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- VIRUS-L Digest Thursday, 29 Dec 1988 Volume 1 : Issue 59a
-
- Today's Topics:
- UUDECODE source available (PC?)
- debrain.uue
- Virus @ lockheed?
- More on the virus...
- nVIR 10 - A Correction (Mac)
- VIRUS WARNING: DECNET Worm (forwarded from VALERT-L)
- Formatting disks (PC)
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 23 Dec 88 12:51:53 EDT
- From: Jean <SSAT@PACEVM.BITNET>
- Subject: UUDECODE source available (PC?)
- To: VIRUS-L@LEHIIBM1
-
- Well I finally have an answer for those who need UUDECODE to create
- the files they request in .UUE format. I just sent the files to Ken and
- hope he puts them up on the LISTSERV.
-
- I now have a BASIC program with PURE ASCII data statements that creates
- UUDECODE.EXE and guess what? It works fine.
-
- If you cant wait for Ken to get it on the LISTSERV, send me a short
- MAIL request saying you want the UUDECODE PACKAGE and I'll file send it
- to you.
-
- If you have BITRCV, let me know and I'll Bitsend them which is faster.
- If you want BITRCV, let me know as well.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 23 Dec 88 14:03:09 EDT
- From: SSAT@PACEVM.BITNET
- Subject: debrain.uue
- To: VIRUS-L@LEHIIBM1
-
- If anyone has debrain.uue could they please send it to me?
-
- We finally got uudecode working properly and now we need debrain.uue
-
- Thank you.
-
- ------------------------------
-
-
- Date: Fri, 23 Dec 88 15:17:39 EST
- From: angelo@jvncf.csc.org (Michael F. Angelo)
- Subject: Virus @ lockheed?
-
- I just got a call from one of my friends, and he said that Lockheed
- has pulled itself from the internet, due to a virus / hacker. Does
- anyone out there know anything about this?
-
- ps. It supposedly affected there vms machine?
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 23 Dec 88 15:30:22 EST
- From: Joe McMahon <XRJDM@SCFVM.BITNET>
- Subject: nVIR 10 - A Correction (Mac)
-
- I just received a note from Matthias Urlichs, who tells me that nVIR 10
- merely DEACTIVATES the nVIR virus, it does not kill it.
-
- I suppose it's like a DNA suppressor, rather than an antibody.
-
- Sorry if I have caused anyone inconvenience. The nVIR Vaccine program
- in the NVIRVACC SITHQX file should still be used to remove nVIR from
- applications, and the manual procedure mentioned in the ANTI-VIR
- SITHQX stack can be used to clean systems.
-
- I have been receiving a LOT of nVIR removal software lately; I haven't
- had time to review it yet. I will be doing so and adding the ones I find
- best address the problem to our LISTSERV after January 1.
-
- Happy holidays, all.
-
- - --- Joe M.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 23 Dec 88 19:54:27 est
- Sender: Virus Alert List <VALERT-L@IBM1.CC.Lehigh.Edu>
- From: lecgwy!lyons%RUTGERS.EDU@IBM1.CC.Lehigh.Edu
- Subject: VIRUS WARNING: DECNET Worm (forwarded from VALERT-L)
-
- The following information relates to the DECNET worm which
- hit the HEPNET and infects DEC VMS systems.
-
- Note that in addition to the information presented here, the possibility
- exists that a non-HEPNET system may have been infected. You should
- check your system for a file by the name of HI.COM, and a process
- running with the name MAIL_178DC. If you find either of them, your
- system more than likely has been infected. Read on for further
- background, as well as a more thorough explanation.
-
- Thanks to Ed DeHart at CERT, Fred Ostapik at ARPA-NIC, and all others
- who helped assemble this information.
-
- - ---
- Marty Lyons, Lockheed Electronics Company, 1501 U.S. Highway 22,
- CS #1, M/S 147, Plainfield, N.J. 07061-1501 (201) 757-1600 x3156
- LYONS@LECGWY.LEC.LOCKHEED.COM or LYONS%LECGWY.UUCP@AUSTIN.LOCKHEED.COM
-
- Worm-fix distribution list:
- CERT, CMU (cert@sei.cmu.edu)
- John Wagner, Princeton (wagner@pucc.bitnet, wagner@princeton.edu)
- Chris Tengi, Princeton (tengi@deepthought.princeton.edu)
- Nick Cardo, JVNC Supercompuer Center (cardo@jvncc.csc.org)
- Chuck Hedrick, Rutgers (hedrick@rutgers.edu)
- Steve Keeton, NJIT (syssfk@njitx.njit.edu)
- Seldon Ball, Cornell (system@crnlns.bitnet)
- Nick Gimbrone, Cornell (njg@cornella.bitnet)
- Sandi Ivano, Yale (???)
- Anio Khullar, CUNY Graduate Center (ank@cunyvms1.bitnet)
- Shakil Khan, CUNY Queens College (khan@qcvax.bitnet)
- Meredith Coombs, Stevens Tech (???)
- Ken Ng, NJIT (ken@orion.bitnet)
- Dave Capshaw, Lockheed-Austin (capshaw@austin.lockheed.com)
- Marty Lyons, Lockheed Electronics (lyons@lecgwy.lec.lockheed.com)
- Randi Robinson, CUNY (rlrcu@cunyvm.cuny.edu)
- BITNET Laison Distribution List (laison@bitnic.bitnet)
- BITNET Linkfail List (linkfail@bitnic.bitnet)
- BITNET Virus Alert List (valert-l@lehiibm1.bitnet)
- UUCP/Stargate Announcements (announce@stargate.com)
-
- > From rutgers!sei.cmu.edu!ecd Fri Dec 23 17:59:18 1988
- > Received: from ED.SEI.CMU.EDU by rutgers.edu (5.59/RU-1.2/3.02)
- > id AA18876; Fri, 23 Dec 88 17:47:30 EST
- > Received: by ed.sei.cmu.edu (5.54/2.3)
- > id AA08030; Fri, 23 Dec 88 17:28:48 EST
- > Date: Fri, 23 Dec 88 17:28:48 EST
- > Message-Id: <8812232228.AA08030@ed.sei.cmu.edu>
- > To: lecgwy!lyons, steinauer@ecf.icst.nbs.go
- > Subject: Re: NASA Virus
-
- The following information has been provided by one of the VMS experts
- on the Internet. Due to the holidays, the CERT has not been able to
- verify the information. If you do verify the information please let
- us know.
-
- Thanks,
- Ed DeHart
- Software Engineering Institute / Computer Emergency Response Team
- cert@sei.cmu.edu
- 412-268-7090
- =======================================================================
-
- There is a worm loose on NASA's SPAN/DoE's HEPNET network, which is an
- international DECnet-based network. The worm targets VMS machines, and
- can only be propagated via DECnet.
-
- The worm itself appears to be benign, in that it does not destroy files
- or compromise the system. It's purpose appears to be to deliver a
- Christmas message to users starting at midnight on 24 Dec 1988. It
- does have a hook in it to monitor it's progress; it mails a message
- back to a specific node (20.117, user PHSOLIDE) containing an identifying
- string of the "infected" machine.
-
- The worm exploits two features of DECnet/VMS in order to propagate itself.
- The first is the default DECnet account, which is a facility for users who
- don't have a specific login ID for a machine to have some degree of
- anonymous access. It uses the default DECnet account to copy itself to a
- machine, and then uses the "TASK 0" feature of DECnet to invoke the remote
- copy.
-
- There are several steps which you can take to protect yourself from this
- kind of attack. The easiest (and most restrictive) is to disable the
- default DECnet account on your machine altogether. This can be done with
- the following commands from the SYSTEM or other suitably privileged account:
-
- $ Run SYS$SYSTEM:NCP
- Purge Executor Nonprivileged User Account Password
- Clear Executor Nonprivileged User Account Password
- ^Z
-
- This requires that everyone who accesses your resources via DECnet to have
- a legitimate login ID or proxy login account on your machine (proxy logins
- are discussed in detail in chapter 7 of the _Guide to VMS System Security_,
- see below).
-
- You can take less restrictive steps to protect your machine while still
- maintaining some degree of default access. If you wish to keep the ability
- for users to copy files to the default DECnet account but wish to prevent
- them from copying DCL command procedures there and then executing them you
- can issue the following commands (again from the SYSTEM or other suitably
- privileged account):
-
- $ Run SYS$SYSTEM:NCP
- Clear Object Task All
- ^Z
-
- You must then edit the file SYS$MANAGER:STARTNET.COM, and add the line
-
- CLEAR OBJECT TASK ALL
-
- AFTER the line which says
-
- SET KNOWN OBJECTS ALL
-
- This has the side-effect of disabling users from executing any command
- procedure via DECnet that the system manager has not defined in the
- DECnet permanent database. These steps alone are not sufficient to
- prevent copies of the virus from being copied to your machine; but they
- will prevent it from being executed. To prevent copies of this specific
- virus from being copied to your machine you can issue the following
- commands (from the SYSTEM or other privileged account):
-
- $ Set Default your-default-decnet-directory
- $ Create HI.COM
- $ Stop/ID=0
- ^Z
- $ Set File/Owner=[1,4]-
- /Protection=(S:RWED,O:RWED,G:RE,W:RE)/Version=1 HI.COM
-
- This prevents anyone from copying a file called "HI.COM" into your default
- DECnet account; however, other files can be copied there unless you disable
- access to the DECnet object FAL (the File Access Listener) from your default
- DECnet account. This can be done by creating a specific account for FAL
- (using the AUTHORIZE utility) with a seperate UIC, default directory, and
- minimal privileges and forcing the FAL object to use that account. The
- following sequence of commands are an example (these commands also require
- that they be issued from the SYSTEM or other suitably privileged account):
-
-
- $ Set Default SYS$SYTEM
- $ Run AUTHORIZE
- Add FAL/UIC=[some-unused-UIC]/Owner="DECnet default FAL"-
- /Password=randomstring/Device=disk-device/Directory=[some-directory]-
- /Flags=(DISCTLY,DEFCLI,CAPTIVE,LOCKPWD)/NoBatch/NoLocal/NoDialup-
- /NoRemote/Privileges=(TMPMBX,NETMBX)/DefPrivileges=(TMPMBX,NETMBX)-
- /LGICMD=SYS$SYSTEM:FALLOG.COM
- ^Z
- $ Run NCP
- Define Object FAL Number 17 File SYS$SYSTEM:FAL User FAL -
- Password same-random-string
- Set Object FAL Number 17 File SYS$SYSTEM:FAL User FAL -
- Password same-random-string
- ^Z
- $ Create FALLOG.COM
- $ V := 'F$Verify(0)
- $ Write SYS$OUTPUT ""
- $ Write SYS$OUTPUT "''F$Time()' -- Node ''F$Logical("SYS$NODE")'"
- $ Write SYS$OUTPUT "''F$Time()' -- Remote file access from:"
- $ Write SYS$OUTPUT "''F$Time()' -- User: ''F$logical("SYS$REM_ID")'"
- $ Write SYS$OUTPUT "''F$Time()' -- Node: ''F$Logical("SYS$REM_NODE")'"
- $ Write SYS$OUTPUT ""
- ^Z
-
- This sequence of commands separates the FAL account from the default DECnet
- account, and you can use file protections to enforce that the FAL account
- cannot access files in the default DECnet account and vice-versa. The
- command file FALLOG.COM above will log all remote file accesses in the
- file NETSERVER.LOG in the directory specified for the FAL account above.
-
- The FAL program can supply additional logging information; contact your
- DIGITAL software support person for further details.
-
- Further steps can be taken to restrict access to your system. These
- steps are discussed in detail in the _Guide to VMS System Security_, DEC
- order number AA-LA40A-TE, dated April 1988. See in particular chapter 7,
- entitled _Security for a DECnet Node_.
-
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: SUN DEC 25, 1988 16.55.23 EST
- From: "Prof Arthur I. Larky" <AIL0@LEHIGH.BITNET>
- Subject: Formatting disks (PC)
-
- When you format a floppy, you do two things: (1) you create an empty FAT
- (File Allocation Table) which indicates that you have not assigned any
- portion of the disk to files, and (2) you create the data sectors on
- the disk by writing sector numbers, CRC's, etc on every track of the
- disk. Thus the disk is completely clean; unless, of course, your
- format program or DOS has been subverted. You also write a boot
- record. If you have asked for it, the two hidden DOS programs get put
- as the first two programs on the disk.
- When you use the same program (Format) to format a hard disk, all
- it does is create the empty FAT table, thus everything that was on the
- disk is still there, but you have one heck of a problem finding it
- unless you are a virus that knows where it is.
- Hard disk owners can get rid of everything by doing a low-level
- format (on my Zenith its a program called PREP). This does the
- entire job of putting the sector and track numbers, CRC's, etc. on
- the disk and also creates a map of bad sectors (truly bad ones, not
- virus-faked bad ones). Unfortunately, it takes hours (yes, hours) to
- do this low level format since the program does repeated checks on
- the read/write-ability of the disk. Some controllers have code in
- their ROM at c800:5 that does this low-level formatting; others do
- not. If you use Debug to look at the code, you may be able to figure
- out whether its there or not. Another way to find out is to try it;
- however, you better not have anything valuable on the disk in case
- it works.
- Art Larky
- CSEE Dept
- Lehigh University
-
- ------------------------------
-
- End of VIRUS-L Digest
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