Top Ten Internet Security Threats (fwd)

Dave Dittrich dittrich at cac.washington.edu
Fri Jun 2 17:31:13 PDT 2000


================================================================
How To Eliminate The Ten Most Critical Internet Security Threats
The Experts' Consensus
Version 1.10  June 1, 2000
Copyright, 2000, The SANS Institute

Stop the Break-Ins! 
 
The majority of successful attacks on computer systems via the 
Internet can be traced to exploitation of one of a small number of 
security flaws. Most of the systems compromised in the Solar Sunrise 
Pentagon hacking incident were attacked through a single 
vulnerability.  A related flaw was exploited to break into many of the 
computers later used in massive distributed denial of service attacks. 
Recent compromises of Windows NT-based web servers are typically 
traced to entry via a well-known vulnerability. Another vulnerability 
is widely thought to be the means used to compromise more than 30,000 
Linux systems.

A few software vulnerabilities account for the majority of successful 
attacks because attackers are opportunistic - taking the easiest and 
most convenient route. They exploit the best-known flaws with the most 
effective and widely available attack tools. They count on 
organizations not fixing the problems, and they often attack 
indiscriminately, by scanning the Internet for vulnerable systems.
 
System administrators report that they have not corrected these flaws 
because they simply do not know which of over 500 potential problems 
are the ones that are most dangerous, and they are too busy to correct 
them all.

The information security community is meeting this problem head on by 
identifying the most critical Internet security problem areas - the 
clusters of vulnerabilities that system administrators need to 
eliminate immediately.  This consensus Top Ten list represents an 
unprecedented example of active cooperation among industry, 
government, and academia. The participants came together from the most 
security-conscious federal agencies, from the leading security 
software vendors and consulting firms, from the top university-based 
security programs, and from CERT/CC and the SANS Institute.  A 
complete list of participants may be found at the end of this article.


Here is the experts' list of the Ten Most Often Exploited Internet 
Security Flaws along with the actions needed to rid your systems of 
these vulnerabilities. 

Three Notes For Readers:
Note 1. This is a living document.  It includes initial, step-
by-step instructions and pointers for correcting the flaws. We 
will update these instructions as more current or convenient 
methods are identified and we welcome your input. This is a 
community consensus document - your experience in eliminating 
the vulnerabilities can help others who come after you. To make 
suggestions e-mail <info at sans.org> with the subject Top Ten 
Comments.  To get the latest version of the guidelines, e-mail 
<info at sans.org> with the subject Top Ten Fixes.

Note 2. You'll find references to CVE numbers - the Common 
Vulnerabilities and Exposures reference numbers that correspond 
with vulnerabilities.  CAN numbers are candidates for CVE 
entries that are not yet fully verified.  For more data on the 
award-winning CVE project, see http://cve.mitre.org. 

Note 3. At the end of the list, you'll find an extra section 
offering a list of the ports used by commonly probed and 
attacked services. By blocking traffic to those ports at the 
firewall or other network perimeter protection device, you add 
an extra layer of defense that helps protect you from 
configuration mistakes. 

=========================================================


Contents
1. BIND weaknesses: nxt, qinv and in.named allow immediate root
compromise.
2. Vulnerable CGI programs and application extensions (e.g.,
ColdFusion) installed on web servers.
3. Remote Procedure Call (RPC) weaknesses in rpc.ttdbserverd (ToolTalk),
rpc.cmsd (Calendar Manager), and rpc.statd that allow immediate root
compromise
4. RDS security hole in the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS).
5. Sendmail buffer overflow weaknesses, pipe attacks and MIMEbo, that
allow immediate root compromise.
6. sadmind and mountd
7. Global file sharing and inappropriate information sharing via NFS and
Windows NT ports 135->139 (445 in Windows2000) or UNIX NFS exports on port
2049. Also Appletalk over IP with Macintosh file sharing enabled.
8. User IDs, especially root/administrator with no passwords or weak
passwords.
9. IMAP and POP buffer overflow vulnerabilities or incorrect
configuration.
10. Default SNMP community strings set to 'public' and 'private.'

Plus: A High Priority Bonus Item for Windows Users and Administrators
Various Scripting Holes in Internet Explorer and Office2000

Perimeter Protection For An Added Layer of Defense In Depth

List of Participants

===========================================================


1. BIND weaknesses: nxt, qinv and in.named allow immediate root 
compromise.

The Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) package is the most widely 
used implementation of Domain Name Service (DNS) -- the critical means 
by which we all locate systems on the Internet by name (e.g., 
www.sans.org) without having to know specific IP addresses -- and this 
makes it a favorite target for attack. Sadly, according to a mid-1999 
survey, about 50% of all DNS servers connected to the Internet are 
running vulnerable versions of BIND. In a typical example of a BIND 
attack, intruders erased the system logs, and installed tools to gain 
administrative access. They then compiled and installed IRC utilities 
and network scanning tools, which they used to scan more than a dozen 
class-B networks in search of additional systems running vulnerable 
versions of BIND. In a matter of minutes, they had used the 
compromised system to attack hundreds of remote systems abroad, 
resulting in many additional successful compromises. This illustrates 
the chaos that can result from a single vulnerability in the software 
for ubiquitous Internet services such as DNS. 

Systems Affected: 
Multiple UNIX and Linux systems
As of May 22, 2000, any version earlier than BIND v.8.2.2 patch level 
5 is vulnerable. 
 

CVE Entries: 
nxt CVE-1999-0833
qinv CVE-1999-0009

Other related entries CVE-1999-0835, CVE-1999-0848, CVE-1999-0849, 
CVE-1999-0851

Advice on correcting the problem:
A. Disable the BIND name daemon (named) on all systems that are not 
authorized to be DNS servers.   Some experts recommend you also remove 
the DNS software.

B. On machines that are authorized DNS servers, update to the latest 
version and patch level (as of May 22, 2000, latest version was 8.2.2 
patch level 5)
Use the guidance contained in the following advisories:
For the NXT vulnerability: 
 -- http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-99-14-bind.html
For the QINV (Inverse Query) and NAMED vulnerabilities:
 -- http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-98.05.bind_problems.html
 -- http://www.cert.org/summaries/CS-98.04.html

C. Run BIND as a non-privileged user for protection in the event of 
future remote-compromise attacks.  (However, only processes running as 
root can be configured to use ports below 1024 - a requirement for 
DNS.  Therefore you must configure BIND to change the user-id after 
binding to the port.)

D. Run BIND in a chroot()ed directory structure for protection in the 
event of future remote-compromise attacks. 


2. Vulnerable CGI programs and application extensions (e.g., 
ColdFusion) installed on web servers.

Most web servers support Common Gateway Interface (CGI) programs to 
provide interactivity in web pages, such as data collection and 
verification. Many web servers come with sample CGI programs installed 
by default. Unfortunately, many CGI programmers fail to consider ways 
in which their programs may be misused or subverted to execute 
malicious commands. Vulnerable CGI programs present a particularly 
attractive target to intruders because they are relatively easy to 
locate, and they operate with the privileges and power of the web 
server software itself. Intruders are known to have exploited 
vulnerable CGI programs to vandalize web pages, steal credit card 
information, and set up back doors to enable future intrusions, even 
if the CGI programs are secured. When Janet Reno's picture was 
replaced by that of Adolph Hitler at the Department of Justice web 
site, an in-depth assessment concluded that a CGI hole was the most 
probable avenue of compromise.  Allaire's ColdFusion is a web server 
application package which includes vulnerable sample programs when 
installed. As a general rule, sample programs should always be removed 
from production systems.  
 
Systems Affected: 
All web servers. 

CVE Entries: 

Sample CGI programs
CAN-1999-0736
CVE-1999-0067
CVE-1999-0068
CVE-1999-0270
CVE-1999-0346
CVE-2000-0207

Most important CGI Vulnerabilities not including sample programs
CAN-1999-0467
CAN-1999-0509
CVE-1999-0021
CVE-1999-0039
CVE-1999-0058
CVE-1999-0147
CVE-1999-0148
CVE-1999-0149
CVE-1999-0174
CVE-1999-0177
CVE-1999-0178
CVE-1999-0237
CVE-1999-0262
CVE-1999-0279
CVE-1999-0771
CVE-1999-0951
CVE-2000-0012
CVE-2000-0039
CVE-2000-0208


ColdFusion Sample Program Vulnerabilities
CAN-1999-0455
CAN-1999-0922
CAN-1999-0923

ColdFusion Other Vulnerability
CAN-1999-0760
CVE-2000-0057

Advice on correcting the problem:
A. Do not run web servers as root 

B. Get rid of CGI script interpreters in bin directories: 
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-96.11.interpreters_in_cgi_bin_dir.html

C. Remove unsafe CGI scripts
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-97.07.nph-test-cgi_script.html
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-96.06.cgi_example_code.html
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-97.12.webdist.html

D. Write safer CGI programs:
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/developer/library/secure-cgi/
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/cgi_metacharacters.html
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-97.24.Count_cgi.html

E.  Don't configure CGI support on Web servers that don't need it.

F.  Run your Web server in a chroot()ed environment to protect the 
machine against yet to be discovered exploits


3. Remote Procedure Call (RPC) weaknesses in rpc.ttdbserverd 
(ToolTalk), rpc.cmsd (Calendar Manager), and rpc.statd that allow 
immediate root compromise

Remote procedure calls (RPC) allow programs on one computer to execute 
programs on a second computer.  They are widely-used to access network 
services such as shared files in NFS.  Multiple vulnerabilities caused 
by flaws in RPC, are being actively exploited.  There is compelling 
evidence that the vast majority of the distributed denial of service 
attacks launched during 1999 and early 2000 were executed by systems 
that had been victimized because they had the RPC vulnerabilities.  
The broadly successful attack on U.S. military systems during the 
Solar Sunrise incident also exploited an RPC flaw found on hundreds of 
Department of Defense systems.

Systems Affected: 
Multiple UNIX and Linux systems

CVE Entries: 
rpc.ttdbserverd - CVE-1999-0687, CVE-1999-0003, CVE-1999-0693 (-0687 
is newer than -0003, but both allow root from remote attackers and 
it's likely that -0003 is still around a LOT; -0693 is only locally 
exploitable, but does give root)

rpc.cmsd - CVE-1999-0696

rpc.statd - CVE-1999-0018, CVE-1999-0019.

Advice on correcting the problem:

A. Wherever possible, turn off and/or remove these services on 
machines directly accessible from the Internet.

B. Where you must run them, install the latest patches:
For Solaris Software Patches:
 --http://sunsolve.sun.com
For IBM AIX Software
 --
http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/support/rs6000.support/downloads
 --http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/rs6k/fixes.html
For SGI Software Patches:
 --http://www.sgi.com/support/path_intro.html
For Compaq (Digital Unix) Patches:
 --http://www.compaq.com/support

Search the vendor patch database for tooltalk patches and install them 
right away.

A summary document pointing to specific guidance about each of three 
principal RPC vulnerabilities may be found at:
http://www.cert.org/incident_notes/IN-99-04.html

For statdd: 
 - http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-99-05-statd-automountd.html 
For ToolTalk: 
 - http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-98.11.tooltalk.html
For Calendar Manager: 
 - http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-99-08-cmsd.html

 
4. RDS security hole in the Microsoft Internet Information Server 
(IIS).

Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) is the web server 
software found on most web sites deployed on Microsoft Windows NT and 
Windows 2000 servers.  Programming flaws in IIS's Remote Data Services 
(RDS) are being employed by malicious users to run remote commands 
with administrator privileges.  Some participants who developed the 
"Top Ten" list believe that exploits of other IIS flaws, such as .HTR 
files, are at least as common as exploits of RDS. Prudence dictates 
that organizations using IIS install patches or upgrades to correct 
all known IIS security flaws when they install patches or upgrades to 
fix the RDS flaw. 

Systems Affected: 
Microsoft Windows NT systems using Internet Information Server

CVE Entries: 
CVE-1999-1011

Advice on correcting the problem:

A. Implement custom handlers AND delete the references to VBBusObj at 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Services/W3SVC/Parameters/
ADCLaunch/VbBusObj.VbBusObjCls

B. Use the information posted by Microsoft to disable the service or 
correct the RDS vulnerability and all other security flaws in IIS. 
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q184/3/75.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms98-004.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms99-025.asp

5. Sendmail buffer overflow weaknesses, pipe attacks and MIMEbo, that 
allow immediate root compromise.

Sendmail is the program that sends, receives, and forwards most 
electronic mail processed on UNIX and Linux computers.  Sendmail's 
widespread use on the Internet makes it a prime target of attackers.  
Several flaws have been found over the years.  The very first advisory 
issued by CERT/CC in 1988 made reference to an exploitable weakness in 
sendmail.  In one of the most common exploits, the attacker sends a 
crafted mail message to the machine running Sendmail, and Sendmail 
reads the message as instructions requiring the victim machine to send 
its password file to the attacker's machine (or to another victim) 
where the passwords can be cracked.

Systems Affected: 
Multiple UNIX and Linux systems

CVE Entries: 
CVE-1999-0047, CVE-1999-0130, CVE-1999-0131, CVE-1999-0203, CVE-1999-
0204, CVE-1999-0206. 
CVE-1999-0130 is locally exploitable only.

Advice on correcting the problem:

A. Implement patches for sendmail. See
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-97.05.sendmail.html

B. Do not run Sendmail in daemon mode (turn off the -bd switch) on 
machines that are neither mail servers nor mail relays.

C. Consider running an alternate Mail Transfer Agent such as Postfix, 
QMail, or Exim. More information may be found at www.postfix.org, 
www.qmail.org, www.exim.org. (Note, however, that these programs are 
not transparent replacements, and may have weaknesses of their own 
that have yet to be discovered.)

6. sadmind and mountd

Sadmind allows remote administration access to Solaris systems, 
providing graphical access to system administration functions.  Mountd 
controls and arbitrates access to NFS mounts on UNIX hosts.  Buffer 
overflows in these applications can be exploited allowing attackers to 
gain control with root access.

Systems Affected: 
Multiple UNIX and Linux systems
Sadmind: Solaris machines only

CVE Entries: 
sadmind - CVE-1999-0977

mountd - CVE-1999-0002.

Advice on correcting the problem:

A. Wherever possible, turn off and/or remove these services on 
machines directly accessible from the Internet. 

B. Install the latest patches:
For Solaris Software Patches:
 --http://sunsolve.sun.com
For IBM AIX Software
 --
http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/support/rs6000.support/downloads
 --http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/rs6k/fixes.html
For SGI Software Patches:
 --http://www.sgi.com/support/path_intro.html
For Compaq (Digital Unix) Patches:
 --http://www.compaq.com/support
C. More guidance at:
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-99-16-sadmind.html 
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-98.12.mountd.html 


7. Global file sharing and inappropriate information sharing via NFS 
and Windows NT ports 135->139 (445 in Windows2000) or UNIX NFS exports 
on port 2049. Also Appletalk over IP with Macintosh file sharing 
enabled.

These services allow file sharing over networks.  When improperly 
configured, they can expose critical system files or give full file 
system access to any hostile party connected to the network.  Many 
computer owners and administrators use these services to make their 
file systems readable and writeable in an effort to improve the 
convenience of data access.  Administrators of a government computer 
site used for software development for mission planning made their 
files world readable so people at a different government facility 
could get easy access. Within two days, other people had discovered 
the open file shares and stolen the mission planning software.

When file sharing is enabled on Windows machines they become 
vulnerable to both information theft and certain types of quick-moving 
viruses. A recently released virus called the 911 Worm uses file 
shares on Windows 95 and 98 systems to propagate and causes the 
victim's computer to dial 911 on its modem.   Macintosh computers are 
also vulnerable to file sharing exploits.

The same NetBIOS mechanisms that permit Windows File Sharing may also 
be used to enumerate sensitive system information from NT systems.  
User and Group information (usernames, last logon dates, password 
policy, RAS information), system information, and certain Registry 
keys may be accessed via a "null session" connection to the NetBIOS 
Session Service.  This information is typically used to mount a 
password guessing or brute force password attack against the NT 
target.

Systems Affected: 
UNIX, Windows, and Macintosh systems.

CVE Entries: 
SMB shares with poor access control - CAN-1999-0520
NFS exports to the world - CAN-1999-0554
These candidate entries are likely to change significantly before 
being accepted as full CVE entries.

Advice on correcting the problem:

A. When sharing mounted drives, ensure only required directories are 
shared.

B. For added security, allow sharing only to specific IP addresses 
because DNS names can be spoofed. 

C. For Windows systems, ensure all shares are protected with strong 
passwords.

D. For Windows NT systems, prevent anonymous enumeration of users, 
groups, system configuration and registry keys via the "null session" 
connection.  
Block inbound connections to the NetBIOS Session Service (tcp 139) at 
the router or the NT host.
Consider implementing the RestrictAnonymous registry key for Internet-
connected hosts in standalone or non-trusted domain environments:
NT4: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q143/4/74.asp
Win2000: 
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q246/2/61.ASP

E. For Macintosh systems, disable file sharing and web sharing
extensions unless absolutely required. If file sharing must be 
enabled,
ensure strong passwords for access, and stop file sharing during 
periods
in which it is not required.
http://www.cert.org/incident_notes/IN-2000-02.html

 

8. User IDs, especially root/administrator with no passwords or weak 
passwords.

Some systems come with "demo" or "guest" accounts with no passwords or 
with widely-known default passwords.  Service workers often leave 
maintenance accounts with no passwords, and some database management 
systems install administration accounts with default passwords. In 
addition, busy system administrators often select system passwords 
that are easily guessable ("love," "money," "wizard" are common) or 
just use a blank password.  Default passwords provide effortless 
access for attackers.  Many attackers try default passwords and then 
try to guess passwords before resorting to more sophisticated methods.  
Compromised user accounts get the attackers inside the firewall and 
inside the target machine. Once inside, most attackers can use widely-
accessible exploits to gain root or administrator access. 
 

Systems Affected: 
All systems.

CVE Entries: 
Unix guessable (weak) password - CAN-1999-0501
Unix default or blank password - CAN-1999-0502
NT guessable (weak) password - CAN-1999-0503
NT default or blank password - CAN-1999-0504
These candidate entries are likely to change significantly before 
being accepted as full CVE entries.

Advice on correcting the problem:
A. Create an acceptable password policy including assigned 
responsibility and frequency for verifying password quality.  Ensure 
senior executives are not exempted.  Also include in the policy a 
requirement to change all default passwords before attaching computers 
to the Internet, with substantial penalties for non-compliance.

B1. VERY IMPORTANT! Obtain written authority to test passwords

B2. Test passwords with password cracking programs:
	For Windows NT: l0pthcrack http://www.l0pht.com
	For UNIX: Crack http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~crypto

C. Implement utilities that check passwords when created.
For UNIX: Npasswd,  
http://www.utexas.edu/cc/unix/software/npasswd
For Windows NT: 
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q161/9/90.asp

D. Force passwords to expire periodically (at a frequency established 
in your security policy).

E. Maintain password histories so users cannot recycle old passwords.

Additional information may be found at:
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/passwd_file_protection.html
http://www.cert.org/incident_notes/IN-98.03.html
http://www.cert.org/incident_notes/IN-98.01.irix.html

9. IMAP and POP buffer overflow vulnerabilities or incorrect 
configuration.

IMAP and POP are popular remote access mail protocols, allowing users 
to access their e-mail accounts from internal and external networks.  
The "open access" nature of these services makes them especially 
vulnerable to exploitation because openings are frequently left in 
firewalls to allow for external e-mail access.  Attackers who exploit 
flaws in IMAP or POP often gain instant root-level control.

Systems Affected: 
Multiple UNIX and Linux systems

CVE Entries: 
CVE-1999-0005, CVE-1999-0006, CVE-1999-0042, CVE-1999-0920, CVE-2000-
0091

Advice on correcting the problem:

A. Disable these services on machines that are not e-mail servers.

B. Use the latest patches and versions.
Additional information may be found at:
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-98.09.imapd.html
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-98.08.qpopper_vul.html
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-97.09.imap_pop.html

C. Some of the experts also recommend controlling access to these 
services using TCP wrappers and encrypted channels such as SSH and SSL 
to protect passwords.

10. Default SNMP community strings set to 'public' and 'private.'

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is widely used by 
network administrators to monitor and administer all types of network-
connected devices ranging from routers to printers to computers.  SNMP 
uses an unencrypted "community string" as its only authentication 
mechanism.  Lack of encryption is bad enough, but the default 
community string used by the vast majority of SNMP devices is 
"public", with a few "clever" network equipment vendors changing the 
string to "private".  Attackers can use this vulnerability in SNMP to 
reconfigure or shut down devices remotely.  Sniffed SNMP traffic can 
reveal a great deal about the structure of your network, as well as 
the systems and devices attached to it. Intruders use such information 
to pick targets and plan attacks.

Systems Affected: 

All system and network devices.

CVE Entries: 
default or blank SNMP community name (public) - CAN-1999-0517
guessable SNMP community name - CAN-1999-0516
hidden SNMP community strings - CAN-1999-0254, CAN-1999-0186
These candidate entries are likely to change significantly before 
being accepted as full CVE entries.


Advice on correcting the problem:

A. If you do not absolutely require SNMP, disable it.

B. If you are using SNMP, use the same policy for community names as 
used for passwords described in Vulnerability Cluster Number 8 above.

C. Validate and check community names using snmpwalk.

D. Where possible make MIBs read only.

Additional information:
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/ito_doc/snmp.htm#xtocid210315

A High Priority Bonus Item for Windows Users and Administrators
Various Scripting Holes in Internet Explorer and Office2000

Recent virus attacks have illustrated how macro and script code could 
spread easily through e-mail attachments, and people were admonished 
to avoid opening potentially dangerous attachments. However, Windows 
users can also spread malicious viruses without opening attachments. 
Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express will execute HTML and script 
code in an e-mail in their default installations. In addition, several 
so-called ActiveX components are incorrectly executable from an e-mail 
containing HTML and script code. Some of the vulnerable controls 
include the  Scriplet.typlib (ships with IE 4.x and 5.x) and the UA 
control (Office 2000). Other vulnerabilities arising from the use of 
Active Scripting are that an e-mail could be used to install new 
software on a users computer.

A relatively benign virus known as the kak worm is already spreading 
through these mechanisms.  A malicious version of kak can be 
anticipated at any time. We recommend that all users and 
administrators set Outlook and Outlook Express to read e-mail in the 
"Restricted Sites Zone" and then further disable all Active Scripting 
and ActiveX related settings in that zone. This is done in the Options 
dialog's Security tab, but can be automated using System Policies. 
Microsoft has made patches available for the individual problems and 
is readying a patch which will set the security settings in Outlook, 
but apparently has no plans on fixing Outlook Express.

Systems Affected:

All Windows systems with Internet Explorer 4.x and 5.x (even if it is 
not
used) or Office 2000. Windows 2000 is not affected by some of the IE 
issues.

CVE Entries:
CVE-1999-0668
CAN-2000-0329

Advice on correcting the problem:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/ms99-032.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/MS99-048.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS00-034.asp

The fixes for the particular vulnerabilities discussed here are 
available
from:
http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/iebuild/scriptlet/en/scriptlet.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/iebuild/ascontrol/en/ascontrol.htm
http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/info/ocx.htm

Set your Security Zone to restricted sites and then disable all active 
content in that zone
Apply the patch to Outlook as soon as it becomes available at:
http://www.officeupdate.com/2000/articles/out2ksecarticle.htm

Updating your virus detection software, while important, is not a 
complete solution for this problem. You must also correct the flaws in 
Microsoft's software.


Perimeter Protection For An Added Layer of Defense In Depth

In this section, we list ports that are commonly probed and attacked.  
Blocking these ports is a minimum requirement for perimeter security, 
not a comprehensive firewall specification list.  A far better rule is 
to block all unused ports.  And even if you believe these ports are 
blocked, you should still actively monitor them to detect intrusion 
attempts. A warning is also in order. Blocking some of the ports in 
the following list may disable needed services.  Please consider the 
potential effects of these recommendations before implementing them.
 
1) Block "spoofed" addresses-- packets coming from outside your 
company sourced from internal addresses or private (RFC1918 and 
network 127) addresses.  Also block source routed packets.

2) Login services-- telnet (23/tcp), SSH (22/tcp), FTP (21/tcp), 
NetBIOS (139/tcp), rlogin et al (512/tcp through 514/tcp)

3) RPC and NFS-- Portmap/rpcbind (111/tcp and 111/udp), NFS (2049/tcp 
and 2049/udp), lockd (4045/tcp and 4045/udp)

4) NetBIOS in Windows NT --  135 (tcp and udp), 137 (udp), 138 (udp), 
139 (tcp).  Windows 2000 - earlier ports plus 445(tcp and udp)

5) X Windows -- 6000/tcp through 6255/tcp

6) Naming services-- DNS (53/udp) to all machines which are not DNS 
servers, DNS zone transfers (53/tcp) except from external secondaries, 
LDAP (389/tcp and 389/udp)

7) Mail-- SMTP (25/tcp) to all machines, which are not external mail 
relays, POP (109/tcp and 110/tcp), IMAP (143/tcp)

8) Web-- HTTP (80/tcp) and SSL (443/tcp) except to external Web 
servers, may also want to block common high-order HTTP port choices 
(8000/tcp, 8080/tcp, 8888/tcp, etc.)

9) "Small Services"-- ports below 20/tcp and 20/udp, time (37/tcp and 
37/udp)

10) Miscellaneous-- TFTP (69/udp), finger (79/tcp), NNTP (119/tcp), 
NTP (123/tcp), LPD (515/tcp), syslog (514/udp), SNMP (161/tcp and 
161/udp, 162/tcp and 162/udp), BGP (179/tcp), SOCKS (1080/tcp)

11) ICMP-- block incoming echo request (ping and Windows traceroute), 
block outgoing echo replies, time exceeded, and unreachable messages

Signatories:
Randy Marchany, Virginia Tech
Scott Conti, University of Massachusetts
Matt Bishop, University of California, Davis
Lance Spitzner, Sun Microsystems GESS Security Team
Alan Paller, SANS Institute
Stephen Northcutt, SANS Institute
Eric Cole, SANS Institute
Gene Spafford, Purdue University CERIAS
Jim Ransome, Pilot Network Services
Frank Swift, Pilot Network Services
Jim Magdych, Network Associates, Inc.
Jimmy Kuo, Network Associates, Inc.
Igor Gashinsky, NetSec, Inc.
Greg Shipley, Neohapsis
Tony Sager, National Security Agency 
Larry Merritt, National Security Agency
Bill Hill, MITRE
Steve Christey, MITRE
Viriya Upatising, Loxley Information Services Co.
Marcus Sachs, JTF-CND, US Department of Defense
Billy Austin, Intrusion.com
Christopher W. Klaus, Internet Security Systems
Wayne Stenson, Honeywell
Martin Roesch, Hiverworld, Inc.
Jeff Stutzman, Healthcare ISAC
Ed Skoudis, Global Integrity
Gene Schultz, Global Integrity
Kelly Cooper, Genuity
Eric Schultze, Foundstone
Bill Hancock, Exodus Communications
Ron Nguyen, Ernst & Young
Lee Brotzman, DoJCERT, Allied Technology Group, Inc.
Scott Lawler, DoD Cert
Hal Pomeranz, Deer Run Associates
Bruce Schneier, Counterpane Internet Security, Inc.
Shawn Hernan, CERT Coordination Center
Kathy Fithen, CERT Coordination Center
Derek Simmel, Carnegie Mellon University
Jesper Johansson, Boston University
Dave Mann, BindView
Rob Clyde, Axent
David Nolan, Arch Paging
Mudge, @stake





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