Re: CERT Advisory CA-98.13 - TCP/IP Denial of Service

From: David Schwartz (davidsat_private)
Date: Wed Dec 23 1998 - 15:51:42 PST

  • Next message: aleph1at_private: "The grand-son of Cuartango Hole"

            The CERT advisory doesn't go into any detail about the exact nature of the
    packets that trigger the problem. However, the advisory refernces a FreeBSD
    note and patch. Since this patch is in a different section of code than the
    patches for teardrop/newtear/bonk/etc, it follows that the vulnerability and
    exploit are also slightly different.
    
            This also means that invulnerability to those attacks does not mean
    invulnerability to this one.
    
            A cursory look at the patch suggests that the problem has to do with short
    packets with certain options set. Here's the patch for FreeBSD 3.0 and
    2.2.x:
    
    RCS file: /home/cvsup/freebsd/CVS/src/sys/netinet/ip_input.c,v
    retrieving revision 1.104
    retrieving revision 1.105
    diff -u -r1.104 -r1.105
    --- ip_input.c  1998/10/27 09:19:03     1.104
    +++ ip_input.c  1998/11/11 21:17:59     1.105
    @@ -513,7 +513,7 @@
             */
            if (ip->ip_off & (IP_MF | IP_OFFMASK | IP_RF)) {
                    if (m->m_flags & M_EXT) {               /* XXX */
    -                       if ((m = m_pullup(m, sizeof (struct ip))) == 0) {
    +                       if ((m = m_pullup(m, hlen)) == 0) {
                                    ipstat.ips_toosmall++;
     #ifdef IPDIVERT
                                    frag_divert_port = 0;
    
            DS
    
    > Have I missed something on the list lately about these illegal
    > packets that
    > CERT are adressing ("constructing a sequence of packets with certain
    > characteristics, an intruder can cause vulnerable systems to crash, hang,
    > or behave in unpredictable ways")?
    >
    > Or is this just the old teardrop/newtear/boink/bonk/nestea2 problem that
    > they are talking about?
    >
    > Ulf
    > ---
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    > SecureTest
    > - Vished for Internet-sikkerhed
    >
    >
    > ----------
    > From:   aleph1at_private[SMTP:aleph1at_private]
    > Reply To:       Bugtraq List
    > Sent:   22. december 1998 06:37
    > To:     BUGTRAQat_private
    > Subject:        CERT Advisory CA-98.13 - TCP/IP Denial of Service
    >
    > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
    >
    >
    > CERT Advisory CA-98-13-tcp-denial-of-service
    >
    >    Original Issue Date: December 21, 1998
    >
    >    Last Revised
    >
    > Topic: Vulnerability in Certain TCP/IP Implementations
    >
    > Affected Systems
    >
    >    Some systems with BSD-derived TCP/IP stacks. See Appendix A for a
    >    complete list of affected systems.
    >
    > Overview
    >
    >    Intruders can disrupt service or crash systems with vulnerable TCP/IP
    >    stacks. No special access is required, and intruders can use
    >    source-address spoofing to conceal their true location.
    >
    > I. Description
    >
    >    By carefully constructing a sequence of packets with certain
    >    characteristics, an intruder can cause vulnerable systems to crash,
    >    hang, or behave in unpredictable ways. This vulnerability is similar
    >    in its effect to other denial-of-service vulnerabilities, including
    >    the ones described in
    >
    >      http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-97.28.Teardrop_Land.html
    >
    >    Specifically, intruders can use this vulnerability in conjunction with
    >    IP-source-address spoofing to make it difficult or impossible to know
    >    their location. They can also use the vulnerability in conjunction
    >    with broadcast packets to affect a large number of vulnerable machines
    >    with a small number of packets.
    >
    > II. Impact
    >
    >    Any remote user can crash or hang a vulnerable machine, or cause the
    >    system to behave in unpredictable ways.
    >
    > III. Solution
    >
    > A. Install a patch from your vendor.
    >
    >    Appendix A contains input from vendors who have provided information
    >    for this advisory. We will update the appendix as we receive more
    >    information. If you do not see your vendor's name, the CERT/CC did not
    >    hear from that vendor. Please contact your vendor directly.
    >
    > B. Configure your router or firewall to help prevent source-address
    > spoofing.
    >
    >    We encourage sites to configure their routers or firewalls to reduce
    >    the ability of intruders to use source-address spoofing. Currently,
    >    the best method to reduce the number of IP-spoofed packets exiting
    >    your network is to install filtering on your routers that requires
    >    packets leaving your network to have a source address from your
    >    internal network. This type of filter prevents a source IP-spoofing
    >    attack from your site by filtering all outgoing packets that contain a
    >    source address of a different network.
    >
    >    A detailed description of this type of filtering is available in RFC
    >    2267, "Network Ingress Filtering: Defeating Denial of Service Attacks
    >    which employ IP Source Address Spoofing" by Paul Ferguson of Cisco
    >    Systems, Inc. and Daniel Senie of Blazenet, Inc. We recommend it to
    >    both Internet Service Providers and sites that manage their own
    >    routers. The document is currently available at
    >
    >      http://info.internet.isi.edu:80/in-notes/rfc/files/rfc2267.txt
    >
    >    Note that this type of filtering does not protect a site from the
    >    attack itself, but it does reduce the ability of intruders to conceal
    >    their location, thereby discouraging attacks.
    >
    > Appendix A - Vendor Information
    >
    >    Berkeley Software Design, Inc. (BSDI)
    >
    >    BSDI's current release BSD/OS 4.0 is not vulnerable to this problem.
    >    BSD/OS 3.1 is vulnerable and a patch (M310-049) is available from
    >    BSDI's WWW server at http://www.bsdi.com/support/patches or via our
    >    ftp server from the directory
    >    ftp://ftp.bsdi.com/bsdi/patches/patches-3.1.
    >
    >    Cisco Systems
    >
    >    Cisco is not vulnerable.
    >
    >    Compaq Computer Corporation
    >
    >    SOURCE: (c) Copyright 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 Compaq Computer
    >    Corporation.
    >
    >    All rights reserved.
    >
    >    SOURCE: Compaq Computer Corporation
    >    Compaq Services
    >    Software Security Response Team USA
    >
    >    This reported problem is not present for the as shipped, Compaq's
    >    Digital ULTRIX or Compaq's Digital UNIX Operating Systems Software.
    >
    >      - Compaq Computer Corporation
    >
    >    Data General Corporation
    >
    >    We are investigating. We will provide an update when our investigation
    >    is complete.
    >
    >    FreeBSD, Inc.
    >
    >    FreeBSD 2.2.8 is not vulnerable.
    >    FreeBSD versions prior to 2.2.8 are vulnerable.
    >    FreeBSD 3.0 is also vulnerable.
    >    FreeBSD 3.0-current as of 1998/11/12 is not vulnerable.
    >
    >    A patch is available at
    >    ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/CERT/patches/CA-98-13/patch
    >
    >    Fujitsu
    >
    >    Regarding this vulnerability, Fujitsu's UXP/V operating system is not
    >    vulnerable.
    >
    >    Hewlett-Packard Company
    >
    >    HP is not vulnerable.
    >
    >    IBM Corporation
    >
    >    AIX is not vulnerable.
    >
    >    IBM and AIX are registered trademarks of International Business
    >    Machines Corporation.
    >
    >    Livingston Enterprises, Inc.
    >
    >    Livingston systems are not vulnerable.
    >
    >    Computer Associates International
    >
    >    CA systems are not vulnerable.
    >
    >    Microsoft Corporation
    >
    >    Microsoft is not vulnerable.
    >
    >    NEC Corporation
    >
    >    NEC Corporation EWS-UX, UP-UX and UX/4800 Unix systems are not
    >    vulnerable to this problem.
    >
    >    OpenBSD
    >
    >    Security fixes for this problem are now available for 2.3 and 2.4.
    >
    >    For 2.3, see
    >
    >      www.openbsd.org/errata23.html#tcpfix
    >
    >    For our 2.4 release which is available on CD on Dec 1, see
    >
    >      www.openbsd.org/errata.html#tcpfix
    >
    >    The bug is fixed in our -current source tree.
    >
    >    Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    >
    >    We have confirmed that SunOS and Solaris are not vulnerable to the DOS
    >    attack.
    >
    >    Wind River Systems, Inc.
    >
    >    We've taken a look at our networking code and have determined that
    >    this is not a problem in the currently shipping version of the VxWorks
    >    RTOS.
    >      _________________________________________________________________
    >
    > Contributors
    >
    >    The vulnerability was originally discovered by Joel Boutros of the
    >    Enterprise Security Services team of Cambridge Technology Partners.
    >    Guido van Rooij of FreeBSD, Inc., provided an analysis of the
    >    vulnerability and information regarding its scope and extent.
    >    ______________________________________________________________________
    >
    >    This document is available from:
    >    http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-98-13-tcp-denial-of-service.html.
    >    ______________________________________________________________________
    >
    > CERT/CC Contact Information
    >
    >    Email: certat_private
    >           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 personnel answer the hotline 08:00-20:00 EST(GMT-5) / EDT(GMT-4)
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    >
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    >
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