[ISN] Bad Karma for Wi-Fi on Windows?

InfoSec News isn at c4i.org
Fri Jan 27 05:13:22 EST 2006


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1. In Focus: Bad Karma for Wi-Fi on Windows?

2. Security News and Features
   - Recent Security Vulnerabilities
   - Least-Privileged User Accounts on Windows XP
   - LANDesk Augments Security with Business Process Management
   - Time to Patch QuickTime

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==== 1. In Focus: Bad Karma for Wi-Fi on Windows? ====
   by Mark Joseph Edwards, News Editor, mark at ntsecurity / net

At the recent SchmooCon conference in Washington, D.C., Mark Lovelace 
(aka Simple Nomad) described an interesting behavior of Wi-Fi 
connectivity in Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000. In a 
subsequent advisory (at the URL below), Lovelace points out that "If a 
laptop connects to an ad-hoc network it can later start beaconing the 
ad-hoc network's SSID as its own ad-hoc network without the laptop 
owner's knowledge. This can allow an attacker to attach to the laptop 
as a prelude to further attack." 
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=1EEB0:4FB69

There are workarounds to help ensure this doesn't happen to your users' 
computers. The best solution is to configure the network connections 
(by using the Wireless Network Connection applet) so that they connect 
only to Access Points (APs), which will prevent any connections to ad 
hoc networks. You'll find step-by-step instructions in Lovelace's 
advisory. 

Lovelace checked during various airplane flights to see how many 
laptops were available via Wi-Fi connectivity and how many of those 
were vulnerable to remote compromise or were open enough to allow files 
to be copied to and from their drives. On one flight, 12 laptops were 
available, and of those 12, 5 were broadcasting ad hoc networks and 4 
were completely vulnerable to intrusion. 

These numbers suggest that many people might have had their personal 
data copied during in-flight use of their laptops. Of course, a decent 
firewall would make such intrusion much more difficult to accomplish. 
But many people don't have adequate protection in place. 

I recently learned about a new Wi-Fi client security assessment tool 
called KARMA. KARMA clearly shows the dangers of wireless networking 
given today's technology. Dino A. Dai Zovi, one of the developers of 
KARMA, wrote that "Windows and Mac OS X probe for every network in the 
preferred/trusted networks list upon boot up and [when] waking from 
sleep. Under Windows the entire list is [probed continually] when the 
machine is not currently associated to a wireless network." And that's 
bad news for Windows users when a tool like KARMA is in use, even if 
you use the workarounds described in Lovelace's advisory.

Here's why: KARMA uses a modified Wi-Fi driver on Linux and FreeBSD 
systems to establish a wireless AP. KARMA operates in stealth fashion--
it doesn't send out beacons advertising its presence. Instead, it 
monitors the airwaves listening for wireless client probes that are 
looking for a particular AP by its SSID. When KARMA detects a probe, it 
responds to the client as if it were the sought-after AP. That is to 
say, KARMA changes its SSID on the fly and mimics a host AP. This 
effectively lures unsuspecting Wi-Fi users into KARMA's wireless 
network. KARMA also includes a framework that can be used to develop 
exploits for use against vulnerabilities in connected client systems. 

According to Zovi, "[KARMA] revealed vulnerabilities in how Windows XP 
and Mac OS X look for networks, so clients may join even if their 
preferred networks list is empty." Zovi also said that Apple already 
issued an update (at the URL below) to correct the problem. Microsoft 
intends to correct this behavior in an upcoming service pack or update 
rollup package. For XP, that could mean Service Pack 3 (SP3), due out 
sometime in late 2007.
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=1EEA7:4FB69

In the meantime, you might want to get a copy of KARMA (at the URL 
below) and try it out on your wireless clients. As best I can tell, 
right now the only way to defend against a tool like KARMA is for 
wireless clients to require authentication when connecting to APs.
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=1EEB4:4FB69

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==== 2. Security News and Features ====

Recent Security Vulnerabilities
   If you subscribe to this newsletter, you also receive Security 
Alerts, which inform you about recently discovered security 
vulnerabilities. You can also find information about these 
discoveries at
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Least-Privileged User Accounts on Windows XP
   After a subtantial amount of beta testing, Microsoft published a 
document that can help administrators who want to implement least-
privileged user accounts (LUAs) on Windows XP. However, implementing 
LUAs could come with significant costs and challenges.
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LANDesk Augments Security with Business Process Management
   LANDesk announced that it will integrate business process management 
into its systems and security management solutions with the acquisition 
of privately held NewRoad Software. 
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=1EEA9:4FB69

Time to Patch QuickTime
   Windows metafiles don't represent the only recently discovered 
dangerous media file vulnerabilities. Apple released an updated version 
of QuickTime that fixes five dangerous vulnerabilities. 
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Security Matters Blog: New Version of Nmap Recently Released
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You undoubtedly have Nmap in your security toolkit--it's an incredibly 
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Q: How can I monitor registry activity during logon and logoff? 

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Security Forum Featured Thread: List All Shares a User Has Access To
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