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Date:      Thu, 11 Dec 1997 23:00:26 -0800
From:      Cy Schubert - ITSD Open Systems Group <cschuber@uumail.gov.bc.ca>
To:        freebsd-security@freebsd.org
Cc:        security-officer@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Yahoo hacked
Message-ID:  <199712120700.XAA12938@cwsys.cwsent.com>

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Enclosed is a posting by Aleph One to BUGTRAQ.

Considering that a weak password may have contributed to the hack, if the 
account had access to their Web pages, a root compromise may have not occured. 
 Having said that, the first rule of investigating a compromise is to assume 
that root had been compromised, until it can be proven otherwise.

I don't think this is the time to panic.  I'm sure that someone in the core 
team has already spoken to the Yahoo security officer to find out more and to 
offer assistance.  That's probably the quickest way they will be able to get 
enough information about the breakin to determine whether a FreeBSD bug had 
contributed to the breakin.


Regards,                       Phone:  (250)387-8437
Cy Schubert                      Fax:  (250)387-5766
UNIX Support                   OV/VM:  BCSC02(CSCHUBER)
ITSD                          BITNET:  CSCHUBER@BCSC02.BITNET
Government of BC            Internet:  cschuber@uumail.gov.bc.ca
                                       Cy.Schubert@gems8.gov.bc.ca

		"Quit spooling around, JES do it."


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Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 21:50:52 -0600
Reply-To: Aleph One <aleph1@dfw.net>
Sender: Bugtraq List <BUGTRAQ@netspace.org>
From: Aleph One <aleph1@dfw.net>
Subject: Re: Yahoo hacked
To: BUGTRAQ@netspace.org
Resent-To: cy@passer.osg.gov.bc.ca
Resent-Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 20:32:27 -0800
Resent-From: Cy Schubert - ITSD Open Systems Group 
<cschuber@passer.osg.gov.bc.ca>

   Here are some more rumors.

   It was not DNS related. It seems Yahoo uses a system where different
web browsers are sent to different web servers. Thats why only lynx users
(and maybe users of very old version versions of Netscape) saw the page.
Only the lynx server was affected.

   The boxes affected where located in the GlobalCenter data center. They
provide web hosting for Yahoo (and some other very large web sites).

   My informant claims that the attack actually came from behind the
firewall via a dialup modem. He claimed that password to a users account
on the machines had been compromissed.

   After the web page was modified all types of automatic bells and
whistles went off and they restored from backup in fifteen minutes.

   You can view a copy of the hacked homepage at

       http://www.clipper.net/~skully/yahoo/

   Notice that the page had a link to

       http://www.yahoo.com/yahooz-el8-search-engine-src.zip

    Wonder it the source code for yahoo's search engine was really
there and if anyone got to download it ;)

Aleph One / aleph1@dfw.net
http://underground.org/
KeyID 1024/948FD6B5
Fingerprint EE C9 E8 AA CB AF 09 61  8C 39 EA 47 A8 6A B8 01


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