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Kaminsky DNS Bug Claimed Fixed By 1-Character Patch

Posted by kdawson on from the but-it's-the-right-character dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to a thread on the bind-users mailing list, there is nothing inherent in the DNS protocol that would cause the massive vulnerability discussed at length here and elsewhere. As it turns out, it appears to be a simple off-by-one error in BIND, which favors new NS records over cached ones (even if the cached TTL is not yet expired). The patch changes this in favor of still-valid cached records, removing the attacker's ability to successfully poison the cache outside the small window of opportunity afforded by an expiring TTL, which is the way things used to be before the Kaminsky debacle. Source port randomization is nice, but removing the root cause of the attack's effectiveness is better."
Update: 08/29 20:11 GMT by KD : Dan Kaminsky sent this note: "What Gabriel suggests is interesting and was considered, but a) doesn't work and b) creates fatal reliability issues. I've responded in a post here."

3 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. What about other DNS servers ? by neonux · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If this is indeed not a protocol flaw, how come the same vulnerability is present on other DNS servers as well ?

    Do they all use the same code from BIND for this particular 'feature' ?

    --
    @neonux
    1. Re:What about other DNS servers ? by B'Trey · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That seems accurate to me. After all, what happens when a DNS record gets updated? With the new behavior, you won't see the change until your cached record expires. That may be preferable to a gaping security hole which lets attackers poison your cache, but I don't think it's accurate to call the issue a bug in BIND. I believe BIND was working as intended to allow updated records to overwrite older ones.

      --

      "The legitimate powers of government extend only to such acts as are injurious to others." Thomas Jefferson.

    2. Re:What about other DNS servers ? by More+Trouble · · Score: 5, Insightful

      After all, what happens when a DNS record gets updated? With the new behavior, you won't see the change until your cached record expires.

      You don't see that update until the TTL expires. That's why there's a TTL. If you're planning to make a change, lower the TTL well in advance to allow the new TTL to propagate.