Copyright 2024 - CSIM - Asian Institute of Technology

[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]


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

CERT Advisory CA-2001-23 Continued Threat of the "Code Red" Worm

   Original release date: July 26, 2001
   Source: CERT/CC

   A complete revision history can be found at the end of this file.

Systems Affected

     * Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 with IIS 4.0 or IIS 5.0 enabled and Index
       Server 2.0 installed
     * Windows 2000 with IIS 4.0 or IIS 5.0 enabled and Indexing services
       installed
     * Cisco CallManager, Unity Server, uOne, ICS7750, Building Broadband
       Service Manager (these systems run IIS)
     * Unpatched Cisco 600 series DSL routers

Overview

   Since around July 13, 2001, at least two variants of the
   self-propagating malicious code "Code Red" have been attacking hosts
   on the Internet (see CA-2001-19 "Code Red" Worm Exploiting Buffer
   Overflow In IIS Indexing Service DLL). Different organizations who
   have analyzed "Code Red" have reached different conclusions about the
   behavior of infected machines when their system clocks roll over to
   the next month. We believe the worm will begin propagating again on
   August 1, 2001 0:00 GMT, and there is evidence that tens of thousands
   of systems are already infected or vulnerable to re-infection at that
   time. Because the worm propagates very quickly, it is likely that
   nearly all vulnerable systems will be compromised by August 2, 2001.

   The CERT/CC has received reports indicating that at least 280,000
   hosts were compromised in the first wave.

I. Description

   The "Code Red" worm is malicious self-propagating code that exploits
   Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS)-enabled systems
   susceptible to the vulnerability described in CA-2001-13 Buffer
   Overflow In IIS Indexing Service DLL. Its activity on a compromised
   machine is time senstive; different activity occurs based on the date
   (day of the month) of the system clock. The CERT/CC is aware of at
   least two major variants of the worm, each of which exhibits the
   following pattern of behavior:

     * Propagation mode (from the 1st - 19th of the month): The infected
       host will attempt to connect to TCP port 80 of randomly chosen IP
       addresses in order to further propagate the worm. Depending on the
       configuration of the host that receives this request, there are
       varied consequences.

          + Unpatched IIS 4.0 and 5.0 servers with Indexing service
            installed will almost certainly be compromised by the "Code
            Red" worm. In the earlier variant of the worm, victim hosts
            with a default language of English experienced a defacement
            on all pages requested from the web server. Hosts infected
            with the later variant did not experience any change in the
            served content.

          + Unpatched Cisco 600-series DSL routers will process the HTTP
            request and trigger an unrelated vulnerability that causes
            the router to stop forwarding packets.
            [http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-code-red-worm-pub
            .shtml]

          + Systems not running IIS, but with an HTTP server listening on
            TCP port 80 will probably accept the HTTP request, return
            with an "HTTP 400 Bad Request" message, and potentially log
            this request in an access log.

     * Flood mode (from the 20th - 27th of the month): A packet-flooding
       denial-of-service attack will be launched against a specific IP
       address embedded in the code.

     * Termination (after the 27th day): The worm remains in memory but
       is otherwise inactive.

   Detailed technical analysis of the "Code Red" worm can be found in
   http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2001-19.html

II. Impact

   Data reported to the CERT/CC indicates that the "Code Red" worm
   infected more than 250,000 sytems in just 9 hours. Figure 1
   illustrates the activity between 6:00 AM EDT and 8:00 PM EDT on July
   19, 2001.

   [See Figure 1 at http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2001-23.html]

   NOTE: After 8:00 PM EDT on July 19 (0:00 GMT July 20), the worm
   switched into flood mode on most infected systems, so the number of
   infected systems remained fairly constant after that time.

   Our analysis estimates that starting with a single infected host, the
   time required to infect all vulnerable IIS servers with this worm
   could be less than 18 hours. Since the worm is programmed to continue
   propagating for the first 19 days of the month, widespread denial of
   service may result due to heavy scan traffic.

   As reported in CA-2001-19, infected systems may experience web site
   defacement as well as performance degradation as a result of the
   propagating activity of this worm. This degradation can become quite
   severe, and in fact may cause some services to stop entirely, since it
   is possible for a machine to be infected with multiple copies of the
   worm simultaneously.

   Furthermore, it is important to note that the IIS indexing
   vulnerability that the "Code Red" worm exploits can be used to execute
   arbitrary code in the Local System security context. This level of
   privilege effectively gives an attacker complete control of the
   infected system.

III. Solutions

   The CERT/CC encourages all Internet sites to review CA-2001-13 and
   ensure workarounds or patches have been applied on all affected hosts
   on your network.

   If you believe a host under your control has been compromised, you may
   wish to refer to

   http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/win-UNIX-system_compromise.html

   Known versions of the worm reside entirely in memory; therefore, a
   reboot of the machine will purge the worm from the system. However,
   due to the rapid propagation of the worm, the likelihood of
   re-infection is quite high. Taking the system offline and applying the
   vendor patch will eliminate the vulnerability exploited by the "Code
   Red" worm.

IV. Good Practices

   Consistent with the security best-practice of denying all network
   traffic and only selectively allowing that which is required, ingress
   and egress filtering should be implemented at the network edge.
   Likewise, controls must be in place to ensure that all software used
   on a network is properly maintained.

Ingress filtering

   Ingress filtering manages the flow of traffic as it enters a network
   under your administrative control. Servers are typically the only
   machines that need to accept inbound connections from the public
   Internet. In the network usage policy of many sites, there are few
   reasons for external hosts to initiate inbound connections to machines
   that provide no public services. Thus, ingress filtering should be
   performed at the border to prohibit externally initiated inbound
   connections to non-authortized services. In this fashion, the
   effectiveness of many intruder scanning techniques can be dramatically
   reduced. With "Code Red," ingress filtering will prevent instances of
   the worm outside of your network from infecting machines in the local
   network that are not explicitly authorized to provide public web
   services.

Egress filtering

   Egress filtering manages the flow of traffic as it leaves a network
   under your administrative control. There is typically limited need for
   machines providing public services to initiate outbound connections to
   the Internet. In the case of "Code Red," employing egress filtering
   will prevent compromised IIS servers on your network from further
   propagating the worm.

Installing new software with the latest patches

   When installing an operating system or application on a host for the
   first time, it is insufficient to merely use the install media.
   Vulnerabilities are often discovered after the software becomes widely
   distributed. Thus, prior to connecting this host to the network, the
   latest security patches for the software should be obtained from the
   vendor and applied.

Appendix A. - Vendor Information

   This appendix contains information provided by vendors for this
   advisory. When vendors report new information to the CERT/CC, we
   update this section and note the changes in our revision history. If a
   particular vendor is not listed below, we have not received their
   comments.

Cisco Systems

   Cisco has published a security advisory describing this vulnerability
   at

          http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-code-red-worm-pub.sh
          tml

Microsoft Corporation

   The following document regarding the vulnerability exploited by the
   "Code Red" worm is available from Microsoft:

          http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS01-033.asp
   ______________________________________________________________________

   Author(s): Roman Danyliw and Allen Householder
   ______________________________________________________________________

   This document is available from:
   http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2001-23.html
   ______________________________________________________________________

CERT/CC Contact Information

   Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
          Phone: +1 412-268-7090 (24-hour hotline)
          Fax: +1 412-268-6989
          Postal address:
          CERT Coordination Center
          Software Engineering Institute
          Carnegie Mellon University
          Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890
          U.S.A.

   CERT personnel answer the hotline 08:00-17:00 EST(GMT-5) / EDT(GMT-4)
   Monday through Friday; they are on call for emergencies during other
   hours, on U.S. holidays, and on weekends.

Using encryption

   We strongly urge you to encrypt sensitive information sent by email.
   Our public PGP key is available from

   http://www.cert.org/CERT_PGP.key

   If you prefer to use DES, please call the CERT hotline for more
   information.

Getting security information

   CERT publications and other security information are available from
   our web site

   http://www.cert.org/

   To subscribe to the CERT mailing list for advisories and bulletins,
   send email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please include in the body of your
   message

   subscribe cert-advisory

   * "CERT" and "CERT Coordination Center" are registered in the U.S.
   Patent and Trademark Office.
   ______________________________________________________________________

   NO WARRANTY
   Any material furnished by Carnegie Mellon University and the Software
   Engineering Institute is furnished on an "as is" basis. Carnegie
   Mellon University makes no warranties of any kind, either expressed or
   implied as to any matter including, but not limited to, warranty of
   fitness for a particular purpose or merchantability, exclusivity or
   results obtained from use of the material. Carnegie Mellon University
   does not make any warranty of any kind with respect to freedom from
   patent, trademark, or copyright infringement.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Conditions for use, disclaimers, and sponsorship information

   Copyright 2001 Carnegie Mellon University.

   Revision History
   Jul 26, 2001: Initial release














-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGPfreeware 5.0i for non-commercial use
Charset: noconv

iQCVAwUBO2DBMwYcfu8gsZJZAQH8+AP8DjgCfr3pdIA4YeMG+B9F3Ko2iL108d9f
YA3662PWBMFQcQAhAaAd7+iAUOPmVSENZ8fqc6MGt9guis72J4kmGjBBUoKIqQ3Z
foV9TZUyZSi56e+q/GEq7hVtTn23MYh/n4tttvhnmrRqKe6biGwjS3PMu11KZqeK
RBlRqNc4ItA=
=hvKD
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Powered by: MHonArc

Login Form

Search

School of Engineering and technologies     Asian Institute of Technology