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Subject: EXPN security
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coriolis

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11-06-2008 12:25 PM  
Hello,

Is there a way to turn off the VRFY/EXPN commands?  My company recently underwent a security audit and my machine failed, alas, due to the presence of these commands in the SMTP server.  The risk was given to our management as "The VRFY command allows an attacker to determine if an account exists on a system, providing significant assistance to a brute force attack on user accounts."

Thank you!

mcorrow
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11-06-2008 12:42 PM  
Coriolis: Do you have lockout manager enabled? I'm not sure if it works for VRFY, but we have ours set so that users get 2 invalid tries before they are locked out for a long time. On my system, that stops the brute force attacks..

Matt
coriolis

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11-06-2008 12:57 PM  
I have lockout manager enabled and the maximum number of invalid commands set to three.  The only EXPN commands I see in my logs are from this security testing company, and actually I see errors returned for usernames such as "root" which I know to exist as mail accounts.  I think I'm in pretty good shape versus an actual attack but I'd like to give a stronger answer to my management.
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11-06-2008 1:05 PM  
When you say 'usernames such as "root"', do you mean without a domain name attached? All of your user accounts are set up under a domain name, right? If all of your users are defined under a domain name, they cannot be accessed without also specifying the domain name, which would cause an error..
Sounds like you have it set up correctly, and with lockout manager on, the brute force attacks cannot compromise the server.. If you are seeing repeated attacks, you can merely extend the lockout time (we actually have ours set to 1439 minutes, or one day)...

Matt
coriolis

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11-06-2008 1:31 PM  
All of my accounts are under a domain name, yes.  By "cause an error", do you mean that specifying the domain name in the EXPN command would cause an error in the ArGoSoft implementation?  The syntax I've read for EXPN doesn't seem to say one way or the other, but I tried connecting to the mail server and couldn't get a successful EXPN under either "root" or "root@(domain)".

Thank you for your help!

mcorrow
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11-06-2008 3:16 PM  
I'm not sure about the EXPN (only have seen vrfy)... No, I meant if they try to verify an account without also sending a domain name, you will give them an error, because there are no accounts that do not have a domain name... that's the "brute force" attacks we've seen, essentially amounting to a denial of service attack....

Matt
SteveT
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11-07-2008 2:37 PM  

Hi All,

I use the .NET version but I do have a copy of the Win32 version installed for testing. Upon reviewing this thread I did some research and found the following:

http://www.gordano.com/kb.htm?q=319

The VRFY clause is a method of verifying the existence of a user on a mail server. Normally you an either verify the existence of particular usr or use a wildcard verify (VRFY *) to ask the server to return a complete list of users. This latter option is rarely enabled on mail servers nowadays as it was used widely by spammers to harvest email addresses, indeed most mail servers nowadays can disable the VRFY option altogether. Gordano’s products disable the VRFY command by default.

http://www.gordano.com/kb.htm?q=980

EXPN can be used to request, or expand, a mailing list on the remote server. The sending server can query the receiving server to see if it will accept Enhanced SMTP commands. If it does it will send back to the connecting server the enhanced commands it will accept. If EXPN is listed, it can be used. p> If the receiving server accepts EXPN, your string should identify a particular mailing list. The multiline response may include the full name of all users and must provide the mailboxes on the mailing list.

 

That being said,  I tested my Win32 version of ArGo for these comands.  They are rejected by the server. I used the Samp Spade v1.1.4 (win32 version), which has an SMTP digg feature. You can see the results for yourself:

11/07/08 14:25:59 SMTP Verify maillist@192.168.1.21, at 192.168.1.21
Contacting 192.168.1.21
220 mail.topcatcomputing.dev ArGoSoft Mail Server Pro for WinNT/2000/XP, Version 1.8 (1.8.9.3)

HELO example.com
250 Welcome, 192.168.1.21 𖐸.168.1.21], pleased to meet you

VRFY maillist@192.168.1.21
502 Unknown command

Doesn't want to talk to us
RSET
250 Reset state

EXPN maillist@192.168.1.21
550 List maillist@192.168.1.21 not found

Doesn't want to talk to us
RSET
250 Reset state

MAIL FROM:<spade@example.com>
250 Sender "spade@example.com" OK...

RCPT TO:<maillist@192.168.1.21>
554 Mailing list contains remote users. Authentication required for relay

Doesn't want to talk to us
RSET
250 Reset state

QUIT
221 Aba he


11/07/08 14:25:16 SMTP Verify steve@192.168.1.21, at 192.168.1.21
Contacting 192.168.1.21
220 mail.topcatcomputing.dev ArGoSoft Mail Server Pro for WinNT/2000/XP, Version 1.8 (1.8.9.3)

HELO example.com
250 Welcome, 192.168.1.21 𖐸.168.1.21], pleased to meet you

VRFY steve@192.168.1.21
502 Unknown command

Doesn't want to talk to us
RSET
250 Reset state

EXPN steve@192.168.1.21
550 List steve@192.168.1.21 not found

Doesn't want to talk to us
RSET
250 Reset state

MAIL FROM:<spade@example.com>
250 Sender "spade@example.com" OK...

RCPT TO:<steve@192.168.1.21>
250 Recipient "steve@192.168.1.21" OK...

RCPT TO:<bogus85916@192.168.1.21>
550 User unknown <bogus85916@192.168.1.21>

Doesn't want to talk to us
RSET
250 Reset state

QUIT
221 Aba he

Did these commands return results in your Security Audit?


Top Cat Computing BOINC Team StatsRegards,
Steve Topilnycky
Top Cat Computing
http://www.topcatcomputing.com
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