RE: pop3 exploit????

[Kaneda Akira <k_aneda () yahoo com>]

Try initiating a pop3 session instead, that server may have the banner
turned off for security reasons *grin*

---
Kaneda Akira
ICQ#49107701
Email: k_aneda () yahoo com
--
That's why we spend so much time trying to understand our own
motivations and those of others.  That's what makes life so
interesting.
    -- Kaji, Evangelion Ep 18

On Tue, 16 Oct 2001, leon wrote:

> Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 15:20:18 -0400
> From: leon <leon () inyc com>
> To: theog () yoda dnsq org, 'John Thornton' <jthornton () hackersdigest com>
> Cc: vuln-dev () securityfocus com
> Subject: RE: pop3 exploit????
>
> Ok.  I have to apologize to everyone.  I was being a bonehead (what else
> is new?).  I was using super scanner and it would report 110 was open
> and guess it was pop3.  But riddle me this batman(and woman) why is it
> when I try to telnet to the offending ip's that I connect but get no
> banner and after about 15 seconds it tells me connection lost.
>
> What does the group suggest I do now????
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theog () yoda dnsq org [mailto:theog () yoda dnsq org] 
> Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2001 7:12 PM
> To: John Thornton
> Cc: leon; vuln-dev () securityfocus com
> Subject: Re: pop3 exploit????
>
>
> I agree with most of what's written below here are some comments:
> I would run some kind of IDS software on the scanned machines just to
> know
> if these are just scans or is someone actually trying to hack  snort
> from
> www.snort.org along with the arachNIDS ruleset from www.whitehats.com
> should do it...
>
> If indeed the attacker is just playing around , secure your systems as
> much as you can ( I  would try attacking my own systems see if there is
> indeed somewhere they can strike) .
>
> I don't know what the effect of sending an e-mail to abuse () ISP net will
> be
> but I assume it wont stop the attacks, what more , the attacker might be
> using Trojans on innocent people's machines....
>
> If the attacker is a blackhat , you probably don't want to try and scan
> him
> or let him know in anyway you are trying to track him down , the
> response
> will probably be (assuming he's already been in one of your systems...)
> attempts to try and erase any record that might turn his
> identity...which
> might get quite ugly, and very painful for you. even so called "script
> kiddies" with downloaded software from a "tripod hosted site" can do
> real
> damage , see http://grc.com/dos/grcdos.htm so think before you act...
>
> Good luck
> TheOg
>
>  On Mon, 15 Oct 2001, John Thornton wrote:
>
> > > I constantly get scanned for the usual services (21, 23, 80,
> > > 12345, 27374, etc, etc) and when I scan these systems back the only
> >
> > As we all do who takes the time to see who is hitting our boxes.
> >
> > > thing they have in common (as far as running services) is 110 pop3.
> >
> > One thing to look at is what pop3 daemon the server is running and
> what
> > version it is. I would check securityfocus.com and
> > http://icat.nist.gov/icat.cfm ( The icat metabase). More often then
> not the
> > security hole used to exploit the other boxes ispublic. I would have
> to
> > argue that if it was a unknown pop3 daemon exploit they would most
> likely be
> > scanning your box for the same vulnerable service to exploit. So if
> the
> > address you have are blowing pass 110 and looking at ports like
> 12345,
> > 27374 and other low level trojan backdoor attacks I would lean more
> towards
> > a coincidence that they have port 110 open.
> >
> > Now lets say they are all running a pop3 daemon like qpop ( By the way
> I
> > could not connect to any of those ip address you posted on port 110 )
> and
> > you can't find any known security holes for that version of qpop then
> in my
> > mind it would be worth it to grab that socket programming book and
> write a
> > little server that listens on port 110 and displays the same banner as
> the
> > rest of the attacking servers. Then sniff to see just what in the hell
> it is
> > doing.
> >
> > With that said, one of the things that I do as a Network Administrator
> is a
> > nslookup on each address that scans my network. This will tell you a
> lot
> > about who is attacking you.
> >
> > AC9699EE.ipt.aol.com
> > cha213245047041.chello.fr
> > ua-213-112-62-68.cust.bredbandsbolaget.se
> > 24-29-125-76.nyc.rr.com
> > pD4B894B3.dip.t-dialin.net
> > 500.POS2-0.SR3.SEA9.ALTER.NET
> > p13-0.iplvin1-br1.bbnplanet.net
> >
> > All of the address that scanned you ( The ones you sent ) belong to a
> isp of
> > some sort. That in it self should tell you that these are low level
> > attackers. Most likely these ip address belonged to the attackers home
> > computer. In that case what you should do (Sadly not practice enough
> by the
> > Network Admin Community) is to report them to abuse () isp net and attach
> the
> > logs of the scan (Make sure you include your time zone, source and
> > destination ports used) and let them take care of it. Most likely you
> and a
> > few dozen Network Administrators will report the same address and have
> Zero
> > Cool's service taken away. I have to say, there is nothing like
> drinking a
> > cup a coffee in the morning when checking your email to read that you
> played
> > a role in terminating one less script kids isp. I digress.
> >
> > Now, if these address translated into something like bob.com,
> ford.com,
> > etc... then that means you might be on to a real live hacker. These
> are
> > _always_ fun to help track down. In that case I would call the network
> admin
> > on the phone, since we would assume the box is owned by a hacker and
> most
> > likely the network admin's mail is being read.
> >
> > > like this.  I have no clue if these ips are static or dynamic.  This
> is
> > Again, a nslookup will tell you a lot, such as if the attacker has a
> static
> > or dynamic address. These are all dynamic ip address.
> >
> > To sum everything up. Could this be some sort of sophisticated attack
> of
> > some unreported exploit to a pop3 daemon? Hardly. It looks to me like
> script
> > kids and there 'l33t' tools from some 'Hacking' site hosted by tripod.
> The
> > best thing you can do as a Network Administrator is to report these to
> abuse
> > of the isp. However, if the anti-terrorism bill is passed (and it
> looks that
> > way) I would urge you not to. I know I wont. Getting script kids
> service
> > turn off is one thing, having them sent to jail is another...
> >
> > John Thornton  -  jthornton () hackersdigest com
> > Editor in Chief
> > Hackers Digest -  www.hackersdigest.com
> >
> >
> >      H  A  C  K  E  R  '  S    D  I  G  E  S  T
> > --------------------------------------------------
> > Issue 2 comes out November 1st. Will you get it?
> > --------------------------------------------------
> >                 www.hackersdigest.com
>
> --