongs in this paper but I have
    put them here anyway.

    .E.2. MALICIOUS USE OF NETSCAPE
    -------------------------------

    Under Netscape 1.1N this link will result in a segmentation fault and a
    core dump.

    Ex:

    http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.x...x.xxx.xxx.xxx.
    xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxxxxx.xxx.xxx.
    xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.
    xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.
    xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx...>

    .E.3. CORE DUMPED UNDER WUFTPD
    ------------------------------

    A core dumped could be created under wuftp with two different
    methods:

    (1) Then pasv is given (user not logged in (ftp -n)). Almost all
    versions of BSD:s ftpd.
    (2) More than 100 arguments is given with any executable
    command. Presents in all versions of BSD:sd ftpd.

    .E.4. ld UNDER SOLARIS/X86
    --------------------------

    Under Solaris 2.4/X86 ld dumps core if given with the -s option.


    .F. HOW DO I PROTECT A SYSTEM AGAINST DENIAL OF SERVICE ATTACKS?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    .F.1. BASIC SECURITY PROTECTION
    -------------------------------

    .F.1.1. INTRODUCTION
    --------------------

    You can not make your system totally secured against denial of service
    attacks but for attacks from the outside you can do a lot. I put this
    work list together and hope that it can be of some use.

    .F.1.2. SECURITY PATCHES
    ------------------------

    Always install the proper security patches. As for patch numbers
    I don't want to put them out, but that doesn't matter because you
    anyway want to check that you have all security patches installed,
    so get a list and check! Also note that patches change over time and
    that a solution suggested in security bulletins (i.e. CERT) often
    is somewhat temporary.

    .F.1.3. PORT SCANNING
    ---------------------

    Check which services you have. Don't check with the manual
    or some configuration file, instead scan the ports with sprobe
    or some other port scanner. Actual you should do this regualy to see
    that anyone don't have installed a service that you don't want on
    the system (could for example be service used for a pirate site).

    Disable every service that you don't need, could for example be rexd,
    fingerd, systat, netstat, rusersd, sprayd, pop3, uucpd, echo, chargen,
    tftp, exec, ufs, daytime, time... Any combination of echo, time, daytime
    and chargen is possible to get to loop. There is however no need
    to turn discard off. The discard service will just read a packet
    and discard it, so if you turn off it you will get more sensitive to
    denial of service and not the opposite.

    Actual can services be found on many systems that can be used for
    denial of service and brute force hacking without any logging. For
    example Stock rexec never logs anything. Most popd:s also don't log
    anything

    .F.1.4. CHECK THE OUTSIDE ATTACKS DESCRIBED IN THIS PAPER
    ---------------------------------------------------------

    Check that attacks described in this paper and look at the
    solution. Some attacks you should perform yourself to see if they
    apply to your system, for example:

    - Freezing up X-Windows.
    - Malicious use of telnet.
    - How to disable services.
    - SunOS kernel panic.
    - Attacking with lynx clients.
    - Crashing systems with ping from Windows 95 machines.

    That is stress test your system with several services and look at
    the effect.

    Note that Solaris 2.4 and later have a limit on the number of ICMP
    error messages (1 per 500 ms I think) that can cause problems then
    you test your system for some of the holes described in this paper.
    But you can easy solve this problem by executing this line:

    $ /usr/sbin/ndd -set /dev/ip ip_icmp_err_interval 0

    .F.1.5. CHECK THE INSIDE ATTACKS DESCRIBED IN THIS PAPER
    --------------------------------------------------------

    Check the inside attacks, although it is always possibly to crash
    the system from the inside you don't want it to be to easy. Also
    have several of the attacks applications besides denial of service,
    for example:

    - Crashing the X-Server: If stickybit is not set in /tmp
    a number of attacks to gain
    access can be performed.

    - Using resolv_host_conf: Could be used to expose
    confidential data like
    /etc/shadow.

    - Core dumped under wuftpd: Could be used to extract
    password-strings.

    If I don't have put out a solution I might have recommended son other paper.
    If not I don't know of a paper with a solution I feel that I can recommend.
    You should in these causes check with your company.

    .F.1.6. EXTRA SECURITY SYSTEMS
    ------------------------------

    Also think about if you should install some extra security systems.
    The basic that you always should install is a logdaemon and a wrapper.
    A firewall could also be very good, but expensive. Free tools that can
    be found on the Internet is for example:

    TYPE: NAME: URL:

    LOGDAEMON NETLOG ftp://net.tamu.edu/pub/security/TAMU
    WRAPPER TCP WRAPPERS ftp://cert.org/pub/tools/tcp_wrappers
    FIREWALL TIS ftp://ftp.tis.com/pub/firewalls/toolkit

    Note that you should be very careful if building your own firewall with
    TIS or you might open up new and very bad security holes, but it is a very
    good security packer if you have some basic knowledge.

    It is also very good to replace services that you need, for example telnet,
    rlogin, rsh or whatever, with a tool like ssh. Ssh is free and can be
    found at URL:

    ftp://ftp.cs.hut.fi/pub/ssh

    The addresses I have put out are the central sites for distributing
    and I don't think that you should use any other except for CERT.

    For a long list on free general security tools I recommend:
    "FAQ: Computer Security Frequently Asked Questions".

    .F.1.7. MONITORING SECURITY
    ---------------------------

    Also monitor security regular, for example through examining system log
    files, history files... Even in a system without any extra security systems
    could several tools be found for monitoring, for example:

    - uptime
    - showmount
    - ps
    - netstat
    - finger

    (see the man text for more information).

    .F.1.8. KEEPING UP TO DATE
    --------------------------

    It is very important to keep up to date with security problems. Also
    understand that then, for example CERT, warns for something it has often
    been dark-side public for sometime, so don't wait. The following resources
    that helps you keeping up to date can for example be found on the Internet:

    - CERT mailing list. Send an e-mail to cert@cert.org to be placed
    on the list.

    - Bugtraq mailing list. Send an e-mail to bugtraq-request@fc.net.

    - WWW-security mailing list. Send an e-mail to
    www-security@ns2.rutgers.edu.

    .F.1.9. READ SOMETHING BIGGER AND BETTER
    ----------------------------------------

    Let's start with papers on the Internet. I am sorry to say that it is not
    very many good free papers that can be found, but here is a small collection
    and I am sorry if have have over looked a paper.

    (1) The Rainbow books is a long series of free books on computer security.
    US citizens can get the books from:

    INFOSEC AWARENESS OFFICE
    National Computer Security Center
    9800 Savage Road
    Fort George G. Meader, MD 20755-600

    We other just have to read the papers on the World Wide Web. Every
    paper can not however be found on the Internet.

    (2) "Improving the security of your Unix system" by Curry is also very
    nice if you need the very basic things. If you don't now anything about
    computer security you can't find a better start.

    (3) "The WWW security FAQ" by Stein is although it deal with W3-security
    the very best better on the Internet about computer security.

    (4) CERT have aklso published several good papers, for example:

    - Anonymous FTP Abuses.
    - Email Bombing and Spamming.
    - Spoofed/Forged Email.
    - Protecting yourself from password file attacks.

    I think however that the last paper have overlooked several things.

    (5) For a long list on papers I can recommend:
    "FAQ: Computer Security Frequently Asked Questions".

    (6) Also see section ".G. SUGGESTED READING"

    You should also get some big good commercial book, but I don't want
    to recommend any.

    .F.2. MONITORING PERFORMANCE
    ----------------------------

    .F.2.1. INTRODUCTION
    --------------------

    There is several commands and services that can be used for
    monitoring performance. And at least two good free programs can
    be found on Internet.

    .F.2.2. COMMANDS AND SERVICES
    -----------------------------

    For more information read the man text.

    netstat Show network status.
    nfsstat Show NFS statistics.
    sar System activity reporter.
    vmstat Report virtual memory statistics.
    timex Time a command, report process data and system
    activity.
    time Time a simple command.
    truss Trace system calls and signals.
    uptime Show how long the system has been up.

    Note that if a public netstat server can be found you might be able
    to use netstat from the outside. netstat can also give information
    like tcp sequence numbers and much more.

    .F.2.3. PROGRAMS
    ----------------

    Proctool: Proctool is a freely available tool for Solaris that monitors
    and controls processes.
    ftp://opcom.sun.ca/pub/binaries/

    Top: Top might be a more simple program than Proctool, but is
    good enough.

    .F.2.4. ACCOUNTING
    ------------------

    To monitor performance you have to collect information over a long
    period of time. All Unix systems have some sort of accounting logs
    to identify how much CPU time, memory each program uses. You should
    check your manual to see how to set this up.

    You could also invent your own account system by using crontab and
    a script with the commands you want to run. Let crontab run the script
    every day and compare the information once a week. You could for
    example let the script run the following commands:

    - netstat
    - iostat -D
    - vmstat


    .G. SUGGESTED READING
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    .F.1. INFORMATION FOR DEEPER KNOWLEDGE
    -------------------------------------

    (1) Hedrick, C. Routing Information Protocol. RFC 1058, 1988.
    (2) Mills, D.L. Exterior Gateway Protocol Formal Specification. RFC 904, 1984.
    (3) Postel, J. Internet Control Message Protocol. RFC 792, 1981.
    (4) Harrenstien, K. NAME/FINGER Protocol, RFC 742, 1977.
    (5) Sollins, K.R. The TFTP Protocol, RFC 783, 1981.
    (6) Croft, W.J. Bootstrap Protocol, RFC 951, 1985.

    Many of the papers in this category was RFC-papers. A RFC-paper
    is a paper that describes a protocol. The letters RCS stands for
    Request For Comment. Hosts on the Internet are expected to understand
    at least the common ones. If you want to learn more about a protocol
    it is always good to read the proper RFC. You can find a nice sRFC
    index search form at URL:

    http://pubweb.nexor.co.uk/public/rfc/index/rfc.html

    .F.2. KEEPING UP TO DATE INFORMATION
    ------------------------------------

    (1) CERT mailing list. Send an e-mail to cert@cert.org to be placed
    on the list.
    (2) Bugtraq mailinglist. Send an e-mail to bugtraq-request@fc.net.
    (3) WWW-security mailinglist. Send an e-mail to www-security@ns2.rutgers.edu.
    (4) Sun Microsystems Security Bulletins.
    (5) Various articles from: - comp.security.announce
    - comp.security.unix
    - comp.security.firewalls
    (6) Varius 40Hex Issues.

    .F.3. BASIC INFORMATION
    -----------------------

    (1) Husman, H. INTRODUKTION TILL DATASÄKERHET UNDER X-WINDOWS, 1995.
    (2) Husman, H. INTRODUKTION TILL IP-SPOOFING, 1995.
    (3) The following rainbow books: - Teal Green Book (Glossary of
    Computer Security Terms).
    - Bright Orange Book( A Guide
    to Understanding Security Testing
    and Test Documentation in Trusted
    Systems).
    - C1 Technical Report-001
    (Computer Viruses: Preventation,
    Detection, and Treatment).
    (4) Ranum, Marcus. Firewalls, 1993.
    (5) Sun Microsystems, OpenWindows V3.0.1. User Commands, 1992.
    (6) Husman, H. ATT SPÅRA ODOKUMENTERADE SÄKERHETSLUCKOR, 1996.
    (7) Dark OverLord, Unix Cracking Tips, 1989.
    (8) Shooting Shark, Unix Nasties, 1988.
    (9) LaDue, Mark.D. Hostile Applets on the Horizone, 1996.
    (10) Curry, D.A. Improving the security of your unix system, 1990.
    (11) Stein, L.D. The World Wide Web security FAQ, 1995.
    (12) Bellovin, S.M. Security Problems in the TCP/IP Protocol, 1989.


    H. COPY RIGHT
    copy right by xXxSilent-EvilxXx


    .I. DISCLAIME--------------

    The information within this paper may change without notice. Use of this
    information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are
    NO warranties with regard to this information. In no event shall the author
    be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of or in connection with
    the use or spread of this information. Any use of this information is at the
    user's own risk.

  2. #2
    Just a Virtualized Geek MrLinus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Redondo Beach, CA
    Posts
    7,323
    http://www.totse.com/en/hack/hack_attack/161857.html

    Well, it belongs to Hans Husman, copyright 1996.
    Goodbye, Mittens (1992-2008). My pillow will be cold without your purring beside my head
    Extra! Extra! Get your FREE copy of Insight Newsletter||MsMittens' HomePage

  3. #3
    er0k
    Guest
    | well it looks like my comments weren't necessary as you didn't write it, so i took those out. |

    http://www.totse.com/en/hack/hack_attack/161857.html <- edit, by the way dude, i found this as well
    and here it is again:
    http://secinf.net/misc/Introduction_..._Service_.html

    and again:

    http://www.undergroundnews.com/files...ing/denial.htm
    edit again: looks like msmittens found it first.

    edit again:

    Damn noodle that signature is awesome.

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    central il
    Posts
    1,779
    Common guys, do you realy think every one here is stupid, quit posting other peoples work as your own, we will notice.
    Who is more trustworthy then all of the gurus or Buddha’s?

  5. #5
    "working on it for a month"!!! shhheeess , dude that is lame , and "HOPING IT WOULD BECOME PART OF THE SYSTEM" .........bullshit......................

    THE END..............................
    Beware, you who seek first and final principles, for you are
    trampling the garden of an angry God and he awaits you just beyond the last theorem.

  6. #6
    er0k
    Guest
    blergh i can't believe this thread wasnt:

    a. closed

    or even better

    b. committed suicide, except for the fact that for some reason the new antipoint limitations don't even really allow for the strongest of us members to do anything at all to anyone else, which makes it really frustrating, i move to have the old system put back in place

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Posts
    217
    I dont understand why someone would want to pass someone elses work off as their own. Somebody here is bound to spot it.

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