Running Programs In Response To Sniffed DNS Packets - Stealthily Managing Iptables Rules Remotely, Part 2

Brian Hatch
Contributing Writer
2004-01-26

Last time we set up a Perl script that would use the Net::Pcap module to sniff the network and print information about DNS requests to standard output. The output looks like this

sourceipaddr -> destipaddr: dnshostname

The handle_remote_dns_commands program below will run watch_dns and act on the output. This program could be modified to suit any purpose. Currently it is set up to manipulate a new iptables chain called allow_in which is called before packets are DROPped. Remember, this chain must be created with the following command at a point in your iptables setup before inbound SYN packets are DROPped.

# iptables --new-chain allow_in

  # iptables -A INPUT -j allow_in

The code below is pretty well commented, so rather than breaking it up to discuss the components, just read the comments. After all, code is speech.

#!/usr/bin/perl

#

# handle_remote_dns_commands

#

# Copyright 2003, Brian Hatch, released under the GPL.

#

#  This program allows you to run commands based on DNS requests that are

#  sniffed by the 'watch_dns' command described at

#  http://www.hackinglinuxexposed.com/articles/20030730.html

#

#  It reads lines from the watch_dns DNS sniffer which are of the form

#

#         sourceipaddr -> destipaddr: dnshostname

#

#  The actual commands rules that are run are found by looking up the

#  dnshostname in the %mapping hash.  The command to be run (the

#  associated hash value) is an anonymous array.  The array values

#  are analysed, and if the string SSSSSSSS or DDDDDDDD is present

#  it is replaced by the source or destination IP address, respectively.

#

#  While the current example is for maintaining an iptables chain,

#  there's no reason you couldn't use it to run any other commands, such

#  as triggering an outbound SSH connection with remote forward back into

#  the machine itself, etc.  Use your imagination.

#

# BUGS

#

#   The script doesn't actually verify an IP address is valid - ie it should

#   reject "999.888.777.666" because it's outside the valid range.  The

#   command you call should be able to deal appropriately with invalid IP

#   addresses.

#

#   Since most host/nslookup/dig tools will retry DNS queries if no

#   response is received, you may end up calling the command multiple

#   times.  For iptables rules, this isn't terribly important.

#

#   Using SIGALRM isn't the most brilliant method to periodically call our

#   periodic commands.  As written, if a cracker knows valid commands, he

#   can spew DNS commands that will cause them to be run very quickly.  In

#   the case of iptables cleaning, this would make it difficult for a

#   legitimate connection to get in.  However if the SIGALRM were written

#   to always cause an X second timer without the fancy footwork, then

#   said cracker could cause our chain to grow infinitely long, eventually

#   maxing it out and causing a DoS, because the chain would never be

#   cleared.  The code used is probably best, since it will fail closed.

#

#   There is obviously no authentication or encryption whatsoever.  If

#   someone gleans your magical commands, they can cause the associated

#   commands to be run.


use strict ;


# If $PERIODIC_SECONDS nonzero, then every (this many) seconds we should

# run the commands stored in the @periodic_commands array.

my $PERIODIC_SECONDS = 10;


# Location of watch_dns command (will be run as our UID which must be

# root since it's sniffing.  If you are running this script as a normal

# user, you'll want to run watch_dns via sudo.)

my $WATCH_DNS="/opt/bin/watch_dns";


# Should debug and warning messages be written to STDOUT?

my $DEBUG=0;

my $WARNING=0;


####

# Modify this section to include your actual functionality.


  # Local variables we may need

  my $IPTABLES="/sbin/iptables";

  

  # Which chain should we enter the temporary access rules?

  my $CHAIN="allow_in";

  

  my @periodic_commands = (

	  [ $IPTABLES, '-F', $CHAIN ],

  );

  

  # The actual rules to run when incoming DNS hostnames match.

  #

  my %mapping = (

    openssh =>

    	[ $IPTABLES, '-A', $CHAIN,

	  qw( -p tcp --source SSSSSSSS/32 --dport 22 -j ACCEPT ) ],


    # Other examples.

    #

    #opensmtp =>

    #	[ $IPTABLES, '-A', $CHAIN,

    #     qw( -p tcp --source SSSSSSSS/32 --dport 25 -j ACCEPT ) ],

    #

    #allow-all =>

    #	[ $IPTABLES, '-A', $CHAIN, qw( -p tcp -j ACCEPT ) ],

    #

    #flush.subdomain.example.com =>

    #   [ $IPTABLES, '-A", $CHAIN, '-F' ],

    

  );


# End of purpose-specific modifications.

####

# No more changes needed hereafter.
if ( $PERIODIC_SECONDS ) {
	# Set up an alarm signal handler. When an alarm is received,
	# flush the iptables exceptions table, denying everyone again.
	$SIG{ALRM} = &run_periodic_commands;
}
# Start our pcap sniffer, and snag it's output.
open WATCH_DNS, "$WATCH_DNS |" or die "Can't start watch_dns";
# Loop indefinitely
while () {
    my $iptables_cmd;
    my @iptables_cmd;
    # Let's be very paranoid about checking our input.
    # Both the source and destination IP addresses we
    # get could be forged by an attacker.  Let's at least
    # make sure that they're in the correct form.
    my ($src, $dst, $command) =
	 /^ (d+ . d+ . d+ . d+) 	# first IP address
	    s* -> s*			# arrow
	    (d+ . d+ . d+ . d+) 	# second IP address
	    : s* (S+)			# command (hostname)
	/x;
    unless ( $command ) {               # ignore bad input.
	    print "ignoring $_" if $DEBUG;
	    next;
    }
    if ( @iptables_cmd = @{$mapping{$command}} ) {
    	map { s/DDDDDDDD/$dst/g } @iptables_cmd;
    	map { s/SSSSSSSS/$src/g } @iptables_cmd;
	print "Running @iptables_cmdn" if $DEBUG;
	# System used with a list doesn't invoke a shell.
	system @iptables_cmd;
	
	if ( $PERIODIC_SECONDS ) {
		# Set the alarm 
		my $oldtimer = alarm($PERIODIC_SECONDS);
		if ( $oldtimer == 1 ) {
			&{$SIG{ALRM}};		# Call immediately
		} elsif ( $oldtimer ) {
			alarm(--$oldtimer);	# Decrement alarm
		}
	}
    } else {
    	print "ignoring $commandn" if $WARNING;
    }
}
sub run_periodic_commands {
	print "run_periodic_commands called.n" if $DEBUG;
	# System used with a list doesn't invoke a shell.
	for my $command_arrayref ( @periodic_commands ) {
		system @$command_arrayref;
	}
}

Ok, next time I'll show you how to send the DNS query to the sniffer so we can wrap this whole thing up. The end is near...

About the Author:
Brian Hatch is Chief Hacker at Onsight, Inc and author of Hacking Linux Exposed and Building Linux VPNs. Brian can be reached at brian@hackinglinuxexposed.com.

More articles_operating_systems Articles

SecurityProNews RSS Feed

Get Your Site Submitted for Free in the World's Largest B2B Directory!

Email Address:
* URL:
*
*Indicates Mandatory Field

Terms & Conditions

iEntry Featured Services: Jayde Member Services | Forums | Freeware | Advertise with Us

Featured On:

article resources

WebProWorld.com

•	Get in-touch with industry experts and leaders
•	Post your site for review by expert and peers
•	Ask Security, IT, Development and Design questions

Free Membership: Join Now!

Visit WebProWorld.com


Titan Quest Forum The #1 Titan Quest forum
Halo 3 Forum The best Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3 forum
Nintendo Wii Nintendo Wii news and views
Mac Software The best in OS X freeware
Graphics Forum Your source for graphic tutorials