THC-Archive/Papers/cover-2.txt

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               #           HOW TO COVER YOUR TRACKS           #
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                            PART TWO : PRACTICE











   I. THE FIRST COMMAND

   The first command you should enter after logging in with a hacked account
   is a shell different from the one you are currently running as login shell.
   The purpose is to disable history saving of the commands you'll type in
   while hacking. A history check by the real user or sysadmin reveils your
   presence and what you did!!
   If you are running a CSH then execute a SH and vice versa.

$   <- this is a SH prompt
%   <- this is a CSH prompt

   If it does not look like the standard prompts above then execute SH.
   If the prompt stays the same, type "exit" and execute the CSH ...
   The reason for using these two shells and not bash, ksh, zsh etc. is
   that these two are simple with no extra options enabled by default
   (like history saving).


   II. LASTLOG WORKAROUND

   If you saw a text like "Last successful login from alpha.master.mil"
   when you logged on with the hacked account and you can't hack root or
   don't want to disrupt the system logs with deleting data then execute
   the following : "rlogin <the_host_you_are_on>" and provide again the
   password of the hacked account if necessary. After seeing the shell
   prompt type exit to be back again. This will change the header
   "Last login from ..." etc. to the <current host> or "localhost" 
   which is much more unsuspicious than "site.real.user.never.saw.com"
   Of course you only need to do this if your origin host might attract
   attention to user and/or sysadmin.


   III. WHO WORKAROUND

   After completing step 1 + 2 type "w" ... you'll see all currently
   online users ... with the adress they logged on from. Once again
   something like your origin host in the netherlands will be very
   suspicious to users and/or root if the site is in the usa.
   If you can't hack root or once again don't want to tamper with the
   log files you can try a bug which works still for many up2date
   unix distributions: just execute "login" with the same login+password.
   Type "w" again and if it worked, your origin will be changed to
   something like "tty05".
   Of course you only need to do this if your origin host might attract
   attention by other users and/or sysadmin.
   

   V. EXECUTING PROGRAMS

   Don't execute programs with suspicous names ... ISS and YPX are for
   example very suspicous, and a skilled admin knows what's going on if
   he sees a user running "loadmodule SandraBullok" on his Sun ... ;-)
   Either you copy & rename the commands or you use those sources around
   which exchanges the command name in the process list.
   Btw. the process list can be checked by "ps -ef" or "ps -auxwww" and
   the current command every user is executing with "w" and the most CPU
   consuming processes with "top" ... so it's really easy to monitor 
   the programs the user(s) are running.


   VI. EXECUTING TELNET

   There are only two things which should be said about about using telnet
   for hacking purpose (e.g. doing a telnet to the next target).
   First NEVER just type "telnet target.host.com". Type "telnet" and then
   "open target.host.com" which will not show up as parameter in the process
   list. The seconds is that some telnet clients do export enviroment
   variables. And if your hack is detected and they could trace the
   connection back to your origin host they could also have got the account
   you used on the origin host. So redefine (to anything you want) the
   following environement variables before starting telnet, rlogin or similar: 
   USER, LOGNAME, UID, HOME, MAIL - maybe you should do a "cd /tmp" too
   to change the PWD variable too ...
   To change those variables ->
      SH : <variable>=<new_value>;export <variable>
           example : USER=nobody;export USER
      CSH: setenv <variable> <new_value>
           example : setenv USER nobody
 
   and don't forget to reset the variables after your telnet if you want to
   do something with the account before you log out.


   VII. REMOVE YOUR FILES

   When you tried exploits - successful or not - delete them immedeantely
   after trying them - especially if you try them in /tmp !
   Nothing is more interesting than snooping in the /tmp directory to see
   what other users are doing ... If you really need to work in the temp
   directory (because suid is squashed in your home dir) then create a
   usual directory like ".X11", and give it 711 permissions.
   Remember, if someone snoops in the directories while you are hacking or
   your loose connection and can't relogin or you forget about them you
   are in deep trouble.


   -->  !  The following 2 points are only possible with root access !  <--


   VI. MODIFYING THE LOGS

   The important log files are LASTLOG, WTMP and UTMP.
   If you were successful in hacking root then you should modify them.
   They can usually be found in /etc, /var/adm or /var/log ... it differs,
   just check the man pages.
   Which tools should you use? ZAP (or ZAP2) is nice, but it does NOT delete
   you from the logs but overwrite the entries with zeros. CERT already
   published tools which easily check the logs for those overwritten entries.
   And nothing shouts more "Hey there's a hacker on the system with root
   access!" into the sysadmin's face than that.
   Important for ZAP : Check the paths defined in the sources for the logs!
   Try CLOAK2 which can change the data of the important data fields ;) But
   it doesn't compile on all unix OS types.
   You can also try CLEAR, included in this magazine, which REALLY deletes
   the entries ... ;)

   
   VII. SYSLOG & LASTCOMM

   You should also check the syslog messages logfile if maybe entries with
   your hacked account or your origin host are in it. It's usually located
   in /var/adm or /var/log ... most time it's called "messages" but again
   can differ - and also check other logfiles there which are generated by
   auth.* and authpriv.* messages (and of course xferlog etc.).
   Check the file /etc/syslog.conf to see the correct file and check out what
   is logged to which file/program/mail/user.
   If you see something like "@loghost" and you find your origin host in
   the messages file than you've got a problem. It's also logged at another
   site which is most time not accessible from remote. But try to install
   a sniffer, (see section VIII. !) and check if a root does a successful
   login to the loghost - and then you've got also the password for that
   host and are in to handle the problem ;)
   To remove f.e. your hostname from the "messages" logfile execute :
   "grep -v evil.host.com messages > /tmp/tmpfile; mv /tmp/tmpfile messages"

   LASTCOMM (from accton etc.) is a tool to log all executed commands, with
   a flag if the file executed had the SUID flag set and if a command was
   executed by root. You can find this logfile in the same directory as the
   syslog file. That's a really evil tool against hackers but - luck! -
   most times it is not installed. But now you don't have to fear that
   anymore :) Get Zhart's excellent ACCT Cleaner and feel the freedom ;-)

   
   VIII. INSTALLING TROJANS

   When you install a sniffer, remember that anyone can execute "ifconfig -a"
   to check if the card is in promiscious mode. Get a rootkit for your unix
   OS and replace it. Run fixer.c on it for the correct checksum and date/time
   but check the root account first if maybe tripwire or other binary checker
   are installed! Remember this for every binary you replace. If the binary
   is in a directory which is NFS mounted and can't be remounted in write mode
   then you must first hack the NFS host - life isn't easy sometimes ;)



   X. THE END

   I hope you had fun and learned alot from these two textfiles, the
   theory/background and the practice one.
   For updates, tips, tricks etc. just email me at  ->  mc@thc.net
   Remember : Never get lazy. Every work must be done 100% -
              or face the consequences!


                         van Hauser



Type Bits/KeyID    Date       User ID
pub  1024/3B188C7D 1995/10/10 van Hauser/THC of LORE BBS

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