ANONYMOUSE FTP FAQ

Thursday, March 12, 2009 0 comments

Version: 3.00









How to Set up a Secure Anonymous FTP Site











The following is a FAQ on setting up a secure FTP Site. FTP sites



are known for much abuse by transferring illegal files. They also open many



oppurtunities for intruders to gain access via misconfigured setups. And



lastly many versions of ftp servers have had security holes. This FAQ is



intended to clean up this abuse by allowing administrators to go through this



check list of steps to make sure their FTP is correctly configured and that



they are running the most current ftp daemon.







This is organized in the following fashion, I am breaking into several parts



as follows:




















  1. General Description of Setting up an "Anonymous" FTP server.











  2. Setting up a chrooted Secure Anonymous FTP server.















  3. OS Specific needed information and suggestions.































  4. Where to get other FTP daemons















  5. How to Know if your Anonymous FTP Server is Secure















  6. Archie




























1. General Description of Setting up an "anonymous" ftp server.















  1. Create the user ftp in /etc/passwd. Use a misc group. The user's home



    directory will be ~ftp where ~ftp is the root you wish anonymous users to



    see. Creating this user turns on anonymous ftp.







    Use an invalid password and user shell for better security. The entry in the



    passwd file should look something like:







    ftp:*:400:400:Anonymous FTP:/home/ftp:/bin/true







  2. Create the home directory ~ftp. Make the directory owned by root (NOT ftp)



    with the same group as ftp. Thus, owner permissions are for root and group



    permissions are for the anonymous users. Set the permissions for ~ftp to 555



    (read, nowrite, execute).











    Warning:



    Some MAN pages recommend making the ~ftp directory owned by ftp.



    This is a big NO-NO, if you want any type of security on your system.













  3. Create the directory ~ftp/bin. This directory is owned by root (group



    e.g. wheel) with permissions 111 (noread, nowrite, execute).







  4. Copy the program ls into ~ftp/bin. ls is owned by root with permissions



    111 (noread, nowrite, execute). Any other commands you put in ~ftp/bin



    should have the same permissions as well.







  5. Make the directory ~ftp/etc. This directory is owned by root with



    permissions 111.







  6. Create from scratch the files /etc/passwd and /etc/group in ~ftp/etc.



    These files should be mode 444. The passwd file should only contain root,



    daemon, uucp, and ftp. The group file must contain ftp's group. Use your



    /etc/passwd and /etc/group files as a template for creating passwd and group



    files going to ~ftp/etc. You may even change the user names in this file,



    they are used only for 'ls' command. So for example if all files in your



    ~ftp/pub/linux hierarchy will be maintained by a real user 'balon' with



    uid=156 you may put







    linux:*:156:120:Kazik Balon::







    in the ~ftp/etc/passwd file (regardless of his real username). Leave only



    these users who will own files under ftp hierarchy (e.g. root, daemon,



    ftp...) and definitely remove *ALL* passwords by replacing them with '*' so



    the entry looks like:







    root:*:0:0:Ftp maintainer::








    ftp:*:400:400: Anonymous ftp::







    For more security, you can just remove ~ftp/etc/passwd and



    ~ftp/etc/group (the effect is that ls -l will not show the directories' group



    names). Wuarchive ftp daemon (and some others) have some extensions based on



    the contents of the group/passwd files, so read the appropriate documentation.







  7. Make the directory ~ftp/pub. This directory is owned by you and has the



    same group as ftp with permissions 555. On most systems (like SunOS) you may



    want to make this directory 2555, ie. set-group-id, in order to create new



    files with the same group ownership.













    Files are left here for public distribution. All folders inside ~ftp/pub



    should have the same permissions as 555.







    Warning:



    Neither the home directory (~ftp) nor any directory below it should be



    owned by ftp! No files should be owned by ftp either. Modern ftp daemons



    support all kinds of useful commands, such as chmod, that allow outsiders to



    undo your careful permission settings. They also have configuration options



    like the following (WuFTP) to disable them:





    # all the following default to "yes" for everybody



    delete no guest,anonymous # delete permission?



    overwrite no guest,anonymous # overwrite permission?



    rename no guest,anonymous # rename permission?



    chmod no anonymous # chmod permission?



    umask no anonymous # umask permission?











  8. If you wish to have a place for anonymous users to leave files, create



    the directory ~ftp/pub/incoming. This directory is owned by root with



    permissions 733. Do a 'chmod +t ~ftp/pub/incoming'. The ftp daemon will



    normally not allow an anonymous user to overwrite an existing file, but a



    normal user of the system would be able to delete anything. By setting the



    mode to '1733' you prevent this from happening. In wuftpd you may configure



    the daemon to create new files with permissions '600' owned by root or any



    other user. Many times, incoming directories are abused by exchanging pirated



    and pornographic material. Abusers often create hidden directories there for



    this purpose. Making the incoming directory unreadable by anonymous ftp helps



    to some extent. With ordinary ftp severs there is no way to prevent



    directories being created in incoming. The WUarchive ftp server can limit



    uploads to certain directories and can restrict characters used in file names



    like this:





    # specify the upload directory information



    upload /var/spool/ftp * no



    upload /var/spool/ftp /incoming yes ftp staff 0600 nodirs







    # path filters # path-filter...



    path-filter anonymous /etc/msgs/pathmsg ^[-A-Za-z0-9_\.]*$ ^\. ^-



    path-filter guest /etc/msgs/pathmsg ^[-A-Za-z0-9_\.]*$ ^\. ^-











    Suggestion: Create an extra file-system for your ftp-area (or at least for



    your incoming-area) to prevent a denial-of-service attack by filling your



    disk with garbage (inside your incoming directory).







    If you have wuftpd you may want to add some ftp extensions like



    compression/decompression 'on the fly' or creation of tar files for the



    directory hierarchies. Get the appropriate sources (gzip, gnutar, compress),



    compile them and link statically, put in the ~ftp/bin directory and edit the



    appropriate file containing the definitions of the allowed conversions.



    /usr/bin/tar is already statically-linked. You may wish to use gnu tar



    anyway.







    Gary Mills wrote a small program to support the following:







    To do tar and compress, he wrote a tiny program called `pipe', and



    statically-linked it. His /etc/ftpconversions file looks like this:





    #strip prefix:strip postfix:addon prefix:addon postfix:external command:



    #types:options:description



    :.Z: : :/bin/compress -d -c %s:T_REG|T_ASCII:O_UNCOMPRESS:UNCOMPRESS



    :-z: : :/bin/compress -d -c %s:T_REG|T_ASCII:O_UNCOMPRESS:UNCOMPRESS



    : : :.Z:/bin/compress -c %s:T_REG:O_COMPRESS:COMPRESS



    : : :.tar:/bin/tar cf - %s:T_REG|T_DIR:O_TAR:TAR



    : : :.tar.Z:/bin/pipe /bin/tar cf - %s | /bin/compress -c:T_REG|T_DIR:O_COMPRESS|O_TAR:TAR+COMPRESS



    : : :.tar:/bin/gtar -c -f - %s:T_REG|T_DIR:O_TAR:TAR



    : : :.tar.Z:/bin/gtar -c -Z -f - %s:T_REG|T_DIR:O_COMPRESS|O_TAR:TAR+COMPRESS



    : : :.tar.gz:/bin/gtar -c -z -f - %s:T_REG|T_DIR:O_COMPRESS|O_TAR:TAR+GZIP







    Here it is:





    -----------------8<-------------cut---------------





    /* pipe.c: exec two commands in a pipe */







    #define NULL (char *)0



    #define MAXA 16







    main(argc, argv) int argc; char *argv[]; {



    char *av1[MAXA], *av2[MAXA];



    int i, n, p[2], cpid;







    i = 0; n = 0;



    while ( ++i < argc && n < MAXA ) {



    if ( *argv[i] == '|' && *(argv[i]+1) == '\0' ) break;



    av1[n++] = argv[i];



    }



    if ( n == 0 ) uexit();



    av1[n] = NULL;



    n = 0;



    while ( ++i < argc && n < MAXA )



    av2[n++] = argv[i];



    if ( n == 0 ) uexit();



    av2[n] = NULL;



    if ( pipe(p) != 0 ) exit(1);



    if ( ( cpid = fork() ) == (-1) ) exit(1);



    else if ( cpid == 0 ) {



    (void)close(p[0]);



    (void)close(1);



    (void)dup(p[1]);



    (void)close(p[1]);



    (void)execv(av1[0], av1);



    _exit(127);



    }



    else {



    (void)close(p[1]);



    (void)close(0);



    (void)dup(p[0]);



    (void)close(p[0]);



    (void)execv(av2[0], av2);



    _exit(127);



    }



    /*NOTREACHED*/



    }



    uexit() {



    (void)write(2, "Usage: pipe | \n", 34);



    exit(1);



    }









    -------- CUT HERE ------------











  9. Other things to do:







    as root:











    touch ~ftp/.rhosts








    touch ~ftp/.forward








    chmod 400 ~ftp/.rhosts








    chmod 400 ~ftp/.forward











    ie. make these files zero-length and owned by root.







    Due to the last /bin/mail bugs in SunOS:











    touch /usr/spool/mail/ftp; chmod 400 /usr/spool/mail/ftp













    Consider an email-alias for the ftp-admin(s) to provide an email-address for



    problems-reports.







    If you are mounting some disks from other machines (or even your own) to the



    ~ftp hierarchy, mount it read-only. The correct entry for the /etc/fstab (on



    the host with ftpd) is something like:







    other:/u1/linux /home/ftp/pub/linux nfs ro,noquota,nosuid,intr,bg 1 0







    This mounts under /home/ftp/pub/linux the disk from host 'other' with no



    quota, no 'suid' programs (just in case), interruptible (in case 'other'



    goes down) and 'bg' - so if 'other' is down when you reboot it will not stop



    you trying to mount /home/ftp/pub/linux all over again.




























2. Setting up a chrooted Secure Anonymous ftp server.







This part was contributed by Marcus J Ranum <mjr@tis.com>











  1. Build a statically linked version of ftpd and put it in ~ftp/bin.



    Make sure it's owned by root.













  2. Build a statically linked version of /bin/ls if you'll need one.



    Put it in ~ftp/bin. If you are on a Sun, and need to build



    one, there's a ported version of the BSD net2 ls command



    for SunOs on ftp.tis.com: pub/firewalls/toolkit/patches/ls.tar.Z



    Make sure it's owned by root.







  3. Chown ~ftp to root and make it mode 755 THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT







  4. Set up copies of ~ftp/etc/passwd and ~ftp/etc/group just as you would normally, EXCEPT make 'ftp's home directory '/' -- make sure



    they are owned by root.







  5. Write a wrapper to kick ftpd off and install it in /etc/inetd.conf



    The wrapper should look something like: (assuming ~ftp = /var/ftp)







    main()



    {



    if(chdir("/var/ftp")) {



    perror("chdir /var/ftp");



    exit(1);



    }



    if(chroot("/var/ftp")) {



    perror("chroot /var/ftp");



    exit(1);



    }



    /* optional: seteuid(FTPUID); */



    execl("/bin/ftpd","ftpd","-l",(char *)0);



    perror("exec /bin/ftpd");



    exit(1);



    }











    Options:







    You can use 'netacl' from the toolkit or tcp_wrappers to achieve



    the same effect.











    We use 'netacl' to switch so that a few machines that connect to



    the FTP service *don't* get chrooted first. This makes transferring



    files a bit less painful.







    You may also wish to take your ftpd sources and find all the places



    where it calls seteuid() and remove them, then have the wrapper do



    a setuid(ftp) right before the exec. This means that if someone



    knows a hole that makes them "root" they still won't be. Relax and



    imagine how frustrated they will be.







    If you're hacking ftpd sources, I suggest you turn off a bunch of



    the options in ftpcmd.y by unsetting the "implemented" flag in



    ftpcmd.y. This is only practical if your FTP area is read-only.







  6. As usual, make a pass through the FTP area and make sure that the files



    are in correct modes and that there's nothing else in there that



    can be executed.











  7. Note, now, that your FTP area's /etc/passwd is totally separated from



    your real /etc/passwd. This has advantages and disadvantages.







  8. Some stuff may break, like syslog, since there is no /dev/log. Either



    build a version of ftpd with a UDP-based syslog() routine or



    run a second syslogd based on the BSD Net2 code, that maintains



    a unix-domain socket named ~ftp/dev/log with the -p flag.







    REMEMBER:







    If there is a hole in your ftpd that lets someone get "root"



    access they can do you some damage even chrooted. It's just



    lots harder. If you're willing to hack some code, making the



    ftpd run without permissions is a really good thing. The



    correct operation of your hacked ftpd can be verified by



    connecting to it and (while it's still at the user prompt)



    do a ps-axu and verify that it's not running as root.




















3. OS Specific needed information and suggestions.







These machines may need dev/tcp:













[dev/tcp]







These ftpd implementations may require a ~ftp/dev/tcp in order for anonymous



ftp to work.







You have to create a character special device with the appropriate major and



minor device numbers. The appropriate major and minor numbers of ~ftp/dev/tcp



are what the major and minor numbers of /dev/tcp are.







The ~ftp/dev is a directory and ~ftp/dev/tcp is a character special device.



Make them owned and grouped by root. Permissions for ~ftp/dev is root



read/write/exec and other & group read and exec. The permissions for



~ftp/dev/tcp is root read/write, other & group read.



















HPUX











[Logging]







If you're using HP's native ftpd, the line in /etc/inetd.conf



should execute ftpd -l, which does extra logging.











Solaris 2.x







[Script]



Solaris' man page contains a script for installing anonymous ftpd



which saves time. You may still want to check over your anonymous ftpd



for vulnerabilities.











Command for reading the man page is:







$ man ftpd























SunOS











[Libraries]







To set up SunOS to use its shared dynamic libraries, follow these



steps:











  1. Create the directory ~ftp/usr. This directory is owned by root with



    permissions 555.











  2. Create the directory ~ftp/usr/lib. This directory is owned by root with



    permissions 555.















  3. Copy the runtime loader ld.so into ~ftp/usr/lib for use by ls. ld.so is



    owned by root with permissions 555.













  4. Copy the latest version of the shared C library, libc.so.* into



    ~ftp/usr/lib for use by ls.







    libc.so.* is owned by root with permissions 555.











    Note:



    4.1.2(or above) users: you also need to copy /usr/lib/libdl.so.* to



    ~ftp/lib.











  5. Create the directory ~ftp/dev. This directory is owned by root with



    permissions 111.













  6. ~ftp/dev/zero is needed by the runtime loader. Move into the directory



    ~ftp/dev and create it with the command:







    mknod zero c 3 12







    chown ~ftp/dev/zero to root. Make sure it's readable.







    Warning:



    For novices: Don't try to copy /dev/zero to ~ftp/dev/zero!



    This is an endless file of zeroes and it will completely fill your filesystem!













  7. If you want to have the local time showing when people connect, create the



    directory ~ftp/usr/share/lib/zoneinfo and copy



    /usr/share/lib/zoneinfo/localtime











  8. If you are bothered by the need for copying your libraries so that you can



    use Sun's 'ls', which is dynamically linked, you can try to get a statically



    linked copy of 'ls' instead. The CD-ROM that contains Sun's OS has a



    statically-linked version of ls. In this case, you can dispense with steps



    #6-8.







    Statically linked versions may be available from the following sources:







    If you want a statically linked "ls" get the GNU fileutils off a



    archive site near you and statically link it.







    [Logging]
    Sun's standard ftpd logs *all* password information. To correct it,



    install patch:





    101640-03 SunOS 4.1.3: in.ftpd logs password info when -d option is



    used.







    In /etc/inetd.conf find the line that starts with "ftp". At the



    end of that line, it should read "in.ftpd". Change that to "in.ftpd -dl".



    In /etc/syslog.conf, add a line that looks like:



                           



    daemon.* /var/adm/daemonlog











    The information can be separated (or like SunOs4.1.1 does not recognize



    daemon.* so it requires the following form), such as:





    daemon.info /var/adm/daemon.info



    daemon.debug /var/adm/daemon.debug



    daemon.err /var/adm/daemon.err













    Note that the whitespace between the two columns must include at least one



    TAB character, not just spaces, or it won't work. Of course your log file



    could be anything you want. Then, create the logfile (touch



    /var/adm/daemonlog should do). Finally, restart inetd and syslogd, either



    individually, or by rebooting the system. You should be good to go. If you



    do not install the patch, make sure the log file is owned by root and mode



    600, as the ftp daemon will log *everything*, including users' passwords.







    Warning:







    You want to make all logs root only readable for security reasons



    If a user mistypes his password for his username, it could be compromised



    if anyone can read the log files.
























4. Where to get other FTP daemons





















  • Wuarchive FTP 2.4- A secure FTP daemon that allows improved access-control,



    logging, pre-login banners, and is very configurable:







    Can be ftp'd from ftp.uu.net in "/networking/ftp/wuarchive-ftpd"



    directory. Be certain to verify the checksum information to confirm that you



    have retrieved a valid copy. [Warning: Older versions of Wu-FTP are extremely



    insecure and in some cases have been trojaned.]





    BSD SVR4



    File Checksum Checksum MD5 Digital Signature



    ----------------- -------- --------- --------------------------------



    wu-ftpd-2.4.tar.Z 38213 181 20337 362 cdcb237b71082fa23706429134d8c32e



    patch_2.3-2.4.Z 09291 8 51092 16 5558a04d9da7cdb1113b158aff89be8f











  • For DECWRL ftpd, sites can obtain version 5.93 via anonymous FTP



    from gatekeeper.dec.com in the "/pub/misc/vixie" directory.









    BSD SVR4



    File Checksum Checksum MD5 Digital Signature



    ----------------- -------- --------- --------------------------------



    ftpd.tar.gz 38443 60 1710 119 ae624eb607b4ee90e318b857e6573500











  • For BSDI systems, patch 005 should be applied to version 1.1 of



    the BSD/386 software. You can obtain the patch file via



    anonymous FTP from ftp.bsdi.com in the "/bsdi/patches-1.1"



    directory.









    BSD SVR4



    File Checksum Checksum MD5 Digital Signature



    ----------------- -------- --------- --------------------------------



    BU110-005 35337 272 54935 543 1f454d4d9d3e1397d1eff0432bd383cf













  • Public Domain Sources:











    ftp.uu.net ~ftp/systems/unix/bsd-sources/libexec/ftpd








    gatekeeper.dec.com ~ftp/pub/DEC/gwtools/ftpd.tar.Z
























5. How to Know if your Anonymous FTP Server is Secure











This section is intended for the administrator to go down a small check



list of things to make sure his server is not easily compromised.











  1. Check to make sure your ftp server does not have SITE EXEC command by



    telneting to port 21 and typing SITE EXEC. If your ftp daemon has SITE EXEC



    make sure it is the most current version (ie, Wu-FTP 2.4). In older versions



    this allows anyone to gain shell via port 21.









  2. Check to make sure no one can log in and make files or directories in the



    main directory. If anyone can log in as anonymous FTP and make files such as



    .rhosts and .forward, instant access is granted to any intruder.







  3. Check to make sure the main directory is NOT owned by ftp. If it is



    owned by FTP, an intruder could SITE CHMOD 777 the main directory and then



    plant files to give him instant access. SITE CHMOD command should be removed



    because anonymous users do not need any extra priviledges.







  4. Check to make sure NO files or directories are owned by ftp. If they are,



    it is possible an intruder could replace them with his own trojan versions.







  5. There were several bugs in old daemons, so it is very important to make



    sure you are running the most current ftp daemons.




























    6. Archie











    Searches FTP sites for programs. Login into these sites as archie



    or use client software for faster access. To get your own anonymous



    site added to Archie's search list, e-mail archie-updates@bunyip.com.





    archie.ac.il 132.65.20.254 (Israel server)



    archie.ans.net 147.225.1.10 (ANS server, NY (USA))



    archie.au 139.130.4.6 (Australian Server)



    archie.doc.ic.ac.uk 146.169.11.3 (United Kingdom Server)



    archie.edvz.uni-linz.ac.at 140.78.3.8 (Austrian Server)



    archie.funet.fi 128.214.6.102 (Finnish Server)



    archie.internic.net 198.49.45.10 (AT&T server, NY (USA))



    archie.kr 128.134.1.1 (Korean Server)



    archie.kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp 130.54.20.1 (Japanese Server)



    archie.luth.se 130.240.18.4 (Swedish Server)



    archie.ncu.edu.tw 140.115.19.24 (Taiwanese server)



    archie.nz 130.195.9.4 (New Zealand server)



    archie.rediris.es 130.206.1.2 (Spanish Server)



    archie.rutgers.edu 128.6.18.15 (Rutgers University (USA))



    archie.sogang.ac.kr 163.239.1.11 (Korean Server)



    archie.sura.net 128.167.254.195 (SURAnet server MD (USA))



    archie.sura.net(1526) 128.167.254.195 (SURAnet alt. MD (USA))



    archie.switch.ch 130.59.1.40 (Swiss Server)



    archie.th-darmstadt.de 130.83.22.60 (German Server)



    archie.unipi.it 131.114.21.10 (Italian Server)



    archie.univie.ac.at 131.130.1.23 (Austrian Server)



    archie.unl.edu 129.93.1.14 (U. of Nebraska, Lincoln (USA))



    archie.univ-rennes1.fr (French Server)



    archie.uqam.ca 132.208.250.10 (Canadian Server)



    archie.wide.ad.jp 133.4.3.6 (Japanese Server)














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