> Pierre B. Samson wrote:
> 
> > $IPT -A INPUT -p udp --source-port 53 -j ACCEPT
> > $IPT -A INPUT -p udp --destination-port 53 -j ACCEPT
> > $IPT -A INPUT -p tcp --source-port 113 -j ACCEPT
> > $IPT -A INPUT -p tcp --destination-port 113 -j ACCEPT

If that's really what your rules are like (and without seeing the full set 
it's impossible to tell what else might take effect) then you're leaving 
yourself essentially unprotected!  Filtering on the source port is almost 
never a sensible thing to do.  Remember it's under the control of the 
person at the other end trying to break into your machine.  They certainly 
won't say to themselves "oh, that's the ident (or whatever) port, we can't 
use that for our nefarious schemes."  On the contrary, they'll be trying 
all the standard port numbers as *source* ports in the hope that they'll 
happen across a misconfigured firewall that they can get through.

When you're designing your filter rules you have to ask yourself what 
information in the incoming packet is reliable.  Sometimes you can convince 
yourself that you trust the machine at the other end and the network in 
between.  Often, though, all you really know for sure is the destination 
address (yours!) and the destination port (where the packet will end up if 
you don't filter it out first).
-- 
Dr George D M Ross, Division of Informatics, University of Edinburgh
     Kings Buildings, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH9 3JZ
Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]   Voice: +44 131 650 5147   Fax: +44 131 667 7209
PGP DSA: 1024/AD758CC5 B91E D430 1E0D 5883 EF6A  426C B676 5C2B AD75 8CC5


Attachment: msg01062/pgp00000.pgp
Description: PGP signature

Reply via email to