[ISN] Security UPDATE -- Administrator Accounts and Root Kits -- March 9, 2005

From: InfoSec News (isn@private)
Date: Thu Mar 10 2005 - 01:05:40 PST


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1. In Focus: Administrator Accounts and Root Kits 

2. Security News and Features
   - Recent Security Vulnerabilities
   - Need Information About Internet Explorer 7.0?
   - Deploying Junk Mail Filter Lists in Outlook 2003
   - @stake LC 5

3. Security Toolkit
   - Security Matters Blog
   - Web Chat
   - FAQ
   - Security Forum Featured Thread

4. New and Improved
   - Prevent Unauthorized Network Access

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==== 1. In Focus: Administrator Accounts and Root Kits ====
   by Mark Joseph Edwards, News Editor, mark at ntsecurity / net

Last week, I wrote about why you should try not to use administrative 
accounts unless you really need to. Several readers wrote to explain 
various scenarios and problems they've encountered while trying to 
use a nonadministrative account for certain tasks. Some of the 
problems involve using Windows Explorer, running debuggers, creating 
Data Source Names (DSNs), and accessing Control Panel items. 
Obviously, you'll need to log on as the administrator in some 
instances; using RunAs, even with the /netonly switch, might not 
always suffice. 

There are other possible solutions for some problems too. For 
example, Microsoft's OS resource kits include the su.exe tool, which 
can elevate privileges. Another tool, which I've mentioned before, is 
MakeMeAdmin, written by Aaron Margosis at Microsoft. The tool adds 
your account to the local Administrators group, spawns a command 
shell with your new elevated privileges, and then removes your 
account from the group. 

So, effectively, MakeMeAdmin gives you a command shell running with a 
new security token. You can perform whatever actions you need to in 
the shell. If you also need privileges on the network, you can 
initiate some kind of network access and authenticate by using 
whatever account you prefer. For example, you can map a drive by 
using the command

net use

and specifying an account with the required privileges. Or you could 
launch Windows Explorer on the desktop with elevated privileges by 
using its /root switch. You could also launch Control Panel applets 
by simply entering the applet name and extension (.cpl) as if it were 
any other executable program. If you run Microsoft Internet Explorer 
(IE) with elevated privileges, you can use Margosis's PrivBar add-on 
that shows which security level your browser is running under. 
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=48C1:4FB69
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=48C0:4FB69

Another reader wrote to point out that Microsoft has published a 
document that explains some of the problems you can encounter when 
you run applications on the desktop with nonadministrative accounts. 
The article offers tips about how developers can remedy some of those 
problems and offers some insight into how the next release of Windows 
(codenamed Longhorn) will address the matter in more effective ways. 
One change will be a Protected Administrator status, which, if I 
understand correctly, will allow a user to use an administrator 
account but with the fewest privileges necessary for a given task. 
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=48BF:4FB69

Another topic I want to discuss this week is root kits, which as you 
know, can be a real problem. A Microsoft paper discusses research the 
company has done regarding ways to discover such nuisances. The paper 
mentions a related tool, Strider Ghostbuster, developed in the labs, 
which isn't available to the public.
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=48B9:4FB69

However, Sysinternals has a root kit discovery tool that you might 
find helpful. The new tool, RootkitRevealer, is still undergoing 
development, but you can download a copy and try it out. 
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=48C4:4FB69

F-Secure will release a beta version of its new root kit detection 
tool, F-Secure BlackLight Rootkit Elimination Technology, this week. 
You can learn more about that tool in the related article on our Web 
site. 
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=48CB:4FB69

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

==== 2. Security News and Features ====

Recent Security Vulnerabilities
   If you subscribe to this newsletter, you also receive Security 
Alerts, which inform you about recently discovered security 
vulnerabilities. You can also find information about these 
discoveries at
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=48C3:4FB69

Need Information About Internet Explorer 7.0?
   If you need information about the upcoming Microsoft Internet 
Explorer (IE) 7.0, you can find some tidbits about it on IEBlog, 
which is operated by Microsoft's IE team. 
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=48C9:4FB69

Deploying Junk Mail Filter Lists in Outlook 2003
   Microsoft released a hotfix for Outlook 2003 late last month for a 
feature that deals with importing junk mail filter lists into Outlook 
2003. This feature lets you use registry values to tell Outlook to 
import the Safe Senders, Safe Recipients, and Blocked Senders lists 
from specific locations and either overwrite the user's existing junk 
mail filter lists or append entries to them. The hotfix makes some 
important changes to the way the feature works.
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====================

==== 3. Security Toolkit ==== 

Security Matters Blog 
   by Mark Joseph Edwards, http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=48D1:4FB69

Google Hacking: No Longer a Sure Thing for Intruders
   A new honeypot can trap intruders who use Google queries to find 
vulnerable systems. Such intruders typically use search engine 
queries to look for sites whose URLs contain particular words or 
phrases that might indicate that the site is using vulnerable 
applications.
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Security Event Log Chat
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FAQ
   by John Savill, http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=48CD:4FB69 

Q. How can I back up and restore user profiles when deploying a new 
OS via the Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) OS Deployment 
Feature Pack? 

Find the answer at
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Security Forum Featured Thread: Backup Account Permissions on Windows 
Server 2003
   A forum participant is trying to remove service accounts from 
administrative groups. ARCServe by default puts its account in the 
Administrators and Domain Admins groups. Is there a workaround so 
that that particular account doesn't need to belong to those groups? 
Putting the account in the Backup and Server Operator groups doesn't 
seem to be sufficient. Can a security policy be adjusted to help? 
Join the discussion at
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==== 4. New and Improved ====
   by Renee Munshi, products@private

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   MetaInfo has released SAFE DHCP as a stand-alone product. When a 
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_________________________________________
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