It is a bad worm, yes, and it's taking advantage of a problem that many linux users (but doubtfully the ones on PM have) and that's the lack of updating critical software. The worm's based off a bug found in January for the so-called Raman worm which had to be used in conjunction with wuftpd and one other client, and affect all versions of BIND except the most recent, 8.2.3 (non-beta). Nearly all major *nux vendors had patches out the same day, but quotes estimate that maybe only 50 to 75% of those running *nix took this necessary step.

This worm is using the exact same exploit, delievering a much deadlier protocol since it basically sticks a root kit on the affected box. And it's exploiting the fact that some *nix installs NEVER get patched for security holes (one article I read says that 20% of the internet is affected because of the number of *nix-based servers that have old BIND versions. But this is why I don't think most PM-ers will be affected, because we are computer professionals and know the value of security patches :D.

(Of course, the other trick besides patching is to stick the bind process behind a different user besides root, which means that a would-be attacker would not be able to root-kit your machine.)

Dr. Michael K. Neylon - mneylon-pm@masemware.com || "You've left the lens cap of your mind on again, Pinky" - The Brain

In reply to Re: WORM: Warning to all LINUX/PERL monks by Masem
in thread WORM: Warning to all LINUX/PERL monks by scottstef

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.