Hacker Holes in Server Management System Allow 'Almost-Physical' Access

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/07/ipmi/

By Kim Zetter
Threat Level
Wired.com
07.02.13

Major vulnerabilities in a protocol for remotely monitoring and managing 
servers would allow attackers to hijack the computers to gain control of 
them, access or erase data, or lock others out. The vulnerabilities exist 
in more than 100,000 servers connected to the internet, according to two 
researchers.

The vulnerabilities reside in the Intelligent Platform Management 
Interface, a protocol used by Baseboard Management Controllers that are 
used to remotely monitor servers for heat and electricity issues as well 
as manage access to them and other functions.

The security holes would allow hackers to obtain password hashes from the 
servers or bypass authentication entirely to copy content, install a 
backdoor or even wipe the servers clean, according to Dan Farmer, an 
independent computer security consultant who conducted the research for 
the Defense Department’s DARPA.

A scan of the internet conducted by HD Moore, chief research officer at 
Rapid7 and creator of the Metasploit Framework penetration testing tool, 
found more than 100,000 systems online that were vulnerable to one or more 
of the security issues.

[...]

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