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New Worm Installs Sniffer
fmorgan writes "Netcraft just posted a note saying that a new worm installs a network sniffer in the infected computers." When I read these things it kind of makes me wonder why it took this long. Update: 09/13 22:47 GMT by T :
More innovation: Ant writes "The Register has a story about a piece of malware that 'talks' to victims. The Amus email worm uses Windows Speech Engine (which is built-in to Windows XP) to deliver a curious message to infected users.
The message reads: "How are you. I am back. My name is mister hamsi. I am seeing you. Haaaaaaaa. You must come to turkiye. I am cleaning your computer. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. 0. Gule. Gule." ("Gule. Gule" is Turkish for "Bye. Bye". "Hamsi" is a small fish, like an anchovy, found in the Black Sea).
F-Secure has a copy of the sound file generated by the message."
Then dust free computers for all!
Network Propagation and Exploits
This worm takes advantage of the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) vulnerability present on Windows XP systems, which allows an attacker to gain full access and execute any code on a target machine, leaving it compromised. Read more on this vulnerability from the following link:
It also takes advantage of the Buffer Overflow in SQL Server 2000 vulnerability. Read more on this vulnerability from the following link:
This worm also exploits the IIS5/WEBDAV buffer overrun vulnerability affecting Windows NT platforms, which enables arbitrary codes to execute on the server. The following link offers more information from Microsoft about this vulnerability:
It also exploits the Windows LSASS vulnerability. This is a buffer overrun vulnerability that allows remote code execution. Once successfully exploited, a remote attacker is able to gain full control of the affected system. For more information about this vulnerability, refer to the following Microsoft Web site:
This worm spreads via network shares, using NetBEUI functions to get available lists of user names and passwords. It then searches for and lists down the following shared folders, where it drops a copy of itself using the gathered information:- Admin$\system32
- C$\windows\system32
- C$\winnt\system32
- Ipc$
Trend Micro reports that the worm runs on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP. But notice that they report that the worm as not in the wild. So... where is it? Did they get a prerelease?How much longer before worms use their own TCP/IP stack? Wouldn't much suprise me, and might be beneficial for getting around firewalls. Might be a cool little project to make a zoo virus that does it.
Disconnect and self-destruct, one bullet at a time.
The newest MyDoom variant has the author asking for a job...
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1158043
The arnus worm speaks to infected users.
I don't know if I should laugh or cry. I just know I'm getting calls in the next few days because someone's computer says "How are you...".
As demonstrated at DEFCON with "The Wall of Sheep" (stupid name, cool idea) it seems that a lot of people who should know better still don't encrypt their password transmissions.
If you haven't already, it's time to get serious about encryption.
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine." -- RFC 1925
2. I love the fact that this worm drops itself as BLING.EXE
3. This worm uses carnivore network sniffer and checks for the following strings
As Taco said, I'm surprised it's taken this long. Considering it uses 5 patched vulnerabilities I'd say you deserve what you get in this case.
4. This is particularly... clever? It does all kinds of things that I would put in as feature requests for the perfect worm
- It has 6 paths of infection: 5 vulnerabilities (as above) plus open shares
- It attempts to steal CD keys for some games.
- It installs a network sniffer
- It has an interface with 26 commands that the bad guys can use on an 0wned box
- It can log keystrokes
It doesn't destory anything all by itself, although it probably crashes some boxen through the exploits (was that just Sasser, or is that part of the LSASS flaw?) It still sucks, but it's just an expected evolution.I'm still waiting for the really bad one...
If you have a proper switch, then sniffing should not be a problem, as the traffic on the network will not reach the infected computer (unless it is also a server). Sadly, I fear that alot of the consumer "switches" on the market do not do proper routing, and have insufficient mac routing tables.
Feed the need: Digitaladdiction.net
I believe that would be "package sniffer" if I'm not mistaken. ;)
Proudly supporting the Libertarian Party.
......ran windows update on all infected machines? Would people get pissed?
-Randy
Seems like the uIP embedded TCP/IP stack would be ideal for this, as it is very small and portable. Also, it apparently already has been ported to and run on laptop keyboard microcontrollers. How about that kind of sniffer virus!
Dear Worm Writers,
Please create a worm that will actually destroy the users harddrive that way at work when they call up I can tell them its a hardware problem and we do not support that. Also it will teach everyone a valuable lesson in running windows update and enabling their firewalls.
Thank you
Student worker @ University Helpdesk
Yea, actually, a lot of the time the virus writers DO email them to the different antivirus companies. Having your virus added to the weekly virus definition files is part of their bragging rights.
Do you really think there are 55,000 viruses in the wild?
Yea yea, I worked for symantec for a couple of years.
This reminds me, I'm in the process of building a new pc and want to get the opinion of the shack collective on what is the best antivirus software.
Take your pick: *BSD, SuSE, Red Hat...
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
I'm waiting for a virus that greps all your documents for each name in your address book.
If a document contains a person's name, email it to them.
I can see it now, salary spreadsheets and confidential memos flying around to the very people who are not allowed to see them...
How does it Normally spread? .. or its variants??
What windows vulnerabilities is it using?
is it an email attachment? what is the attachement called
For christ sake...
Love, Zaq
Perhaps it took this long because the bad guys were busy installing keystroke recorders so that they could defeat encrypted network traffic. Also, switched networks help keep the impact of the sniffing to the infected computer -- unless the network terminates at an infected computer -- thus making this less as threat to large organization using 100% switched networks...
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello