Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2000 09:08:59 -0700 From: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> To: John Howie <JHowie@msn.com> Cc: "David G. Andersen" <dga@pobox.com>, freebsd-security@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Fw: NAPTHA Advisory Updated - BindView RAZOR Message-ID: <3A2D131B.2548F379@softweyr.com> References: <200012050043.RAA27046@faith.cs.utah.edu> <011701c05e5a$bcfb3060$fd01a8c0@pacbell.net>
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John Howie wrote:
>
> David Andersen wrote:
>
> > This isn't a FreeBSD failure per se, but a resource control
> > failure. Whether you want to point a finger at FreeBSD, ssh, or the
> > operator of the box is entirely up to you. :-)
> >
>
> I'm afraid I disagree - this is not purely a daemon problem. I wonder if you
> had time to read the whole advisory for the FreeBSD information near the end
> of the report (I've included it below).
I'm sure he, just as I, read it and found it to report only daemon attacks:
> > > > FreeBSD - FreeBSD 4.0-REL
> > > >
> > > > In testing FreeBSD, a few specific
> > > > daemons/ports were targeted. For some, the
> > > > stability of the system as a whole can be
> > > > affected. The daemons targeted in this
> > > > testing are not necessarily at fault for
> > > > the problems encountered.
> > > >
> > > > SSH:
> > > >
> > > > NFS:
> > > >
> > > > BIND:
> > > >
> > > > Note: These services/ports can be
> > > > similarly affected on other Linux and UNIX
> > > > variants.
>
> If a daemon becomes unusable because it is subject to attack then that is,
> while not ideal, at least tolerable. When the whole system becomes unusable
> that points to problems in the kernel.
They don't substantiate their vague claim of "the stability of the system
as a whole can be affected." All of the specific instances they do list
ARE daemon attacks.
On the other hand, if they are attacking NFS, I can certainly see that
making the system somewhat unstable, but it is better in 4.2. As David
pointed out, NFS is usually NOT exposed outside your firewall. You do
have a firewall, don't you? ;^)
--
"Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?"
Wes Peters Softweyr LLC
wes@softweyr.com http://softweyr.com/
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