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CA-91:18 CERT Advisory
September 27, 1991
Active Internet tftp Attacks
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The Computer Emergency Response Team/Coordination Center (CERT/CC) would
like to alert you to automated tftp probes that have been occurring over
the last few days. These probes have attacked Internet sites throughout
the world and in most cases the file retrieved was /etc/passwd. However,
other files such as /etc/rc may have been retrieved.
The CERT/CC is working with the site(s) that were used by intruders
to launch the attacks. We are actively contacting those sites where we
believe the retrievals were successful. We are urging all sites to
carefully check their system configurations concerning tftp usage.
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I. Description
Unrestricted tftp access allows remote sites to retrieve
a copy of any world-readable file.
II. Impact
Anyone on the Internet can use tftp to retrieve copies of a
site's sensitive files. For example, the recent incident
involved retrieving /etc/passwd. The intruder can later
crack the password file and use the information to login
to the accounts. This method may provide access to the
root account.
III. Solution
A. Sites that do not need tftp should disable it immediately by
editing the system configuration file to comment out, or remove,
the line for tftpd. This file may be /etc/inetd.conf, /etc/servers,
or another file depending on your operating system. To cause
the change to be effective, it will be necessary to restart
inetd or force inetd to read the updated configuration file.
B. Sites that must use tftp (for example, for booting diskless
clients) should configure it such that the home directory is changed.
Example lines from /etc/inetd.conf might look like:
ULTRIX 4.0
tftp dgram udp nowait /etc/tftpd tftpd -r /tftpboot
SunOS 4.1
tftp dgram udp wait root /usr/etc/in.tftpd in.tftpd -s /tftpboot
As in item A. above, inetd must be restarted or forced to read
the updated configuration file to make the change effective.
C. If your system has had tftp configured as unrestricted, the CERT/CC
urges you to consider taking one of the steps outlined above and
change all the passwords on your system.
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If you believe that your system has been compromised, contact CERT/CC via
telephone or e-mail.
Computer Emergency Response Team/Coordination Center (CERT/CC)
Software Engineering Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890
Internet E-mail:
[email protected]
Telephone: 412-268-7090 24-hour hotline:
CERT/CC personnel answer 7:30a.m.-6:00p.m. EST/EDT,
on call for emergencies during other hours.
Past advisories and other computer security related information are available
for anonymous ftp from the cert.org (192.88.209.5) system.
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