On Fri, Feb 03, 2006 at 11:02:33PM +0100, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> this is the nmap -sT scan from a friend:

I guess you both are not in the same ISP
> 
> > nmap -sT internet_address
> 
> Port   State          Service
> 25/tcp   filtered        smtp
> 46/tcp   open            mpm-snd
> 80/tcp   filtered     http
> 119/tcp        open           nntp
> 445/tcp  filtered     microsoft-ds
> 1080/tcp filtered     socks
> 6000/tcp open         X11
> 6346/tcp open         gnutella

The 'filtered' ones are probably filtered by your ISP. I can understand (but
don't share) why they block port 25 or port 445) but I wonder why a ISP
would filter out port 80, aren't people allowed to have a web server at home? 

> He has no firewall (like me) as he's saying a firewall is nothing good
> and not usefull but there's an open X11 server available in the
> internet.

Well, he really should consider configuring his X11 server with '-nolisten
tcp' (which is the default in Debian, BTW). And he probably wants to check
what application he has running in port 46 and 119. He can use 'lsof' for
that (or 'netstat -punta')

> Isn't this vulnerable without a firewall ?

IMHO, he is vulnerable only, and only if he either has:

- vulnerable configurations (i.e. he runs 'xhost +' and allows anyone to
  access his desktop remotely)
- has vulnerabile applications (i.e. with software bugs that might lead to
  remote code execution).

Even if he fixes the first possibility, he might be unsure about the second
one.  Given the fact that the Gnutella source code has not been audited for
security bugs (at least not that I know) he might be vulnerable there. But
then again, even if he added in a firewall, since he wants to open up the
Gnutella port for the Internet to do P2P he would remain just as vulnerable.

I would suggest your friend to minimize his exposure by properly configuring
(and/or stopping) those Internet servers he doesn't have a need for. He can
add in a firewall, but if you end up having:

> > nmap -sT internet_address
> 
> Port   State          Service
> 25/tcp   filtered        smtp
> 80/tcp   filtered     http
> 445/tcp  filtered     microsoft-ds
> 1080/tcp filtered     socks
> 6346/tcp open         gnutella

And he opens up the 6346 port it doesn't make him less of a target with a
firewall. What a firewall *does* buy you is defense in depth. If somebody
gets access to his computer and opens up a server port, the firewall will
prevent access ot it. Likewise, it also protects you against your own
mistakes, if he is just testing software and installs a vulnerable server
which automatically starts and he forgets about it. 

If your friend wans to get even more paranoid, he could configure his local
firewall to close off *outgoing* access (host-based firewalls are typically
configured just for *incoming* but that doesn't mean it's the only thing they
can do), so that he could try to block applications that try to contact the
Internet if he has not authorised them previously.

That said, this is hardly Debian-specific, really.

Javier

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