GNU software compromised : Cert Advisory

> Source: CERT/CC
>
> A complete revision history is at the end of this file.
>
> Overview
>
> The CERT/CC has received a report that the system housing the
> primary FTP servers for the GNU software project was compromised.
>
> I. Description
>
> The GNU Project, principally sponsored by the Free Software
> Foundation (FSF), produces a variety of freely available
> software. The CERT/CC has learned that the system housing the
> primary FTP servers for the GNU software project,
> gnuftp.gnu.org, was root compromised by an intruder. The more
> common host names of ftp.gnu.org and alpha.gnu.org are aliases
> for the same compromised system. The compromise is reported
> to have occurred in March of 2003.
>
> The FSF has released an announcement describing the incident.
>
> Because this system serves as a centralized archive of
> popular software, the insertion of malicious code into the
> distributed software is a serious threat. As the above
> announcement indicates, however, no source code distributions
> are believed to have been maliciously modified at this time.
>
> II. Impact
>
> The potential exists for an intruder to have inserted back
> doors, Trojan horses, or other malicious code into the
> source code distributions of software housed on the compromised
> system.
>
> III. Solution
>
> We encourage sites using the GNU software obtained from
> the compromised system to verify the integrity of their
> distribution.
>
> Sites that mirror the source code are encouraged to verify
> the integrity of their sources. We also encourage users to inspect
> any and all other software that may have been downloaded from the
> compromised site. Note that it is not always sufficient to rely
> on the timestamps or file sizes when trying to determine
> whether or not a copy of the file has been modified.
>
> Verifying checksums
>
> The FSF has produced PGP-signed lists of known-good MD5 hashes of
> the software packages housed on the compromised server. These
> lists can be found at
>
> ftp://ftp.gnu.org/before-2003-08-01.md5sums.asc
> ftp://alpha.gnu.org/before-2003-08-01.md5sums.asc
>
> Note that both of these files and the announcement above are
> signed by Bradley Kuhn, Executive Director of the FSF, with the
> following PGP key:
>
> pub 1024D/DB41B387 1999-12-09 Bradley M. Kuhn <bkuhn@fsf.org>
> Key fingerprint = 4F40 645E 46BE 0131 48F9 92F6 E775 E324 DB41
> B387 uid Bradley M. Kuhn (bkuhn99)
> <bkuhn@ebb.org> uid Bradley M. Kuhn
> <bkuhn@gnu.org>
> sub 2048g/75CA9CB3 1999-12-09
>
> The CERT/CC believes this key to be valid.
>
> As a matter of good security practice, the CERT/CC encourages
> users to verify, whenever possible, the integrity of downloaded
> software. For more information, see IN-2001-06.
>
> Appendix A. - Vendor Information
>
> This appendix contains information provided by vendors for
> this advisory. As vendors report new information to the
> CERT/CC, we will update this section and note the changes in our
> revision history. If a particular vendor is not listed below,
> we have not received their comments.
>
> Free Software Foundation
>
>
> The current files on alpha.gnu.org and ftp.gnu.org as of
> 2003-08-02 have all been verified, and their md5sums and the
> reasons we believe the md5sums can be trusted are in:
>
> ftp://ftp.gnu.org/before-2003-08-01.md5sums.asc
> ftp://alpha.gnu.org/before-2003-08-01.md5sums.asc
>
> We are updating that file and the site as we confirm good md5sums
> of additional files. It is theoretically possible that downloads
> between March 2003 and July 2003 might have been
> source-compromised, so we encourage everyone to re-download
> sources and compare with the current copies for files on the site.
>
> Appendix B. References
>
> * FSF announcement regarding the incident
> - ftp://ftp.gnu.org/MISSING-FILES.README
> * CERT Incident Note IN-2001-06 -
> http://www.cert.org/incident_notes/IN-2001-06.html
> __________________________________________________ _______________
>
> The CERT/CC thanks Bradley Kuhn and Brett Smith of the Free
> Software Foundation for their timely assistance in this matter.
> __________________________________________________ _______________
>
> Feedback can be directed to the author: Chad Dougherty.
>
> __________________________________________________ ____________________
>
> This document is available from:
> http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2003-21.html
>
> __________________________________________________ ____________________
>
> CERT/CC Contact Information
>
> Email: cert@cert.org
> Phone: +1 412-268-7090 (24-hour hotline)
> Fax: +1 412-268-6989
> Postal address:
> CERT Coordination Center
> Software Engineering Institute
> Carnegie Mellon University
> Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890
> U.S.A.
>
> CERT/CC personnel answer the hotline 08:00-17:00
> EST(GMT-5) / EDT(GMT-4) Monday through Friday; they are on
> call for emergencies during other hours, on U.S. holidays, and on
> weekends.
>
> Using encryption
>
> We strongly urge you to encrypt sensitive information sent by
> email. Our public PGP key is available from
> http://www.cert.org/CERT_PGP.key
>
> If you prefer to use DES, please call the CERT hotline for
> more information.
>
> Getting security information
>
> CERT publications and other security information are available
> from our web site
> http://www.cert.org/
>
> To subscribe to the CERT mailing list for advisories and
> bulletins, send email to majordomo@cert.org. Please include in
> the body of your message
>
> subscribe cert-advisory
>
> * "CERT" and "CERT Coordination Center" are registered in the
> U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
>
> __________________________________________________ ____________________
>
> NO WARRANTY
> Any material furnished by Carnegie Mellon University and the
> Software Engineering Institute is furnished on an "as is"
> basis. Carnegie Mellon University makes no warranties of any kind,
> either expressed or implied as to any matter including, but not
> limited to, warranty of fitness for a particular purpose or
> merchantability, exclusivity or results obtained from use of the
> material. Carnegie Mellon University does not make any warranty
> of any kind with respect to freedom from patent, trademark, or
> copyright infringement.
> __________________________________________________ ____________________
>
> Conditions for use, disclaimers, and sponsorship information
>
> Copyright 2002 Carnegie Mellon University.
>
> Revision History
> August 13, 2003: Initial release
>
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From: "CERT Advisory" <cert-advisory@cert.org>
To: <cert-advisory@cert.org>
Subject: CERT Advisory CA-2003-21 GNU Project FTP Server Compromise
Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 7:17 PM

On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 22:22:56 -0400, Ken Kauffman <kkauffman@nospam.headfog.com> wrote:
>
>
>> Source: CERT/CC
>>
>> A complete revision history is at the end of this file.
>>
>> Overview
>>



I noticed a M$ weenie posted this. Is it for real?


Haven't heard a word about it anyplace else.


Alan C

On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 04:06:27 +0000, Alan Connor wrote:

>>> Source: CERT/CC

> I noticed a M$ weenie posted this. Is it for real?
> Haven't heard a word about it anyplace else.

It's real. Heard about it on Slashdot earlier today.

http://ftp.gnu.org/MISSING-FILES.README
http://ftp.gnu.org/MISSING-FILES

Alan Connor wrote:
> On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 22:22:56 -0400, Ken Kauffman
> <kkauffman@nospam.headfog.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Source: CERT/CC
>>>
>>> A complete revision history is at the end of this file.
>>>
>>> Overview
>>>
>
>
>
> I noticed a M$ weenie posted this. Is it for real?
>
>
> Haven't heard a word about it anyplace else.
>
>
> Alan C

I used OE with OE -QuoteFix. Don't be a prick about it. I don't care for
the way filtering works in PAN when filtering threads by user. It seems to
strip out part of the thread up to your own name.

If you had taken two damn seconds to check CERT.org you would have seen it.

http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2003-21.html

ken k