[comp.archives] [tcp-ip] Re: tftp,anonymous ftp

jrr@scamp.concert.net (Joe Ragland) (04/03/90)

Archive-name: tas-tftpd/02-Apr-90
Original-posting-by: jrr@scamp.concert.net (Joe Ragland)
Original-subject: Re: tftp,anonymous ftp
Archive-site: ncnoc.concert.net [128.109.193.1]
Archive-directory: dist
Archive-files: tftpd.tar
Reposted-by: emv@math.lsa.umich.edu (Edward Vielmetti)

In article <9004021514.AA26051@world.std.com> bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein) writes:
>
>>In tftp there is nearly no security. An example:
. . .
>
>The case is overstated, at least on Suns you can run tftpd in secure
>mode in which case it chroot's to a specified directory (usually
>/tftpboot tho that's settable in /etc/inetd.conf).
>
>If this is done all they can grab is files under that directory, which
>can usually be kept harmless easily (boot binaries, some people keep
>files needed by X terminals which use tftp there.)
>
>Of course, keeping easy-to-find passwords or using shadow password
>facilities out of your system has its advantages also. I would guess a
>lot of break-ins (particularly ones that go undetected) are "inside
>jobs".
>
>        -Barry Shein

For what it is worth, a modified version of the Berkeley tftpd, which
solves alot of these security problems, is available via 'anonymous' ftp
from ncnoc.concert.net as file ~ftp/dist/tftpd.tar.   This version 
further restricts tftp to a list of hosts.  From the README file for 
this distribution:

  This directory contains a version of the Trivial File Transfer
  Protocol daemon, tftpd. It is based on a version from Berkeley
  that is copyrighted but freely distributable under the copyright
  rules. I have modified the program to provide options to restrict
  tftp access to a directory tree via chroot and/or by a list of
  hosts allowed access. These restrictions are in addition to the
  standard tftp access restrictions. My changes are public domain,
  so this package is freely distributable under the Berkeley
  copyright rules.


  My changes are intended to compile and run under a variety of
  4.2 BSD and 4.3 BSD based UNIX systems, but I have only tested
  them on systems using the 4.3 BSD syslog facility and multiple-
  address hostent structure. Please let me know of problems with
  this code on other systems.

	Tim Seaver
	MCNC
	tas@mcnc.org

Joe Ragland
CONCERT Network