Remotely Exploitable 'Bash Shell' Vulnerability Affects Linux, Unix and Apple Mac OS X

A Critical remotely exploitable vulnerability has been discovered in the widely used Linux and Unix command-line shell, known as Bash, aka the GNU Bourne Again Shell, leaving countless websites, servers, PCs, OS X Macs, various home routers, and many more open to the cyber criminals.

Earlier today, Stephane Chazelas publicly disclosed the technical details of the remote code executionvulnerability in Bash which affects most of the Linux distributions and servers worldwide.

REMOTELY EXPLOITABLE SHELLSHOCK

The vulnerability (CVE-2014-6271) affects versions 1.14 through 4.3 of GNU Bash and being named as Bash Bug, and Shellshock by the Security researchers on the Internet discussions.

According to the technical details, a hacker could exploit this bash bug to execute shell commands remotely on a target machine using specifically crafted variables. “In many common configurations, this vulnerability is exploitable over the network,” Stephane said.

This 22-year-old vulnerability stems from the way bash handles specially-formatted environment variables, namely exported shell functions. When assigning a function to a variable, trailing code in the function definition will be executed.

BASH BUG AFFECTS MILLIONS OF SYSTEMS

While bash is not directly used by remote users, but it is a common shell for evaluating and executing commands from other programs, such as web server or the mail server. So if an application calls the Bash shell command via web HTTP or a Common-Gateway Interface (CGI) in a way that allows a user to insert data, the web server could be hacked.

In Simple words, If Bash has been configured as the default system shell, an attacker could launch malicious code on the server just by sending a specially crafted malicious web request by setting headers in a web request, or by setting weird mime types. Proof-of-concept code for cgi-bin reverse shell has been posted on the Internet.

Similar attacks are possible via OpenSSH, “We have also verified that this vulnerability is exposed in ssh—but only to authenticated sessions. Web applications like cgi-scripts may be vulnerable based on a number of factors; including calling other applications through a shell, or evaluating sections of code through a shell.” Stephane warned. But if an attacker does not have an SSH account this exploit would not work.

This is a serious risk to Internet infrastructure, just like Heartbleed bug, because Linux not only runs the majority of the servers but also large number of embedded devices, including Mac OS X laptops and Android devices are also running the vulnerable version of bash Software. NIST vulnerability database has rated this vulnerability “10 out of 10” in terms of severity.

HOW TO CHECK FOR VULNERABLE SHELL

To determine if a Linux or Unix system is vulnerable, run the following command lines in your linux shell:

• env X="() { :;} ; echo shellshock" /bin/sh -c "echo completed"
• env X="() { :;} ; echo shellshock" `which bash` -c "echo completed"

If you see the words "shellshock" in the output, errrrr… then you are at risk.

BASH BUG PATCH

You are recommended to disable any CGI scripts that call on the shell, but it does not fully mitigate the vulnerability. Many of the major operating system and Linux distribution vendors have released the new bash software versions today, including:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (versions 4 through 7) and the Fedora distribution
• CentOS (versions 5 through 7)
• Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, 12.04 LTS, and 14.04 LTS
• Debian

If your system is vulnerable to bash bug, then you are highly recommended to upgrade your bash software package as soon as possible.

FBI Not Happy With Apple & Google's Encryption Policy

Users might have praised the technology companies for efforts to encrypt their latest devices that would prevent law enforcement agencies’ hands on users’ private data, but the FBI is not at all happy with Apple and Google right now.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation director, James Comey, said Thursday he was "very concerned" over Apple and Google using stronger or full encryption in their Smartphones and Tablets that makes it impossible for law enforcement to collar criminals.

According to Comey, the Silicon Valley tech giants are "marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves above the law."

"There will come a day – well it comes every day in this business – when it will matter a great, great deal to the lives of people of all kinds that we be able to with judicial authorization gain access to a kidnapper's or a terrorist or a criminal's device," Comey told reporters.

"I just want to make sure we have a good conversation in this country before that day comes. I'd hate to have people look at me and say, 'Well how come you can't save this kid,' 'How come you can't do this thing.'"

The move is in the response to the revelations of mass surveillance conducted by the US National Security Agency (NSA), revealed by former contractor Edward Snowden, that triggered a large-scale movement worldwide towards deploying encryption across all the Digital Services.

The FBI remarks come following both privacy changes introduced by Apple as well as Google. Just last week, Google announced it would be providing data encryption by default with its next version of Android i.e.Android L.

While Apple with the release of iOS 8 earlier this month, allowed iPhone and iPad users to encrypt most personal data with a password. Also last week, the company introduced enhanced encryption for iOS 8 devices under which it will no longer store the encryption keys for devices in iOS 8, making it impossible for the company to decrypt a locked device, even on law enforcement request.

"Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your pass code and therefore cannot access this data," Apple said in its new privacy policy, updated on Wednesday. "So it's not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8."

Google’s announcement for by default encryption comes a day after Apple revealed that it is expanding its two-factor authentication process to include the iCloud storage system, which was recently targeted by hackers to extract over 100 nude celebrities photos.

Comey said he agreed-upon the privacy concerns in the wake of NSA leaker Edward Snowden's revelations about massive US government surveillance. But he also noted that the FBI sometimes has an urgent need to access users’ data, such as in cases of terrorism or kidnappings.

"I am a huge believer in the rule of law, but I am also a believer that no one in this country is above the law," Comey moaned. "What concerns me about this is companies marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves above the law."

Despite criticism from the FBI, it's improbable that Apple or Google is going to step back from their efforts, because the technology companies again will not compromise with their reputation in the market where many are criticised in past to put backdoors in their products for law enforcement agencies.

Apple — Most Mac OS X Users Not Vulnerable to 'Shellshock' Bash Bug

On one hand where more than half of the Internet is considering the Bash vulnerability to be severe, Apple says the vast majority of Mac computer users are not at risk from the recently discovered vulnerability in the Bash command-line interpreter – aka the "Shellshock" bug that could allow hackers to take over an operating system completely.

Apple has issued a public statement in response to this issue, assuring its OS X users that most of them are safe from any potential attacks through the ShellShock Vulnerability, which security experts have warned affect operating systems, including Mac's OS X.

"The vast majority of OS X users are not at risk to recently reported bash vulnerabilities," Apple said. "Bash, a UNIX command shell and language included in OS X, has a weakness that could allow unauthorized users to remotely gain control of vulnerable systems. With OS X, systems are safe by default and not exposed to remote exploits of bash unless users configure advanced UNIX services. We are working to quickly provide a software update for our advanced UNIX users."

According to Apple, in OS X majority of users are considered to be safe so long as they haven’t configured any advanced access. Soon the company will also issue an OS X update to fix the potential hole, till then the OS X users are advised to make sure that they don’t enable any advanced UNIX options before the patch releases.

The critical vulnerability in the widely used Linux and Unix command-line shell, known as Bash or the GNU Bourne Again Shell, affects versions 1.14 through 4.3 of GNU Bash and is based on how Bash handles environment variables. By creating a function as part of the variable, it's possible to execute commands when the variable is evaluated.

The exploit reportedly affects most Linux- and Unix-based operating systems around the world, including OS X.

Researchers on Thursday also discovered that the ShellShock vulnerability has been exploited by the cyber criminals in the wild to take over Web servers as part of a botnet attack that is currently trying to infect other servers as well.

The Bash glitch has been described as more worse than the Heartbleed security flaw, discovered in April, that left all the information stored on data servers potentially vulnerable to hackers. Over 300,000 servers were still vulnerable to the most critical OpenSSL bug two months after the bug was first identified.

Users are advised to do not panic and avoid using advance services that can be exploited by the ShellShock vulnerability for quite sometime before the official patch for the issue is not released.

Till then, you may patch yourself using an unofficial patch that fixes the problem and claimed to completely addresses both vulnerabilities. In an email to the Open Source Software Security (oss-sec) mailing list, the maintainer of Bash, Chet Ramey addressed the vulnerability and issued the patch, but there is as of yet no official fix for the issue.

The Fappening 3 — Jennifer Lawrence New Nude Photos Leaked Online

It seems like there is no end of “nude celebrity photo leaks”. As part of the Fappening 3 hack, some new naked photos of Jennifer Lawrence have apparently been leaked online in the “third round” of nude celebrity photo leaks including, top model Cara Delevingne, actress Anna Kendrick.

On Friday, new celebrity nude photos were leaked online, labelled as ‘The Fappening 3’ by subreddits and 4chan communities. The release appears to be part of the massive leak that began in August and has continued with 55 more nude photos of a three-time Oscar nominee who won for her role in Silver Linings Playbook, Jennifer Lawrence hitting the Internet once again.

Other female identities targeted by the latest Leaked Nude photo scandal include American Olympic gold medallist Misty May Treanor and actors Alexandra Chando, Kelli Garner and Lauren O’Neil. However, there are several pictures that show the celebrities were partying away in some pretty revealing outfits.

Earlier this week, the second edition of the massive leak related to the celebrities intimate-images includingKim Kardashian, Vanessa Hudgens and others were leaked online by an unknown hackers. The naked pictures were allegedly retrieved due to a “brute force” security flaw in Apple’s iCloud file storage service.

After the iCloud leaked photos began appearing on the Internet for the first time, Jennifer Lawrence also contacted FBI who are conducting investigations into the apparent widespread invasion of personal accounts thought to be connected to the iCloud service.

"This is a flagrant violation of privacy," Lawrence's publicist Liz Mahoney wrote in a statement. "The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence."

The fappening incident is currently under FBI investigation. However, Apple has already investigated the matter and had earlier this month confirmed there had been a "very targeted attack" on certain celebrities, rather than a widespread security breach affecting all users. 

The company denied the claims of an iCloud security breach in a recent press release, stating:

“After more than 40 hours of investigation, we have discovered that certain celebrity accounts were compromised by a very targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions, a practice that has become all too common on the Internet. None of the cases we have investigated has resulted from any breach in any of Apple’s systems including iCloud or Find my iPhone. We are continuing to work with law enforcement to help identify the criminals involved.”

There is also the possibility that the nude celebrity photos may have come from a different source. But whatever the source would be, this never ending massive privacy breach of high-profile celebs once again questioned the security and privacy of users online data.

Privacy-focused Tails 1.1.2 Operating System Released

Tails, a Linux-based highly secure Operating System specially designed and optimized to preserve users' anonymity and privacy, has launched its new release, Tails version 1.1.2.

Tails, also known as 'Amnesiac Incognito Live System', is a free security-focused Debian-based Linux distribution, which has a suite of applications that can be installed on a USB stick, an SD card or a DVD. It keeps users’ communications private by running all connectivity through Tor, the network that routes traffic through various layers of servers and encrypts data.

The operating system came into limelight when the global surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden said that he had used it in order to remain Anonymous and keep his communications hidden from the law enforcement authorities.

The new version 1.1.2 addresses a single but critical vulnerability which arises because the Network Security Services (NSS) libraries parser used by Firefox and other browsers is capable of being tricked into accepting forged RSA certificate signatures.

"We prepared this release mainly to fix a serious flaw in the Network Security Services (NSS) library used by Firefox and other products allows attackers to create forged RSA certificates," reads the Tails official website.

"Before this release, users on a compromised network could be directed to sites using a fraudulent certificate and mistake them for legitimate sites. This could deceive them into revealing personal information such as usernames and passwords. It may also deceive users into downloading malware if they believe it's coming from a trusted site."

Cyber criminals may use Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks by impersonating as a bank or webmail provider and tricking online users into handing over their login credentials that can be then passed on to the legitimate organisation.

Tails 1.1.2 comes with the following security updates:

• Updated TOR version (based on Firefox 24.8.0 ESR+tails3~bpo70+1)
• New Linux kernel has been added, 3.16-1
• Numerous other software upgrades that fix security issues in GnuPG, APT, DBus, Bash, and packages built from the bind9 and libav source packages

Mozilla Firefox also released a quick security patches for its Firefox versions and Thunderbird, as its open source browser is vulnerable to SSL man-in-the-middle attacks due to RSA certificate forgery. The patches are already available.

Firefox ESR 31.1.1, Firefox ESR 24.8.1, Thunderbird 31.1.1, and Thunderbird 24.8.1 have been updated to NSS 3.16.2.1. Also Firefox 32.0.3 and SeaMonkey 2.29.1 have been updated to NSS 3.16.5.

Users can download Tails 1.1.2 latest release from Tails official website.

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8 steps to speed up your PC

Hello Friends!!

Many of you are facing slow process problem this is generally because of some reasons like you have installed so many softwares or may your pc suffers from many viruses . You PC may take too long to on startup or shuting down.This all problems can be solved by taking care of few things.I have given few simple steps by which your pc can perform better than earlier time.

Steps to be done

Step 1)

Run check Disk: Right Click on any drive and click on Properties,Select tools and then you will see 1st section of error checking.Click on Check now.

Step 2)

Remove temporary files: Open Run command and type %temp% and press Enter.Now Delete all files.

You may like this:  How to clean temporary files without any software.

Step 3)

Optimize your data: Use Disk defragmenter to optimize  your data.Go to start > all programs > Accessories > System tools > Disk Difragmenter.

Step 4)

Increase Virtual memory:  Few steps for that

1)  Right Click on My computer and click on Properties.

2) Click on Advanced tab. Click on settings under Performance.

3) Click change to Reset Virtual Memory as you want.

Step 5)

Remove any spyware from your computer using Spybot search and destroy or use any other software.

Step 6)

Repair registry error using softwares like CCleaner speedy pro pc

Step 7)

Stop unwanted Startup programs: Open Run command and type msconfig and press Enter.Stop programs you want.

You may like this: How to Start/stop programs on startup of PC

Step 8)

Check for Hard drive errors: Restart your computer and check for hard drive errors.This is fastest and easiest wayto check errors.

Open Run command and type chkdsk/r and press Enter.

How to make system hidden Files and Folder

Hello Friends!!

Hiding private files is necessary this days because now even parents also starts to use computer and they can check your photographs or videos :p .  You all very know how to hide folder but only few knows how to system hide any folder. May be you have observed this system hidden files in your pendrive .

You may like:

• How to recover virus affected pendrive (Removes shortcuts created)?
• Secure folder Tips and Tricks
• How to Block USB port? 

I have given article related to this topic earlier as how to recover system hidden files. That files in your pendrive got system hidden as it is affected by virus But what if you want to apply system hide to any folder. So here is the Whole procedure for that..

Step 1)

Open command prompt . Open Run window and type cmd and press Enter.

Step 2)

Now type the following command and press Enter.

attrib +s +h path

Note : Replace “path” with with whole path of file which you want to hide.

For Example:

suppose my folder is images in C drive. So command will be

attrib +s +h c:\images

Step 3)

Now press Enter and you will see your images folder in C drive is invisible and you will not able to see it even when you see in hidden files and folders list.

Done!

You can View this folder as By opening tools or in windows 7 organize and then folder and search option finally in view tab you will see this image like window.Click on show hidden files and folders and also uncheck  ”hide protected operating system files(Recommended)”

What if you want to unhide system hidden file and folder??

Simply apply following command you will be able to see that folder again.

attrib -s -h path

For example:

attrib -s -h c:\images

Now press Enter.

Done!!