Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 13:01:38 -0500 From: Larry Rosenman <ler@lerctr.org> To: John Polstra <jdp@polstra.com>, mobile@freebsd.org Subject: Re: "broadcast ping" message Message-ID: <290420000.1050516098@lerlaptop.iadfw.net> In-Reply-To: <200304161758.h3GHwK8Y080748@strings.polstra.com> References: <20030416105033.H46401-100000@moo.sysabend.org> <200304161758.h3GHwK8Y080748@strings.polstra.com>
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--On Wednesday, April 16, 2003 10:58:20 -0700 John Polstra <jdp@polstra.com> wrote: > In article <20030416105033.H46401-100000@moo.sysabend.org>, > Jamie Bowden <ragnar@sysabend.org> wrote: >> On Wed, 16 Apr 2003, John Polstra wrote: >> >> > To make a FreeBSD system respond to broadcast pings, you have to set >> > the sysctl variable net.inet.icmp.bmcastecho to 1. >> >> Shouldn't the default be to DTRT and respond unless disabled? Until now, >> the only systems on my network that didn't respond to broadcast pings >> were my windows boxes, but I consider them broken by default. Why has >> the default behavior changed, and isn't this a POLA issue? > > It was changed for security reasons. Responding to broadcast pings > creates several potential denial of service attacks. It's also against current best practices for ISP's. Even Cisco changed the routers to NOT respond to directed-broadcast by default. The RFC was NOT written for today's internet. Larry Rosenman Sr. Network Engineer Dallas, TX -- Larry Rosenman http://www.lerctr.org/~ler Phone: +1 972-414-9812 E-Mail: ler@lerctr.org US Mail: 1905 Steamboat Springs Drive, Garland, TX 75044-6749
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