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CERT* Summary CS-98.07
August 26, 1998
The CERT Coordination Center periodically issues the CERT Summary to
draw attention to the types of attacks currently being reported to our
incident response team, as well as to other noteworthy incident and
vulnerability information. The summary includes pointers to sources of
information for dealing with the problems discussed here.
Past CERT Summaries are available from
http://www.cert.org/summaries/
ftp://ftp.cert.org/pub/cert_summaries/
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Recent Activity
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Since the last CERT Summary issued in June 1998 (CS-98.06), we have
seen these trends in incidents reported to us.
1. New Tools Used For Widespread Scans
It is nothing new for intruders to launch widespread scans to
locate vulnerable machines. However, a new, publicly released
intruder tool called "mscan" scans networks for many different
vulnerabilities. The CERT/CC has received numerous reports
indicating that this tool is in widespread use within the
intruder community.
We encourage you to review CERT Incident Note IN-98.02, which
describes mscan and its recognizable signature in more
detail. (A description of incident notes appears in a later
section, New CERT Security Documents.) This incident note is
available at
http://www.cert.org/incident_notes/IN-98.02.html
The tool uses DNS zone transfers and systematic scanning of IP
addresses, either alone or in combination, to locate
machines. Once machines are located, they are tested for a
number of vulnerabilities.
Additional useful information about mscan can be found at
ftp://ftp.auscert.org.au/pub/auscert/advisory/AL-98.01.mscan
courtesy of the Australian Computer Emergency Response Team
(AUSCERT).
2. Buffer Overflows in Some POP Servers
The CERT/CC continues to receive reports that the buffer
overflow vulnerability described in CA-98.08 is being exploited
in some Post Office Protocol (POP) servers based on QUALCOMM's
qpopper implementation of POP. Remote users can gain privileged
access to systems running vulnerable POP servers.
For more information about the vulnerability, please see the
most recent version of the advisory at
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-98.08.qpopper_vul.html
ftp://ftp.cert.org/pub/cert_advisories/CA-98.08.qpopper_vul
and take appropriate action.
3. Multiple Vulnerabilities in BIND
In two previous special edition CERT Summaries, CS-98.04 and
CS-98.05, we discussed several attack methods being used to
exploit vulnerabilities in BIND. CS-98.04 and CS-98.05 are
available from
http://www.cert.org/summaries/CS-98.04.html
http://www.cert.org/summaries/CS-98.05.html
Intruders are still exploiting vulnerabilities described in
CERT Advisory CA-98.05. We encourage you to review CERT
Advisory CA-98.05, which describes the BIND buffer overflow
vulnerability, and to apply the appropriate patches if you have
not done so already. This advisory is available from
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-98.05.bind_problems.html
ftp://ftp.cert.org/pub/cert_advisories/CA-98.05.bind_problems
If you find you have been root compromised, this document
suggests appropriate steps to take in response:
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/root_compromise.html
ftp://ftp.cert.org/pub/tech_tips/root_compromise
Noteworthy Incident and Vulnerability Information
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Internet Explorer Vulnerability
Some versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4 have a
vulnerability in the way they handle Javascript. This problem can
permit a maliciously written script to run arbitrary code on a
user's machine.
There is a CERT Vulnerability Note describing this problem and
defenses against it. The vulnerability note is available at
http://www.cert.org/vul_notes/VN-98.06.ms_jscript.html
New CERT Security Documents
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The CERT/CC sometimes has incident and vulnerability information that
may not warrant CERT Summaries or Advisories, but that may have value
for the Internet community. To easily disseminate that information, we
have created two new document types: CERT Incident Notes and CERT
Vulnerability Notes.
CERT/CC Incident Notes
Incident notes are an informal and current way to inform the
Internet community about computer security incidents and changing
intruder attacks that have been reported to us. There is no set
schedule for publishing incident notes; they will be created as
noteworthy incident information becomes available.
Incident notes are available from
http://www.cert.org/incident_notes/index.html
CERT/CC Vulnerability Notes
We created vulnerability notes as an informal mechanism for
publishing current information about vulnerabilities.
Vulnerability notes may contain a wide variety of
information. Vulnerabilities that do not meet the criteria to
become CERT advisories may be described in vulnerability notes,
though some notes contain information similar to that in CERT
advisories. Other notes contain more informal discussions about
vulnerabilities.
Vulnerability notes are available from
http://www.cert.org/vul_notes/index.html
We encourage you to periodically check the incident notes and
vulnerability notes for new information.
What's New and Updated
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Brief notices about new and updated CERT information, such as
advisories, vendor-initiated bulletins, and incident and vulnerability
notes, are available from the CERT web site at
http://www.cert.org/nav/whatsnew.html
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How to Contact the CERT Coordination Center
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone +1 412-268-7090 (24-hour hotline)
CERT personnel answer 8:30-5:00 p.m. EST(GMT-5)/EDT(GMT-4), and are on
call for emergencies during other hours.
Fax +1 412-268-6989
Postal address:
CERT Coordination Center
Software Engineering Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890
USA
To be added to our mailing list for CERT advisories and bulletins,
send your email address to
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
In the subject line, type
SUBSCRIBE your-email-address
CERT advisories and bulletins are posted on the USENET news group:
comp.security.announce
CERT publications, information about FIRST representatives, and other
security-related information are available for anonymous FTP from
http://www.cert.org/
ftp://ftp.cert.org/pub/
If you wish to send sensitive incident or vulnerability information to
CERT staff by electronic mail, we strongly advise you to encrypt your
message. We can support a shared DES key or PGP. Contact the CERT
staff for more information.
Location of CERT PGP key
ftp://ftp.cert.org/pub/CERT_PGP.key
Copyright 1998 Carnegie Mellon University. Conditions for use,
disclaimers, and sponsorship information can be found in
http://www.cert.org/legal_stuff/legal_stuff.html and
ftp://ftp.cert.org/pub/legal_stuff
If you do not have FTP or web access, send mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with
"copyright" in the subject line.
* CERT is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
NO WARRANTY
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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.
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