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AudioGuy writes:
"Researchers say they have uncovered an ongoing attack that infects home and small-office wireless routers from Linksys with self-replicating malware, most likely by exploiting a code-execution vulnerability in the device firmware.
The worm works by injecting vulnerable devices with a URL-encoded shell script that carries out the same seek-and-hijack behavior. The exploit may also change some routers' domain name system server to 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4, which are IP addresses used by Google's DNS service. Compromised routers remain infected until they are rebooted. Once the devices are restarted, they appear to return to their normal state. People who are wondering if their device is infected should check for heavy outbound scanning on port 80 and 8080, and inbound connection attempts to miscellaneous ports below 1024.
This blog post at Sans contains more technical details including a way to test if you have a vulnerable device."
(Score: 2, Insightful) by mechanicjay on Friday February 14 2014, @11:36AM
My VMS box beat up your Windows box.
(Score: 1) by ragequit on Friday February 14 2014, @05:25PM
The above views are fabricated for your reading pleasure.
(Score: 1) by Foobar Bazbot on Friday February 14 2014, @06:13PM
Well, actually I haven't looked at firewall logs for anything internet-facing in a long time. But I assume those probes are mainly targeted at the well-known ports for common services. TFA says the propagation connections of this malware are on random (seems to imply uniformly-distributed) ports <1024, though "misc" certainly doesn't communicate that distinction. These patterns should be distinguishable after you collect enough data.
But it really doesn't matter; TFS says this infection doesn't survive a reboot, so if I had a vulnerable model of router in a vulnerable configuration (i.e. remote admin enabled), my steps would be:
At no point did I actually need to check whether it was currently infected; rebooting it regardless of infection status is easier than checking the logs and trying to infer infection status, and then possibly rebooting anyway.
(Score: 1) by AudioGuy on Saturday February 15 2014, @12:51AM
(Score: 1) by cculpepper on Friday February 14 2014, @06:41PM
Wonder why it changes the to DNS to Google's DNS server? Maybe to improve performance so people are less likely to throw away infected/ susceptable routers?
(Score: 1) by mrbluze on Friday February 14 2014, @08:17PM
Or maybe Google's DNS server is more forgiving.
Do it yourself, 'cause no one else will do it yourself.
(Score: 1) by toygeek on Saturday February 15 2014, @12:23AM
There is no Sig. Okay, maybe a short one. http://miscdotgeek.com
(Score: 1) by applesmasher on Friday February 14 2014, @09:53PM
Of course it looks as if it goes away after a reboot. They can't hide it completely, but they can make you think that you've made it go away.
The reboot just fixes it in place, and then your own router is part of PRISM, reporting directly through dark channels to the NSA!
Wake up, sheeple!
Ever seen an apple hit by a
(Score: 1) by Khyber on Saturday February 15 2014, @03:49AM
Destroying Semiconductors With Style Since 2008, and scaring you ill-educated fools since 2013.
(Score: 1) by sgleysti on Saturday February 15 2014, @05:09AM