The Honeypot Project

The Honeypot ProjectBy

Itzik JislinYiftach Benjamini

Supervisor: Ben Bershtein

Introduction

What is a Honeypot?

"A honeypot is an information system resource whose value lies in unauthorized or illicit use of that resource." - Lance Spitzner

Honeypot OverviewA Honeypot has no functional valueA Honeypot does not do anything active. Its value lies in the knowledge that any access to the Honeypot is probably maliciousIn a perfectly safe network a Honeypot should see no traffic at all

Honeypot Overview - Advantages

Small data sets of high valueVery flexible – does not rely on a fixed database (Like

Anti-Virus software). Allows the detection of new and unknown methods and tools

Minimal resources – Since Honeypots are not intended to

actually server a magnitude of clients they need very little resources

Simple – Honeypots are simple to install and

maintain

Honeypot Overview - DisadvantagesLimited view – A Honeypot can observe only

interaction with itself. It is not a sniffer and cannot log actions against other functional systems in the network

Risk – Depending on the type of the

Honeypot the risk can be greater or lesser. But there is always a risk to the network when a multitude of servers are active in it.

Honeypots Overview - TypesLow-Interaction– Simulates some network services

(HTTP, Telnet, FTP, etc…)– Very low risk (Interaction is only with

a simulation)– Less flexible (Can only simulate what

was programmed)– Easier to identify– Examples are: Specter, honeyd, our

project

Honeypots Overview - TypesHigh-Interaction (Sacrificial Lamb)– Real servers running some kind of

logging software– High risk (Attacker is working with

the real thing)– Almost impossible to identify

Honeypots Overview - Honeynets

Overview – But what good is it?Collect data– Allows researching attackers methods

and tools and developing counter-tools.

Prevention– “Sticky” Honeypots slow down

scanning capabilities of attackers by slow response times

– If the usage of Honeypots is publicly known it might deter hackers from attacking the network for fear of being caught

Overview – But what good is it?Detection and Response– If a Honeypot detects suspicious

activity it can send an e-mail or sms to a network administrator

– A Honeypot is a non essential system, so taking it offline in order to analyze damage done by an attack will be less harmful and disruptive to the functionality of the network

Overview – But what good is it?Counter Attack– A Honeypot could be configured to

actively respond when it detects attacks coming from systems within its network. For instance if it detects worm activity from some system in the network it can quarantine the system or shut it down or even use some routine to purge the worm

Overview - ThreatsViruses – Pieces of software that attach to

innocent files. Consume computers recourses and may be even more malicious (deleting files, ruining hardware, etc…). Rely on social engineering for spreading

Worms– Self propagating code. Searches for

communication vulnerabilities and uses them to infect more computers at an exponential rate.

Overview - ThreatsHumans– White Hats – “Good” Hackers searching

for vulnerabilities in order to report them and increase security awareness

– Black Hats – Hackers with personal gain or mayhem in mind. Break into systems in order to steal or corrupt data.

– Script Kiddies – Tool users. No real understanding of what the are doing. Techniques usually include scanning for a system and then hammering it with various tools in order to find a vulnerability.

Our SolutionThe path to implementation

Phase I – How to simulate an IIS?

Fingerprinting using HMAP

HMAP vs. www.technion.ac.il

HMAP vs. Our Honeypot

Phase II – How do you hack a web server?Directory traversal (double decode)Buffer Overflow (Code Red)Malformed SQL statements

Phase II – How do you hack a web server? Look for directories set up by default with execute permissionsThese directories may also hold default scripts that contain vulnerabilitiesFind them by sending requests like these:– GET /frick.html HTTP/1.0– GET /scripts/ HTTP/1.0– GET /_vti_pvt/ HTTP/1.0– GET /cgi-bin/GetFile.cfm HTTP/1.0– Etc…

Phase II – How do you hack a web server?If we find such a directory we can send malicious strings that use known vulnerabilities such as the “double decode” directory traversal attackOur mission is to execute the cmd.exe program that will get us root access to the computer

Phase II – How do you hack a web server?Example:– Send the string:

• /..%%35%63..%%35%63..%%35%63..%%35%63winnt/system32/cmd.exe?/c+dir+c:

– Since the ../../../ attack is well known it checks for it. (Can’t find it in this string)

– Then it decodes the string changing %35 to ‘5’ and %63 to ‘c’. Now we have:• /..%5c..%5c..%5c..%5cwinnt/system32/cmd.exe?/c+dir+c:

– Now it realizes it forgot to decode %5c which surprisingly decodes to a ‘/’• /../../../../winnt/system32/cmd.exe?/c+dir+c:

– Now we have root permissions

Simulating Port ScanningKnocker FrontEnd – port scanner

Vulnerabilities checkN-Stealth Security Scanner

Phase IIIImplement

Based OnVisual C++ .netVisual Basic .net (GUI)Winsock2ODBC

Honeypot ArchitectureDeployment:

The Internet

Honeypot

Server

Firewall

Workstation

Workstation

Laptop

Attacker

Network Scan

Honeypot ArchitectureThe program is divided into two main applications.– GUI – Allows an easy way of starting

and stopping the servers, searching through collected data and displaying statistics

– Honeypot_Core – Creates and maintains the servers. Collects the data from the users and updates the databases

Honeypot ArchitectureBlock Diagram

Honeypot Core

Medium (WinSock) GUI

HTTP Transactions

DB

Malicious String DB

Telnet Login DB

HTTP Server Telnet Server

Honeypot ArchitectureCommunication between GUI and core is done over WinsockWhy Winsock? Answer:– There were many available options:

• RPC, Signaling, Shared memory, And much more

– We wanted to allow for the expansion of the deployment scheme. Suppose you want to run multiple instances of the core on different computers.

– Using Winsock allows running the GUI on one machine while controlling others over the network

Honeypot Architecture - Classes

Honeypot Architecture - Classes

myDb– A class used as an interface with our

ODBC database.– Functions:

• Connect to the db• Disconnect from the db• Insert data into a table in the db

Honeypot Architecture - Classes

mySock– A class used as an interface with the

winsock2 objects– Functions:

• Create a new socket• Set socket options (Timeout)• Connect to a server• Accept (Listen) new connections• Send data• Receive data• Close socket

Honeypot Architecture - Classes

myServer– A class used to create and maintain

server objects. New servers are created by inheritance and need to implement the serveClient virtual function.

– Implementation allows easy way to add new services in the future

– Functions:• Create and init a server• Start the server• Stop the server

Honeypot Architecture – myServer

Server InitiatedmyServer->initServer()

Start Server on Port XmyServer->startServer(X)

Start Command received from GUI

Init Socket, Create main server thread

Accept connectionsCreate client serving threads

myServer

Honeypot Architecture – HTTPServerThe purpose is to “catch” malicious http strings sent as innocent requestsThe http server emulates a Microsoft IIS 5.0 web serverThe emulation displays only one page taken from index.htmThe Honeypot is completely safe from all attacks since it does actually try to execute any commands sent at it. It’s default response is “Not implemented”

Honeypot Architecture – HTTPServer

serveClient() serveClient() serveClient() serveClient()

Receive request from client

Timeout?

End Thread

Port Scanned?

Parse request

Build Response Header

Send response and Web page if

needed

Update DB

Update DB

Update DB

HTTPServer

Honeypot Architecture – TELNETServer

The purpose is to observe the usernames and passwords attackers will try when hacking a telnet serverThis will allow the creation of a common used passwords database so that users can be advised (or required) as to what passwords not to useIt can also help detecting stolen passwordsThe server emulates nothing more than the login handshake.All logins fail

Honeypot Architecture – TELNETServer

serveClient() serveClient() serveClient() serveClient()

Receive request from client

Timeout?

End Thread

Port Scanned?

Send login Failure

Update DB

Upd

ate

DB

TELNETServer

Login limit reached?

Honeypot Architecture – Communication Flow

GUI Initiated

Honeypot Core initiated

Create GUI Communications Server Socket

Connect to Server

Send Start Commands

Connect to Database

Load and display data

Create and start HTTP & Telnet servers

Serve Clients

Send Stop Commands

Stop and delete servers

Send Quit command

Cleanup and exitCleanup and exit

Demonstration

Summery

SummeryHoneypots are a cheap and simple way to add protection to a network Honeypots allow the study of attackers methods of operation. And help developing new ways for countering them.

Possible Future Additions More services such as ftp, messenger, p2p applicationsAllow administration of multiple servers via networkAdd the ability to answer as different ip addressesEmulate different kinds of web servers other than IISEmulate a more complex telnet session

Thanks!We wish to thank:– Ben for his help and endless

patience– Ilana and the Tochna lab team– Our families