Re: [pgsql-www] FW: (AUSCERT ESB-2003.0563) CERT Advisory CA-2003-21

From: Justin Clift <justin(at)postgresql(dot)org>
To: The Hermit Hacker <scrappy(at)postgresql(dot)org>
Cc: pgsql-www(at)postgresql(dot)org, PostgreSQL Advocacy and Marketing Mailing List <pgsql-advocacy(at)postgresql(dot)org>
Subject: Re: [pgsql-www] FW: (AUSCERT ESB-2003.0563) CERT Advisory CA-2003-21
Date: 2003-08-14 06:09:32
Message-ID: 3F3B279C.4000200@postgresql.org
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Ouch.

Wu-FTPd has probably the worst track record on the planet for FTP vulnerabilities.

:(

There are quite a few others out there. From memory, Red Hat 9 has changed to one called "VSFTPd" by default.

Personally, in regards to knowing which FTP server is the best, I'm better to leave it to others to figure that one out.

:)

Regards and best wishes,

Justin Clift

The Hermit Hacker wrote:
> any idea what version of ftp they are/were running? I may be blind, but I
> dont' see it in the announce, and its not showing up when you ftp into
> them :( We're running a fairly recent wu-ftpd, but just want to make
> sure:
>
> Version wu-2.6.2(1) Wed Jun 4 18:22:39 GMT 2003
>
> On Thu, 14 Aug 2003, Justin Clift wrote:
>
>
>>Hi guys,
>>
>>Not sure if people have or haven't seen this already.
>>
>>The GNU Project's FTP servers were root compromised some time ago, and it was only discovered recently.
>>
>>:-(
>>
>>Regards and best wishes,
>>
>>Justin Clift
>>
>>
>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: auscert(at)auscert(dot)org(dot)au
>>>Sent: Thursday, 14 August 2003 1:59 pm
>>>To: auscert-subscriber(at)auscert(dot)org(dot)au
>>>Subject: (AUSCERT ESB-2003.0563) CERT Advisory CA-2003-21 - GNU Project FTP Server Compromise
>>>
>>>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>>>
>>>===========================================================================
>>> AUSCERT External Security Bulletin Redistribution
>>>
>>> ESB-2003.0563 -- CERT Advisory CA-2003-21
>>> GNU Project FTP Server Compromise
>>> 14 August 2003
>>>
>>>===========================================================================
>>>
>>> AusCERT Security Bulletin Summary
>>> ---------------------------------
>>>
>>>Product: GNU Software
>>>Publisher: CERT/CC
>>>Impact: Root Compromise
>>> Execute Arbitrary Code/Commands
>>>Access Required: Remote
>>>
>>>- --------------------------BEGIN INCLUDED TEXT--------------------
>>>
>>>- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>>>
>>>CERT Advisory CA-2003-21 GNU Project FTP Server Compromise
>>>
>>> Original issue date: August 13, 2003
>>> Last revised: --
>>> Source: CERT/CC
>>>
>>> A complete revision history is at the end of this file.
>>>
>>>Overview
>>>
>>> The CERT/CC has received a report that the system housing the primary
>>> FTP servers for the GNU software project was compromised.
>>>
>>>I. Description
>>>
>>> The GNU Project, principally sponsored by the Free Software Foundation
>>> (FSF), produces a variety of freely available software. The CERT/CC
>>> has learned that the system housing the primary FTP servers for the
>>> GNU software project, gnuftp.gnu.org, was root compromised by an
>>> intruder. The more common host names of ftp.gnu.org and alpha.gnu.org
>>> are aliases for the same compromised system. The compromise is
>>> reported to have occurred in March of 2003.
>>>
>>> The FSF has released an announcement describing the incident.
>>>
>>> Because this system serves as a centralized archive of popular
>>> software, the insertion of malicious code into the distributed
>>> software is a serious threat. As the above announcement indicates,
>>> however, no source code distributions are believed to have been>
>>> maliciously modified at this time.
>>>
>>>II. Impact
>>>
>>> The potential exists for an intruder to have inserted back doors,
>>> Trojan horses, or other malicious code into the source code
>>> distributions of software housed on the compromised system.
>>>
>>>III. Solution
>>>
>>> We encourage sites using the GNU software obtained from the
>>> compromised system to verify the integrity of their distribution.
>>>
>>> Sites that mirror the source code are encouraged to verify the
>>> integrity of their sources. We also encourage users to inspect any and
>>> all other software that may have been downloaded from the compromised
>>> site. Note that it is not always sufficient to rely on the timestamps
>>> or file sizes when trying to determine whether or not a copy of the
>>> file has been modified.
>>>
>>>Verifying checksums
>>>
>>> The FSF has produced PGP-signed lists of known-good MD5 hashes of the
>>> software packages housed on the compromised server. These lists can be
>>> found at
>>>
>>> ftp://ftp.gnu.org/before-2003-08-01.md5sums.asc
>>> ftp://alpha.gnu.org/before-2003-08-01.md5sums.asc
>>>
>>> Note that both of these files and the announcement above are signed by
>>> Bradley Kuhn, Executive Director of the FSF, with the following PGP
>>> key:
>>>
>>>pub 1024D/DB41B387 1999-12-09 Bradley M. Kuhn <bkuhn(at)fsf(dot)org>
>>> Key fingerprint = 4F40 645E 46BE 0131 48F9 92F6 E775 E324 DB41 B387
>>>uid Bradley M. Kuhn (bkuhn99) <bkuhn(at)ebb(dot)org>
>>>uid Bradley M. Kuhn <bkuhn(at)gnu(dot)org>
>>>sub 2048g/75CA9CB3 1999-12-09
>>>
>>> The CERT/CC believes this key to be valid.
>>>
>>> As a matter of good security practice, the CERT/CC encourages users to
>>> verify, whenever possible, the integrity of downloaded software. For
>>> more information, see IN-2001-06.
>>>
>>>Appendix A. - Vendor Information
>>>
>>> This appendix contains information provided by vendors for this
>>> advisory. As vendors report new information to the CERT/CC, we will
>>> update this section and note the changes in our revision history. If a
>>> particular vendor is not listed below, we have not received their
>>> comments.
>>>
>>>Free Software Foundation
>>>
>>>
>>> The current files on alpha.gnu.org and ftp.gnu.org as of 2003-08-02 have
>>> all been verified, and their md5sums and the reasons we believe the
>>> md5sums can be trusted are in:
>>>
>>> ftp://ftp.gnu.org/before-2003-08-01.md5sums.asc
>>> ftp://alpha.gnu.org/before-2003-08-01.md5sums.asc
>>>
>>> We are updating that file and the site as we confirm good md5sums of
>>> additional files. It is theoretically possible that downloads between
>>> March 2003 and July 2003 might have been source-compromised, so we
>>> encourage everyone to re-download sources and compare with the current
>>> copies for files on the site.
>>>
>>>Appendix B. References
>>>
>>> * FSF announcement regarding the incident -
>>> ftp://ftp.gnu.org/MISSING-FILES.README
>>> * CERT Incident Note IN-2001-06 -
>>> http://www.cert.org/incident_notes/IN-2001-06.html
>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>>
>>> The CERT/CC thanks Bradley Kuhn and Brett Smith of the Free Software
>>> Foundation for their timely assistance in this matter.
>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>>
>>> Feedback can be directed to the author: Chad Dougherty.
>>> ______________________________________________________________________
>>>
>>> This document is available from:
>>> http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2003-21.html
>>> ______________________________________________________________________
>>>
>>>CERT/CC Contact Information
>>>
>>> Email: cert(at)cert(dot)org
>>> Phone: +1 412-268-7090 (24-hour hotline)
>>> Fax: +1 412-268-6989>
>>> Postal address:
>>> CERT Coordination Center
>>> Software Engineering Institute
>>> Carnegie Mellon University
>>> Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890
>>> U.S.A.
>>>
>>> CERT/CC personnel answer the hotline 08:00-17:00 EST(GMT-5) /
>>> EDT(GMT-4) Monday through Friday; they are on call for emergencies
>>> during other hours, on U.S. holidays, and on weekends.
>>>
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>>>
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>>> Our public PGP key is available from
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>>>
>>> If you prefer to use DES, please call the CERT hotline for more
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>>>
>>>Getting security information
>>>
>>> CERT publications and other security information are available from
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>>>
>>> To subscribe to the CERT mailing list for advisories and bulletins,
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>>> * "CERT" and "CERT Coordination Center" are registered in the U.S.
>>> Patent and Trademark Office.
>>> ______________________________________________________________________
>>>
>>> NO WARRANTY
>>> Any material furnished by Carnegie Mellon University and the Software
>>> Engineering Institute is furnished on an "as is" basis. Carnegie
>>> Mellon University makes no warranties of any kind, either expressed or
>>> implied as to any matter including, but not limited to, warranty of
>>> fitness for a particular purpose or merchantability, exclusivity or
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>>> does not make any warranty of any kind with respect to freedom from
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>>> ______________________________________________________________________
>>>
>>> Conditions for use, disclaimers, and sponsorship information
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>>> Copyright 2002 Carnegie Mellon University.
>>>
>>> Revision History
>>>August 13, 2003: Initial release
>>>
>>>- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
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>>>- -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>>>
>>>- --------------------------END INCLUDED TEXT--------------------
>>>
>>>You have received this e-mail bulletin as a result of your organisation's
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>>>Previous advisories and external security bulletins can be retrieved from:
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>>>If you believe that your computer system has been compromised or attacked in
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>>>
>>>Internet Email: auscert(at)auscert(dot)org(dot)au
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>>>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
>>>Comment: http://www.auscert.org.au/render.html?it=1967
>>>
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>>>-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>>
>>
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>
>
> Marc G. Fournier ICQ#7615664 IRC Nick: Scrappy
> Systems Administrator @ hub.org
> primary: scrappy(at)hub(dot)org secondary: scrappy(at){freebsd|postgresql}.org

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