October 2003 - NZNOG - lists.nznog.org

Re: New and unacknowledged Exchange / Win2k SMTP vulnerability?
by John Rothlisberger 29 Oct '03

29 Oct '03

I would *strongly* recommend against EVER running Exchange as your Internet-facing SMTP server. Use a *nix box as a proxy. There have been too many [unacknowledged] bugs/holes in MS Exchange, and troubleshooting something that hasn't been acknowledged by the manufacturer can have you thinking that you've gone crazy. Using a *proper* SMTP server to sanity check incoming connections is the only way to go with Exchange, even for small customers -- the risks are pretty high otherwise. And while you're at it throw SpamAssassin/Antivirus on it and kill multiple birds, et al. My COP$35.28 --John R?thlisberger

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RE: [nznog] New and unacknowledged Exchange / Win2k SMTPvulnerabi lity?
by Neil Gardner 28 Oct '03

28 Oct '03

Hmm, I guess the extention of your argument is that presumably SCO will give me a discount on my license for any vulnerability I find in any flavour of Linux in the world? :-) Not directed at you, and I too will stop right there :-) -- Cheers - Neil Gardner Networking and Security Support Engineer Renaissance Brands Ltd (09) 968-3681 / (021) 746-345 -----Original Message----- From: Barry Murphy [mailto:barry(a)unix.co.nz] Sent: Wednesday, 29 October 2003 12:52 p.m. To: Nathan Mercer; nznog(a)list.waikato.ac.nz Subject: Re: [nznog] New and unacknowledged Exchange / Win2k SMTPvulnerability? Is there a reward for reporting a vulnrability? Surely if the end user is having to find bugs then MS isn't spending enough to secure it's software. Not directed at you and i'll stop there. Barry

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RE: [nznog] New and unacknowledged Exchange / Win2k SMTPvulnerability?
by Nathan Mercer 28 Oct '03

28 Oct '03

So just to be clear, a new and unacknowledged Exchange or Windows 2000 vulnerability has not been discovered here right? We want to know about vulnerabilities (not mis-configurations) If you do wish to report a suspected security vulnerability please either contact myself directly, log the details on https://s.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/alertus.asp or email secure(a)microsoft.com (PGP key is on https://s.microsoft.com/technet/security/MSRC.asc ) Details of our vulnerability handling processes are on http://microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/msrpracs.asp Regards Nathan Technology Specialist Microsoft NZ ________________________________ From: Geoff Williams [mailto:geoff(a)katnet.com.au] Sent: Tuesday, 28 October 2003 11:26 a.m. To: nznog(a)list.waikato.ac.nz Subject: FW: [nznog] New and unacknowledged Exchange / Win2k SMTPvulnerability? Further to my earlier post, Neil G has pointed me correctly to an SMTP AUTH attack. I have used the logs of the ORF tool to pinpoint which accounts have been compromised. Strangely the spammers are trying to work out why, even if they authenticate, they can't relay, so there is a lot of traffic to watch and learn from. A large number of their connections are being blocked by the IP blacklists I have selected. I had originally blocked 2 Class A IP ranges at our router after watching the traffic and finding that they were allocated to a provider in China. But I am not 100% sure that IP addresses are not being spoofed as they seem to have a huge range of Class A and B addresses available to them and I was really chasing my tail trying to block them at that level. So now I have a new password generator and will start training the mind to work with 12 or more character passwords. Hope this is of assistance to others. Geoff Williams -----Original Message----- From: Geoff Williams Sent: Monday, 27 October 2003 11:01 PM To: nznog(a)list.waikato.ac.nz Subject: [nznog] New and unacknowledged Exchange / Win2k SMTP vulnerability? Hi All I have exactly the same open-relay problem, including the sending servers and addresses, and have been struggling to diagnose for a few weeks. I had a hunch that the hack may involve the SystemMailbox account (which of course is disabled), but this was based on checking security logs and seeing who was logged in at the same time as the spam was dumped into the queue. I have got around it for the moment (I hope) by loading the ORF relay and spam tool but I would really like to know how this hack is being perpetrated as I have a whole stack of other Exchange servers to look after and I really don't want this to get out of control... So if anyone has made any progress I would really appreciated you sharing your experience. Thanks ______________ Geoffrey Williams KAT International T: 02 9904 3137 F: 02 9904 0232 M: 0417 281 905 ________________________________ size=2 width="100%" align=center> This email is confidential and intended for the recipient only. If you have received it in error please delete it immediately.

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RE: [nznog] Domain Names NZ scam
by Paul Adshead 28 Oct '03

28 Oct '03

Deja vu anyone: http://www.domainz.net.nz/Domainz.asp?Content=news21 http://www.dnc.org.nz/story/30127-32-1.html http://www.comcom.govt.nz/publications/display_mr.cfm?mr_id=1219 Paul Adshead OTL Software Ltd www.otl.co.nz paul.adshead(a)otl.co.nz Tel +64 9 373 9920 Fax +64 9 303 9129 -----Original Message----- From: jfp [mailto:jfp(a)clearfield.com] Sent: Wednesday, 29 October 2003 10:42 To: nznog(a)list.waikato.ac.nz Subject: [nznog] Domain Names NZ scam Some of our customers have just received scam domain renewal letters from Domain Names NZ. ($237 for two years) (www.domainnamesnz.com) People might want to warn their customers. jfp. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jean-Francois Pirus <jfp(a)clearfield.com> Clearfield Software Ltd Phone (+64-9) 358 2081 4th Floor 8-10 Whitaker Place Fax (+64-9) 358 2083 P O Box 2348 Auckland, New Zealand ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ NZNOG mailing list NZNOG(a)list.waikato.ac.nz http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/nznog

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Domain Names NZ scam
by jfp 28 Oct '03

28 Oct '03

Some of our customers have just received scam domain renewal letters from Domain Names NZ. ($237 for two years) (www.domainnamesnz.com) People might want to warn their customers. jfp. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jean-Francois Pirus <jfp(a)clearfield.com> Clearfield Software Ltd Phone (+64-9) 358 2081 4th Floor 8-10 Whitaker Place Fax (+64-9) 358 2083 P O Box 2348 Auckland, New Zealand ------------------------------------------------------------------------

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How to get deliberately attacked?
by Neil Gardner 28 Oct '03

28 Oct '03

Hi guys, I am testing a firewall here at work with a DHCP spoofing ADSL router and I wanted to check the integrity of the reporting with the attacks it can recognise... I don't really want to spend too much work time jumping into hacky IRC channels and annoying people to generate some attack traffic (plus I don't want to be attacked for too long :-) so I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone knows of any web based attack generators or could indulge me and hit me with a few things (short of classic DOS - I'm testing the firewall, not my ADSL line :-) Anyway - answers on the back of a postcard please, or email me direct. Oh, it's not this IP, so please don't just start attacking - please contact me and we'll work something out :-) -- Cheers - Neil Gardner Networking and Security Support Engineer Renaissance Brands Ltd (09) 968-3681 / (021) 746-345

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Orcon Internet Prefix List Update (2003-10-19)
by Craig Whitmore 28 Oct '03

28 Oct '03

For all those peering with Orcon Internet (AS17746) Nationally, please update your prefix lists with the following networks as in attached file. Thanks Craig Whitmore Systems Administrator Orcon Internet http://www.orcon.net.nz

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RE: [nznog] New and unacknowledged Exchange / Win2k SMTP vulnerability?
by Geoff Williams 28 Oct '03

28 Oct '03

Thanks Matt I haven't started on the 218's as some of those are here in Australia also. Geoff Williams -----Original Message----- From: Matt Camp [mailto:gargoyle(a)noise.net.nz] Sent: Tuesday, 28 October 2003 9:59 PM To: Geoff Williams Cc: Joe Abley; nznog(a)list.waikato.ac.nz Subject: RE: [nznog] New and unacknowledged Exchange / Win2k SMTP vulnerability? On Tue, 28 Oct 2003, Geoff Williams wrote: > The bulk of the 218.0.0.0 Class A range is allocated to provincial > entities in the PRC. Except for the /17's out of this class A which are allocated to NZ entities such as TelstraClear. Blocking this would be inadvisable. --- Matt Camp This email is confidential and intended for the recipient only. If you receive it in error please delete it immediately.

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RE: [nznog] New and unacknowledged Exchange / Win2k SMTP vulnerability?
by Geoff Williams 28 Oct '03

28 Oct '03

The bulk of the 218.0.0.0 Class A range is allocated to provincial entities in the PRC. The other big source of addresses I have seen is the 61.0.0.0 subnet which is spread between India and the PRC, again in the PRC it seems to be allocated to provincial entities. The 61.11 range in India has been very active trying to fish passwords but strangely whoever is doing it is coming from right across the whole A range. Snip of repeated ORF event below: NOTIFICATION - Open Relay Filter Enterprise Edition =================================================================== The following event has occurred: Class : Block Severity : Info Source : SMTPSVC-1 Related IP : 61.11.47.52 Text description: ================= Blocked. Recipient address (user3(a)989888.com) is not listed in the Active Directory. Sender: test(a)yahoo.com. SMTP response: End snip. This particular event just won't stop. Geoff Williams -----Original Message----- From: Joe Abley [mailto:jabley(a)isc.org] Sent: Tuesday, 28 October 2003 12:41 PM To: Geoff Williams Cc: nznog(a)list.waikato.ac.nz Subject: Re: [nznog] New and unacknowledged Exchange / Win2k SMTP vulnerability? On 27 Oct 2003, at 17:25, Geoff Williams wrote: > I had originally blocked 2 Class A IP ranges at our router after > watching the traffic and finding that they were allocated to a > provider in China. Which class A networks do you think are allocated to a provider in China? This email is confidential and intended for the recipient only. If you receive it in error please delete it immediately.

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FW: [nznog] New and unacknowledged Exchange / Win2k SMTP vulnerability?
by Geoff Williams 28 Oct '03

28 Oct '03

Further to my earlier post, Neil G has pointed me correctly to an SMTP AUTH attack. I have used the logs of the ORF tool to pinpoint which accounts have been compromised. Strangely the spammers are trying to work out why, even if they authenticate, they can't relay, so there is a lot of traffic to watch and learn from. A large number of their connections are being blocked by the IP blacklists I have selected. I had originally blocked 2 Class A IP ranges at our router after watching the traffic and finding that they were allocated to a provider in China. But I am not 100% sure that IP addresses are not being spoofed as they seem to have a huge range of Class A and B addresses available to them and I was really chasing my tail trying to block them at that level. So now I have a new password generator and will start training the mind to work with 12 or more character passwords. Hope this is of assistance to others. Geoff Williams -----Original Message----- From: Geoff Williams Sent: Monday, 27 October 2003 11:01 PM To: nznog(a)list.waikato.ac.nz Subject: [nznog] New and unacknowledged Exchange / Win2k SMTP vulnerability? Hi All I have exactly the same open-relay problem, including the sending servers and addresses, and have been struggling to diagnose for a few weeks. I had a hunch that the hack may involve the SystemMailbox account (which of course is disabled), but this was based on checking security logs and seeing who was logged in at the same time as the spam was dumped into the queue. I have got around it for the moment (I hope) by loading the ORF relay and spam tool but I would really like to know how this hack is being perpetrated as I have a whole stack of other Exchange servers to look after and I really don't want this to get out of control... So if anyone has made any progress I would really appreciated you sharing your experience. Thanks ______________ Geoffrey Williams KAT International T: 02 9904 3137 F: 02 9904 0232 M: 0417 281 905 _____ This email is confidential and intended for the recipient only. If you have received it in error please delete it immediately.

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