Botnet Herders Attack MS06-040 Worm Hole

Laljeetji writes "eweek reports that the first wave of malicious attacks against the MS06-040 vulnerability is underway, using malware that hijacks unpatched Windows machines for use in IRC-controlled botnets. The attacks, which started late Aug. 12, use a variant of a backdoor Trojan that installs itself on a system, modifies security settings, connects to a remote IRC (Internet Relay Chat) server and starts listening for commands from a remote hacker. On the MSRC blog, Microsoft is calling it a very small, targeted attack that does not (yet?) have an auto-spreading mechanism. LURHQ has a detailed analysis of the backdoor."

Comments

Whats gonna happen when Norton removes WGA?

[LiquidCoooled]

from the analysis:

This variant of mocbot copies itself to the system directory as wgareg.exe, and creates an NT service to run at startup called "Windows Genuine Advantage Registration Service". The description given to the service reads "Ensures that your copy of Microsoft Windows is genuine and registered. Stopping or disabling this service will result in system instability.", in an attempt to discourage users from stopping it from running.

Do we actually know which is the more malicious variant?

Re:IRC the weakpoint?

[LiquidCoooled]

They know where its coming from, but the Chinese are still pissed at Jack Bauer so they won't shut it down.

actually, they say its the same server thats been running for months:
Amazingly, this new variant of Mocbot, still uses the same IRC server hostnames as a command-and-control mechanism after all these months. This may be partially due to the low-profile it has held, but also may be due to the fact that the hostnames and ip addresses associated with the command-and-control servers are almost all located in China. Historically Chinese ISPs and government entities have been less-than-cooperative in taking action against malware hosted and controlled from within their networks.

Re:IRC the weakpoint?

[winkydink]

How are the IRC channel and the hacker's IP address related? Just because somebody visits some random IRC channel doesn't make them the bot author. Security researchers, for example, will also be found there.

Also, most bot herdes are in eastern europe, brazil, or developing countries. Catching hackers isn't high on the list of law enforcement priorities in the countries (and, if the right amount has been paid to the right people, it's completely ignored).

A Solution...

[nmb3000]

Find a way to make the average user patch software.

As wonderful as it would be if all software was completely bug free and contained no security holes, it's simply impossible. No product, be it OSS or commercial, is free of these banes. On the other hand, problems like this would nearly go away, if only users would patch the software. Whether it's a new exploit in Windows or Apache or phpBB, if you don't patch, you're going to get screwed. Yes, it seems like Microsoft products have more patches than average, but at least they have patches. Blaster and MyDoom? They'd have never hit the news if users were patched. Automatic Updates in XP is a great step forward, but it's still opt-in.

Some people seem amazed when I say I had no direct problems with Blaster or Welchia, and they don't seem to get it that these problems essentially always appear after a patch is release which means there is no valid reason for their survival. Patch, patch, patch, patch, patch. Yes, slightly monotonous, but if users would simple do it, we'd stop seeing these equally monotonous news stories about Exploits of Doom.

Re:A Solution...

[Ph33r th3 g(O)at]

A good start would be for Microsoft to stop attaching new EULA conditions or spyware (e.g. WGA) as a prerequsite to getting patches conveniently.

Re:A Solution...

[Jerf]

This is a complicated topic, and I don't have a pat answer. But let me give you two of the counterpoints:

1. Corporate users can't do that; they need to test the patches first. Obviously, "corporate" users could then get an option to not auto-download the patches. But the corporations aren't conservative about patching because they like to drag their feet; technically it's easy to roll out a patch in a matter of hours, even minutes for small ones that don't require a reboot. The problem is that patches aren't perfect, and they will tend to break computers that used to work, and programs that used to work. Worst case scenario they can even destroy data.
   
   Corporations have trouble because they may well have thousands of configurations they need to support, so even if 1% of them fail, it's a major problem. Still, imagine if Microsoft forces a patch out, and they cause the machines that have Quicken version 6.3532 build 4 to completely destroy all financial records on their next startup. (Or even just render them unreadable, since we're assuming non-technical users.) Imagine the liability issues, which, frankly, probably terrify the executives at Microsoft already when they issue a patch. Forcing the patches on users makes those issues even worse.
2. If Microsoft has the ability to force your machine to run an update, they literally own your machine. They can make it do anything, and you can't stop them. Already the activation stuff has caused some issues, and I've basically bailed on Windows as a result and consider it a good reason for everybody else to bail, too. The computer needs to belong to you, not your corporate overlords. (The term "corporate overlord" in this case is used without sarcasm, because at least in computing terms, they really are.)

I think the problem boils down to the fact that it may not be possible to run a general-purpose computer in an incredibly hostile environment without a high degree of operator skill, and people in general, quite justifiably, do not wish to attain this high degree of skill, just so they can safely surf the web, send email, and use IM. Until a completely secure computer is built, or at least a far more secure one, I'm not sure what can be done about this.

The worst part is, none of what I've said here contradicts anything you've said. It's all in play at once? So, which side dominates, and under what circumstances? I really couldn't tell you. However, I would think the empirical evidence at the moment is in your favor. But is the only/best solution really to cede control over your computer to Microsoft (which are the people who got you into this situation in the first place)?

At least Open Source doesn't have that issue; since nobody is in charge and nobody is making money by controlling your computer (DRM, etc), the conflict of interest involved in creating a security situation where what seems to be the best solution is deeding your computer over to the same people doesn't come into play.

Re:A Solution...

[tymbow]

Patches are one thing but if people just used a firewall (even the built in one in Windows XP) or even just turned off the Server service (most home users don't need it) most of these worms would not have anywhere to go.

I'm amazed at the number of PCs that are are still blindly connected to the Internet with no firewall. Crank up NMap and run it over your ISPs dyanmic address range and have a look.

Re:IRC the weakpoint?

[httptech]

Modern botnet command-and-control IRC servers don't give out information like who else is connected. In this Mocbot C&C, you join the channel, get an encrypted command (in the channel topic) which tells the bot to join another channel. In that channel, another encrypted command in the topic tells the bot to download and execute a trojan (which currently is detected by some AV as Trojan-Proxy.Win32.Ranky.fv).

The reason for all this subterfuge is, if the AV companies aren't spying on the control channel, they have no way to know about the second-stage infection, unless they get lucky - so even if they do clean the Mocbot infection, the proxy trojan still resides on the machine.

Wondering...

[Progman3K]

Does that mean that if someone reverse-engineers the bot command set, maybe we can send them all a command to shutdown the service?

Re:Wondering...

[httptech]

Yes, actually there is a remove command built in to Mocbot. However, you have to issue the command from the proper user@host mask; something you can't do unless you have admin access to the IRC server.

An alternative is to use DNS to redirect the bots to a blackhole IRC server where the remove command can be executed. Of course, this only works if you have control over the DNS (e.g. an ISP redirecting their own users). Getting someone responsible for the authoritative DNS server is not likely to happen given the Chinese origin.

Internet the weakpoint?

[twitter]

Suppose the bots all used AIM or MSN Messenger servers. Would you demand that those be taken down?

The weak point is not IRC or any other communications method. The weak point is software that's so easy to exploit it has new "critical" patches every month [insert tampon jokes here].