[iwar] [fc:Major.net.security.holes.identified:.Bind.bugs.leave.the.net.wide.open.to.attack]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-12-27 21:37:58


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Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001 21:37:58 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [iwar] [fc:Major.net.security.holes.identified:.Bind.bugs.leave.the.net.wide.open.to.attack]
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Major net security holes identified: Bind bugs leave the net wide open to attack 
By Mark Ward, BBC News Online, 12/27/2001
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1142000/1142572.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1142000/1142572.stm>

The internet's single most important software package contains holes
that can be exploited by malicious hackers. 
Anyone exploiting these vulnerabilities could take control of net
servers, redirect visitors and steal e-mail messages, web security
experts say. 
Net server administrators using the at risk versions of the Berkeley
Internet Name Domain (Bind) software have been urged to update their
systems swiftly before they are attacked. 
The internet's 13 root servers were quietly updated earlier this month
ahead of the general, public alert. 
Error message 
The security warning about the Berkeley Internet Name Domain server,
used by an estimated 90% of the networks that comprise the internet, was
issued by the US Government-funded Computer Emergency Response Team
(Cert). 
Bind is the net equivalent of directory enquiries, and is consulted by a
computer when it converts a domain name, such as bbc.co.uk, into a
numeric address that details where to find that site on the internet.
Typically, hundreds or thousands of computers on an individual network
consult a couple of servers running Bind. 
Now, work by PGP Covert Labs has found that versions 4 and 8 of Bind
contain vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious hackers and
let them take over a server. 
Typically, when a computer on the net gets a message it does not
understand, it responds by generating a routine error message. But PGP
Covert Labs found that the vulnerabilities mean that Bind will execute
commands hidden in carefully-crafted bogus messages. 
Malicious hackers exploiting this could take over a net server, redirect
queries to sites they controlled or re-route e-mail messages. 
Vulnerability alerts 
Shawn Hernan, leader of the Cert team, said Bind was "arguably the
internet's single most important software package" and added: "This is
among the most serious vulnerabilities to affect the internet." 
Before they were quietly upgraded earlier this month, the internet's 13
root servers, that hold the master lists of which websites are where,
were vulnerable to this type of attack. 
Cert is typically happy to issue warnings via the net but this latest
vulnerability was so serious that it called a press conference and
publicly urged web server administrators to act straight away to close
the loophole. Worried webmasters should upgrade to secure versions of
Bind. 
Cert said that swift action was needed malicious hackers are known to
watch vulnerability alerts - sometimes more closely than many web
administrators. 
When Cert issued a warning about a hole in Bind in November 1999, the
number of attempts by malicious hackers to exploit this vulnerability
rose in the following couple of months. It expects exploitation of the
holes to be "widespread" very soon.

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