If you already have update access to APF libraries then it's no longer an issue of OS security, but one of personnel security. Getting equivalent privileges in windoze makes taking the machine over a no brainer. The issue is how easy it to illicitly gain privileges in each OS.
-- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> on behalf of Tom Brennan <t...@tombrennansoftware.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 7, 2019 3:17 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: mainframe hacking "success stories"? I was really talking about things I'd do once I got APF/RACF authority. On Windows even if I got admin auth on a server, I wouldn't know what to do with it. On 5/7/2019 10:46 AM, Seymour J Metz wrote: > How will knowledge of control blocks, SVCs, etc., allow you to escalate your > privileges beyond those assigned to your userid and groupid? > > > -- > Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz > http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 > > ________________________________________ > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> on behalf of > Tom Brennan <t...@tombrennansoftware.com> > Sent: Monday, May 6, 2019 9:27 PM > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > Subject: Re: mainframe hacking "success stories"? > > Ok, but why is Windows easier to hack than the mainframe? > > Personally, I'd find a mainframe far easier to hack because I know a > little bit about control blocks, APF auth, SVC's, subsystems, address > spaces, RACF, etc., and I know far less about the equivalents on > Windows. But of course the first step is to get any kind of userid, and > that's done by pretty-much the same methods - regardless of platform. > > On 5/6/2019 1:18 PM, Bill Johnson wrote: >> It’s why banks stay on the mainframe. Security. >> >> >> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone >> >> >> On Monday, May 6, 2019, 4:09 PM, Bigendian Smalls >> <mainfr...@bigendiansmalls.com> wrote: >> >> Bill, would you care to back that sweeping generalization up with some >> detail? >> >>> On May 6, 2019, at 22:06, Bill Johnson >>> <00000047540adefe-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> wrote: >>> >>> Completely different. Hacking Microsoft is way easier. >>> >>> >>> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone >>> >>> >>> On Monday, May 6, 2019, 3:53 PM, Bigendian Smalls >>> <mainfr...@bigendiansmalls.com> wrote: >>> >>> Which is how 80% of all the hacks today start. Find purchase and advance >>> your position. This is how the game is played. It was as classic of a hack >>> as anything today. >>> >>>> On May 6, 2019, at 21:43, Bill Johnson >>>> <00000047540adefe-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> wrote: >>>> >>>> Still never would have occurred without a valid userid. >>>> >>>> >>>> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone >>>> >>>> >>>> On Monday, May 6, 2019, 3:18 PM, Charles Mills <charl...@mcn.org> wrote: >>>> >>>> No. >>>> >>>> From the link you cite: >>>> >>>> "According to various sources, the hackers succeeded in finding (and >>>> exploiting) at least 2 previously unknown errors enabling them to raise >>>> their authorisations in the system. One of them was an error in an IBM >>>> HTTP server and the other one was an error in the CNMEUNIX file, which in >>>> the default configuration has SUID 0 authorisations (which means that by >>>> leveraging on the errors it contains, one is able to execute commands with >>>> the system administrator’s authorisations)." >>>> >>>> His "user" access to InfoTorg was not a problem for the mainframe. (It was >>>> a problem for the MPAA lawyer whose account he accessed, but not for the >>>> mainframe in general.) The above mainframe security vulnerability was. >>>> >>>> Charles >>>> >>>> >>>> -----Original Message----- >>>> From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On >>>> Behalf Of Bill Johnson >>>> Sent: Monday, May 6, 2019 11:17 AM >>>> To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU >>>> Subject: Re: mainframe hacking "success stories"? >>>> >>>> The Pirate Bay hack acquired a valid mainframe userid and password off of >>>> a Microsoft laptop. In effect, not really a mainframe hack. He just logged >>>> on. >>>> https://secure-web.cisco.com/1EiUBe8kWIGocAoCHZ8duxx_X3_ii_2_msH4KXaCbsI05OQ4V0kZ0pcTIXpwXTnEXNJkg9GeqVs-R7IzdSX9GnIfcJrObS1D825ZM8nJeSoB6vNzJa2xDGqRXXNZvwK78Iko8hdQw6zS2R6griNgSM3snpLMvdrvHola_yv9zPXwr3f6_IlZ7zMV0PzBZ-SGsvsDr51V7r3Nf9n5gmq2VbONzowLmg5ZZIqqVK1uZXvW9mgP95d8wKnt8qt0yiAh5CB5la2Ub6ctm1NEEnN28D9JkOoehxhmkVmnssVIWwcAmZcPc3YZR4CHcmwQYA0gTScHJJs4dlOuGr6oKCL6mLSnp3kcELzP0FYC6m1v535CyCj7Fno_rt5ZWPmdLK8io3_XlgKB1xTTcjg9LhBDjwf7zqa9Iwg0Fse4BZ-eBCmUliiBCBkA7FPCEcbalillZW5RyF3YVzqmqEU4hm_I0Ig/https%3A%2F%2Fbadcyber.com%2Fa-history-of-a-hacking%2F >>>> >>>> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone >>>> >>>> >>>> On Monday, May 6, 2019, 1:21 PM, Charles Mills <charl...@mcn.org> wrote: >>>> >>>> #1: Noooooo. It was a legitimate mainframe hack (assuming you consider USS >>>> a legitimate part of the mainframe, which it has been for 20 years or so). >>>> It was an exploit of CGI buffer overrun. >>>> >>>> #2: It drives me nuts to hear mainframers explain away mainframe breaches. >>>> "It wasn't really a mainframe hack, they got in through USS." "It wasn't >>>> really a mainframe hack, they re-used a Windows password." "It wasn't >>>> really a mainframe hack ... whatever." If your CEO was standing in front >>>> of the press explaining how your company let x million credit card numbers >>>> go astray, would it matter HOW they got into your mainframe, or only that >>>> they DID?" If your mainframe is vulnerable to a USS hack, or a shared >>>> Windows password, or whatever, you need to fix THAT, or risk having to >>>> explain to your CEO why he got fired (like Target's) for letting all those >>>> credit card numbers go astray. >>>> >>>> Charles >>>> >>>> >>>> -----Original Message----- >>>> From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On >>>> Behalf Of Bill Johnson >>>> Sent: Sunday, May 5, 2019 10:00 AM >>>> To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU >>>> Subject: Re: mainframe hacking "success stories"? >>>> >>>> Wasn’t really a mainframe hack. It was a laptop hack that acquired >>>> legitimate mainframe credentials. >>>> >>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >>>> send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >>>> send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >>>> >>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >>>> send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >>>> send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >>> send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >>> send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >> send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >> >> >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >> send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >> >> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN