Found the error Not allowed to load local resource: file:///etc/passwd while looking at infosec.pub’s communities page. There’s a community called “ignore me” that adds a few image tags trying to steal your passwd file.

You have to be extremely poorly configured for this to work, but the red flags you see should keep you on your toes for the red flags you don’t.

  • delial@lemmy.sdf.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Since you told me not to. There isn’t a risk on most linux systems; passwords were moved to /etc/shadow a long time ago. It only leaks the names of your users and largely useless info for most attackers:

    root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
    daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologin
    bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
    sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/usr/sbin/nologin
    sync:x:4:65534:sync:/bin:/bin/sync
    games:x:5:60:games:/usr/games:/usr/sbin/nologin
    man:x:6:12:man:/var/cache/man:/usr/sbin/nologin
    lp:x:7:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/usr/sbin/nologin
    mail:x:8:8:mail:/var/mail:/usr/sbin/nologin
    news:x:9:9:news:/var/spool/news:/usr/sbin/nologin
    uucp:x:10:10:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/usr/sbin/nologin
    proxy:x:13:13:proxy:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
    www-data:x:33:33:www-data:/var/www:/usr/sbin/nologin
    backup:x:34:34:backup:/var/backups:/usr/sbin/nologin
    list:x:38:38:Mailing List Manager:/var/list:/usr/sbin/nologin
    irc:x:39:39:ircd:/run/ircd:/usr/sbin/nologin
    gnats:x:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin):/var/lib/gnats:/usr/sbin/nologin
    nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
    _apt:x:100:65534::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
    systemd-network:x:101:102:systemd Network Management,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin
    systemd-resolve:x:102:103:systemd Resolver,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin
    messagebus:x:999:999:System Message Bus:/:/usr/sbin/nologin
    systemd-timesync:x:998:998:systemd Time Synchronization:/:/usr/sbin/nologin
    systemd-coredump:x:997:997:systemd Core Dumper:/:/usr/sbin/nologin
    delial:x:1000:1000:,,,:/home/delial:/bin/bash
    sshd:x:103:65534::/run/sshd:/usr/sbin/nologin
    xrdp:x:104:110::/run/xrdp:/usr/sbin/nologin
    dictd:x:105:111:Dictd Server,,,:/var/lib/dictd:/usr/sbin/nologin
    nm-openvpn:x:106:112:NetworkManager OpenVPN,,,:/var/lib/openvpn/chroot:/usr/sbin/nologin
    sssd:x:107:113:SSSD system user,,,:/var/lib/sss:/usr/sbin/nologin
    
    • marvin@lemmy.sdf.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      Well it’s not completely useless. It offers some insights into the system. Which service accounts exists, what usernames are used.

      If an attacker finds a valid username they can then start bruteforcing the password.

      From your account list we can see you have sshd and xrdp. Do they both provide the same kind of bruteforce protection? Are there any recent exploits for either?

      • delial@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        That’s why I said largely useless. An attacker can narrow down the attack surface by ignoring anything that can’t login, but that just leaves them with root and delial, and they already knew or could’ve guessed both of those pieces of information (in this context anyway).

        And as you noted when looking at the service accounts, they might be able to login or crack their way in via xrdp or sshd. So, unless you’re port-forwarding those protocols from the internet, how useful is that really? I would say largely useless. Assuming they port-scanned your public IP, they still need either an insecure config or an unpatched, remotely exploitable bug.

        That being said, you’re totally right. The average Linux user isn’t “administering” their system, so they probably aren’t following their distribution’s security mailing list, installing security patches as they’re released, and actually RTFM. It’s best for the average user to play it unbelievably safe.

        In this case, the machine isn’t actually running xrdp, and sshd doesn’t accept passwords or root logins. (Although, I need to setup knockd to protect that non-standard sshd port a bit more.) All passwords used on the system are random and longer than 32 characters. My router doesn’t port-forward to this machine, either.

        This has been an exercise of Cunningham’s Law for the benefit of those reading.