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Date:      Mon, 21 Aug 2000 15:12:21 -0700 (PDT)
From:      "Rodney W. Grimes" <freebsd@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net>
To:        willwong@anime.ca (William Wong)
Cc:        billf@chimesnet.com (Bill Fumerola), freebsd-security@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: icmptypes
Message-ID:  <200008212212.PAA31227@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net>
In-Reply-To: <006301c00bbb$13b9afa0$0300a8c0@anime.ca> from William Wong at "Aug 21, 2000 05:59:26 pm"

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> Hi Bill,
> 
> I tried to "reset icmp" and it said that reset it only valid for tcp
> packets.  Would the polite way be to use some sort of "unreach" code?

Please read the RFC documenting icmp, don't have the number off hand,
but is a protocol violation to generate an icmp packet due to an icmp
packet, except for very specific conditions (icmp echo request -> icmp
echo reply, icmp netmask request -> icmp netmask reply and I think
there is one other).  The major reason being you can quite easily
create an icmp storm if you start sending icmp packets in responds
to icmp packets.  

Just allow 0,3,8,11  (and sometimes 12, though they are very rare,
they can help to cleanup a connection attempt that has gone wrong)
and deny or deny/log all the others.

You may also want to allow icmp type 5 out of your system, and possibly
in from _trusted_ routers.

There is no polite way to deny an icmp packet, the action of descarding
it is the best thing to do if you want to protect yourself.

Please read the fine paper you have been pointed to by others, trust that
some of the brightest minds in internet security have either looked at
or help draft it, and follow it's recomendations.

> Regards,
> - Will
> 
> > > Instead of just dropping an icmp packet with say ipfw's deny rule, is
> there
> > > a "polite" way to deny the packet.  To clarify, I want to send an
> equivalent
> > > of a "tcp reset" back, to let them know it's closed.  Or is there no
> such
> > > thing as this for the icmp protocol?
> >
> > Instead of 'deny' use 'reset'. Of course, this opens you up to a multitude
> > of DoS related problems, but you're at least being a good neighbor....
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 


-- 
Rod Grimes - KD7CAX @ CN85sl - (RWG25)               rgrimes@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net


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