RE: Voluminous SSHd scanning; possible worm activity?

["Schroeder, Eric" <Eric.Schroeder () westgroup com>]

Jay,
        There was a recent vulnerability discovered in RedHat's OpenSSH. I
have included the RH notice on the fix.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
Red Hat, Inc. Red Hat Security Advisory
Synopsis:          Updated OpenSSH packages available
Advisory ID:       RHSA-2001:161-08
Issue date:        2001-12-03
Updated on:        2001-12-04
Product:           Red Hat Linux
Keywords:          openssh uselogin
Cross references:  
Obsoletes:         RHSA-2001:154
---------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Topic:
Updated OpenSSH packages are now available for Red Hat Linux 7, 7.1, and
7.2.  These packages fix a vulnerability which exists when a server is
configured with the "UseLogin" option.
2. Relevant releases/architectures:
Red Hat Linux 7.0 - alpha, i386
Red Hat Linux 7.1 - alpha, i386, ia64
Red Hat Linux 7.2 - i386
3. Problem description:
When the "UseLogin" option is enabled in OpenSSH, a malicious user who
authenticates using key-based authentication methods can influence the
environment variables passed to the login process.  This could allow the
user to execute arbitrary code with superuser privileges.  In Red Hat Linux
the OpenSSH server has the "UseLogin" option disabled by default. Therefore,
it is not vulnerable unless the system administrator has changed this
setting.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has
assigned the name CAN-2001-0872 to this issue.
4. Solution:
Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.
To update all RPMs for your particular architecture, run:
rpm -Fvh [filenames]
where [filenames] is a list of the RPMs you wish to upgrade.  Only those
RPMs which are currently installed will be updated.  Those RPMs which are
not installed but included in the list will not be updated.  Note that you
can also use wildcards (*.rpm) if your current directory *only* contains the
desired RPMs.
Please note that this update is also available via Red Hat Network.  Many
people find this an easier way to apply updates.  To use Red Hat Network,
launch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command:
up2date
This will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate
RPMs being upgraded on your system.
5. Bug IDs fixed (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla for more info):


6. RPMs required:
Red Hat Linux 7.0:
SRPMS:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/SRPMS/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.src.rpm
alpha:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/alpha/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/alpha/openssh-clients-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rp
m
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/alpha/openssh-server-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/alpha/openssh-askpass-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rp
m
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/alpha/openssh-askpass-gnome-2.9p2-11.7.al
pha.rpm
i386:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/i386/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/i386/openssh-clients-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/i386/openssh-server-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/i386/openssh-askpass-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/i386/openssh-askpass-gnome-2.9p2-11.7.i38
6.rpm
Red Hat Linux 7.1:
SRPMS:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/SRPMS/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.src.rpm
alpha:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/alpha/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/alpha/openssh-clients-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rp
m
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/alpha/openssh-server-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/alpha/openssh-askpass-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rp
m
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/alpha/openssh-askpass-gnome-2.9p2-11.7.al
pha.rpm
i386:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/i386/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/i386/openssh-clients-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/i386/openssh-server-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/i386/openssh-askpass-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/i386/openssh-askpass-gnome-2.9p2-11.7.i38
6.rpm
ia64:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/ia64/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.ia64.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/ia64/openssh-clients-2.9p2-11.7.ia64.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/ia64/openssh-server-2.9p2-11.7.ia64.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/ia64/openssh-askpass-2.9p2-11.7.ia64.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/ia64/openssh-askpass-gnome-2.9p2-11.7.ia6
4.rpm
Red Hat Linux 7.2:
SRPMS:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/SRPMS/openssh-2.9p2-12.src.rpm
i386:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/i386/openssh-2.9p2-12.i386.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/i386/openssh-clients-2.9p2-12.i386.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/i386/openssh-server-2.9p2-12.i386.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/i386/openssh-askpass-2.9p2-12.i386.rpm
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/i386/openssh-askpass-gnome-2.9p2-12.i386.
rpm


7. Verification:
MD5 sum                          Package Name
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
a404df85b0bd8ee13544f27d8bc80e41 7.0/en/os/SRPMS/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.src.rpm
9edc7fc8d4db042c391c9b569f06bbc6
7.0/en/os/alpha/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
e568631c7a7e0d4b73fe27053398cbe3
7.0/en/os/alpha/openssh-askpass-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
aa9fe70df6ea2fabdc7bcbb6ee18f77e
7.0/en/os/alpha/openssh-askpass-gnome-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
d6c8d8b029358c1035d063688ee9a29f
7.0/en/os/alpha/openssh-clients-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
a729bd387061f3fa437dfb7bcc44fc47
7.0/en/os/alpha/openssh-server-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
9032ed606510cb0647015ec25bcb8a65 7.0/en/os/i386/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
388f0ab300dd833c565381a161a2d469
7.0/en/os/i386/openssh-askpass-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
142f92df28c2ec27eafb56313190927e
7.0/en/os/i386/openssh-askpass-gnome-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
a8e73953e02df3277479a45c89284ad6
7.0/en/os/i386/openssh-clients-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
6b87c6cb013cd3303432f1bf45326735
7.0/en/os/i386/openssh-server-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
a404df85b0bd8ee13544f27d8bc80e41 7.1/en/os/SRPMS/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.src.rpm
9edc7fc8d4db042c391c9b569f06bbc6
7.1/en/os/alpha/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
e568631c7a7e0d4b73fe27053398cbe3
7.1/en/os/alpha/openssh-askpass-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
aa9fe70df6ea2fabdc7bcbb6ee18f77e
7.1/en/os/alpha/openssh-askpass-gnome-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
d6c8d8b029358c1035d063688ee9a29f
7.1/en/os/alpha/openssh-clients-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
a729bd387061f3fa437dfb7bcc44fc47
7.1/en/os/alpha/openssh-server-2.9p2-11.7.alpha.rpm
9032ed606510cb0647015ec25bcb8a65 7.1/en/os/i386/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
388f0ab300dd833c565381a161a2d469
7.1/en/os/i386/openssh-askpass-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
142f92df28c2ec27eafb56313190927e
7.1/en/os/i386/openssh-askpass-gnome-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
a8e73953e02df3277479a45c89284ad6
7.1/en/os/i386/openssh-clients-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
6b87c6cb013cd3303432f1bf45326735
7.1/en/os/i386/openssh-server-2.9p2-11.7.i386.rpm
093fff2a546589e129afdf984b419173 7.1/en/os/ia64/openssh-2.9p2-11.7.ia64.rpm
a3531573d0dbe68ed548cff3f5de023c
7.1/en/os/ia64/openssh-askpass-2.9p2-11.7.ia64.rpm
8cc6096f248bb13ef9eec2b31a71ccc7
7.1/en/os/ia64/openssh-askpass-gnome-2.9p2-11.7.ia64.rpm
e842d4ba17ec0889e54730ad33e722e5
7.1/en/os/ia64/openssh-clients-2.9p2-11.7.ia64.rpm
b8c3f281c2c7be14f71994d20205723b
7.1/en/os/ia64/openssh-server-2.9p2-11.7.ia64.rpm
5f12c077bf40570dac9b950d83f1e960 7.2/en/os/SRPMS/openssh-2.9p2-12.src.rpm
1a11b675b6af99f9edffeef639825916 7.2/en/os/i386/openssh-2.9p2-12.i386.rpm
850879609a667619c7e952fadca3063c
7.2/en/os/i386/openssh-askpass-2.9p2-12.i386.rpm
99620e435ce9d69c851e10695828eb80
7.2/en/os/i386/openssh-askpass-gnome-2.9p2-12.i386.rpm
ff3f8671339645ccbdfa65a03e4b4d09
7.2/en/os/i386/openssh-clients-2.9p2-12.i386.rpm
199895daa920eac36c2567ced3c70e9b
7.2/en/os/i386/openssh-server-2.9p2-12.i386.rpm

These packages are GPG signed by Red Hat, Inc. for security.  Our key is
available at:
http://www.redhat.com/about/contact/pgpkey.html
You can verify each package with the following command:
rpm-checksig  <filename>
If you only wish to verify that each package has not been corrupted or
tampered with, examine only the md5sum with the following command:
rpm-checksig-nogpg <filename>
8. References:
http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=openssh-unix-dev&m=100747128105913
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CAN-2001-0872

Copyright(c) 2000, 2001 Red Hat, Inc.

---------------------------------------------------------------


Eric Schroeder 
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ 
 Network Engineer  
 West Group, NAG  
 PH: 651.848.2868  
 E1-N113  
 Eric.Schroeder () westgroup com  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ 



-----Original Message-----
From: Jay D. Dyson [mailto:jdyson () treachery net]
Sent: Monday, December 10, 2001 11:31 AM
To: Incidents List
Cc: Neil Dickey
Subject: Re: Voluminous SSHd scanning; possible worm activity?


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

On Mon, 10 Dec 2001, Neil Dickey wrote:

> >     I've been seeing a lot of SSHd scans of late.
> [ ... ]
> >     Has anyone else seen this sort of thing from their systems?
>
> Until a month or two ago we *never* saw scans to port 22.  Now they are
> common, though I'm not seeing anything like the intensity you describe. 
> In a week I might see as many as six, total, and that would be a heavy
> week for me. 

        Right now, the scans I'm seeing are coming in at around six in a
day.  Started four days ago.

> Most of what I detect appear to be SYN scans.  Has anyone done a
> honeypot study to find out what weaknesses are being exploited, or is it
> just the usual bug in SSH1? 

        Perhaps we should touch base with the HoneyNet crew and see what
they've discovered?

- -Jay

   (    (                                                        _______
   ))   ))   .-"There's always time for a good cup of coffee"-.   >====<--.
 C|~~|C|~~| (>----- Jay D. Dyson -- jdyson () treachery net -----<) |    = |-'
  `--' `--'  `---------- Si vis pacem, para bellum. ----------'  `------'

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Version: 2.6.2
Comment: See http://www.treachery.net/~jdyson/ for current keys.

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eClyziq6jyziKpBecokq6jbSk9bP2K+ywZRf2oYXDDnU7ufnBjQuGIBxFNehu6VA
1//K57kbk5MCuquOnwZHAdf3VwLoOadW4CDdZffNIBwom9pXo+FzIHnZTLjfNK+g
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