Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-28 Thread eim

Well, yes... you're right !

** Never say impossible **


On Sat, 2002-04-27 at 02:27, martin f krafft wrote:
 also sprach eim [EMAIL PROTECTED] [2002.04.26.1757 +0200]:
  With https data will be encripted and it's impossible to
  find out login and password because they're not sent over
  the net in a clear way.
 
 never say impossible.
 
 -- 
 martin;  (greetings from the heart of the sun.)
   \ echo mailto: !#^.*|tr * mailto:; net@madduck
   
 crying is the refuge of plain women but the ruin of pretty ones.
 -- oscar wilde
-- 

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 Ivo Marino[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 UN*X Developer, running Debian GNU/Linux
 irc.OpenProjects.net #debian
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 »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »«


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-28 Thread eim
Well, yes... you're right !

** Never say impossible **


On Sat, 2002-04-27 at 02:27, martin f krafft wrote:
 also sprach eim [EMAIL PROTECTED] [2002.04.26.1757 +0200]:
  With https data will be encripted and it's impossible to
  find out login and password because they're not sent over
  the net in a clear way.
 
 never say impossible.
 
 -- 
 martin;  (greetings from the heart of the sun.)
   \ echo mailto: !#^.*|tr * mailto:; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
   
 crying is the refuge of plain women but the ruin of pretty ones.
 -- oscar wilde
-- 

 »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »«
 Ivo Marino[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 UN*X Developer, running Debian GNU/Linux
 irc.OpenProjects.net #debian
 http://eimbox.org/~eim http://eimbox.org
 »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »« »«


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-27 Thread Gareth Bowker

On Sat, Apr 27, 2002 at 03:32:45AM +0200, martin f krafft wrote:
 also sprach Dan Faerch [EMAIL PROTECTED] [2002.04.26.1955 +0200]:
  Second more, if your users are allowed to have pages on the same
  address as the login system, the browser can, without much effort,
  be tricked into giving away your systems username and password to
  a personal user page...
 
 how?

Take a look at http://www.php.net/manual/ro/features.http-auth.php

If someone's already logged in, and they visit a webpage on the same domain
which asks for a username and password for the same realm as the one used to
log in, the browser will send the username/password pair without asking the
user for any confirmation.

At least I assume that's what Dan meant above and I assume that that would
happen (I haven't tried it myself).

Gareth


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-27 Thread Schusselig Brane

Steve Mickeler wrote:
 
 Trust not in switches.
 
 They too can be easily manipulated unless you have locked them down at a
 mac address and port level.
 
 'apt-get install dsniff' ; 'man arpspoof'

Of course, which is one of the things I had in mind when I said:

  topology. Switches tend not to allow other nodes on a network to see
   
and:

  sniffed off the network. That is, of course, if the network was designed
  with that in mind.


Dan Faerch wrote:
 The subject on switches.. It is a general misunderstanding that switches
 provide security.. There are several easy tricks to make a switch spill its
 guts.. They were designed for performance and no one ever promised security
 :)

Cisco, in fact does promise security when using thier switches. Well,
most of thier switches. But I do agree that they are designed with
security as an other-than-primary goal. However, they can provide a
layer of abstraction, to help prevent sniffing.

wheee.
-Will Wesley, CCNA
Cheer up! Things are getting worse at a slower rate.


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-27 Thread Dan Faerch


Gareth Bowker wrote:
If someone's already logged in, and they visit a webpage on the same domain
which asks for a username and password for the same realm as the one used
to
log in, the browser will send the username/password pair without asking the
user for any confirmation.

At least I assume that's what Dan meant above and I assume that that would
happen (I haven't tried it myself).

Yep... Thats what i meant... The browser will retransmit the username and
password with every request while youre roaming the same realm.. All you'd
have to do is make a page identify itself with the same realm-name and then
log the username and password.


Martin wrote (on the subject of switches):
 you know their algorithm against MAC table overflow?
No i dont.. I would be very interrested in reading about it, if you know of
a link.. Im sure that it would be possible to enforce some level of
security..
It is correct that you can get switches that, one way or another, will try
to enforce the switching mode and thus, not reentering hub-mode.. Also the
locking mechanism some switches use, that locks the MAC/IP pair to a single
port is quite good, but rather annoying to work with in most office
enviroments (because of laptops and so forth).. And most
systemadministrators doesnt know how theese are enabled or simply never knew
they existed. Theese security measures are therefore often not enabled or
manually disabled for convenience.

And then there is the matter of the price ;)

- Dan



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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-27 Thread martin f krafft

also sprach Dan Faerch [EMAIL PROTECTED] [2002.04.27.2120 +0200]:
  you know their algorithm against MAC table overflow?
 No i dont.. I would be very interrested in reading about it, if you know of
 a link.. Im sure that it would be possible to enforce some level of
 security..

it's quite simple. i don't have a link. but these switches clear out
their MAC tables LRU style at a rate indirectly proportional to the
space left. so if you manage to half the space left by MAC flooding,
they'll clean out the tables twice as fast. if you manage to half the
remaining space, they'll clean out four times as fast. there's very
little chance that a you can fill those tables and make it enter hub
mode.

 It is correct that you can get switches that, one way or another, will try
 to enforce the switching mode and thus, not reentering hub-mode.. Also the
 locking mechanism some switches use, that locks the MAC/IP pair to a single
 port is quite good, but rather annoying to work with in most office
 enviroments (because of laptops and so forth)..

aside from the fact that you can still change you MAC address at
will... but yes, these are good for static environments only, but they
aren't a security measure. `ifconfig eth0 hw ether 00:11:22:33:44:55`
is all i have to say...

switches are *not* a security measure, period.

-- 
martin;  (greetings from the heart of the sun.)
  \ echo mailto: !#^.*|tr * mailto:; net@madduck
  
one should never trust a woman who tells her real age.
 if she tells that, she'll tell anything.
-- oscar wilde



msg06516/pgp0.pgp
Description: PGP signature


Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-27 Thread Gareth Bowker
On Sat, Apr 27, 2002 at 03:32:45AM +0200, martin f krafft wrote:
 also sprach Dan Faerch [EMAIL PROTECTED] [2002.04.26.1955 +0200]:
  Second more, if your users are allowed to have pages on the same
  address as the login system, the browser can, without much effort,
  be tricked into giving away your systems username and password to
  a personal user page...
 
 how?

Take a look at http://www.php.net/manual/ro/features.http-auth.php

If someone's already logged in, and they visit a webpage on the same domain
which asks for a username and password for the same realm as the one used to
log in, the browser will send the username/password pair without asking the
user for any confirmation.

At least I assume that's what Dan meant above and I assume that that would
happen (I haven't tried it myself).

Gareth


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-27 Thread Schusselig Brane
Steve Mickeler wrote:
 
 Trust not in switches.
 
 They too can be easily manipulated unless you have locked them down at a
 mac address and port level.
 
 'apt-get install dsniff' ; 'man arpspoof'

Of course, which is one of the things I had in mind when I said:

  topology. Switches tend not to allow other nodes on a network to see
   
and:

  sniffed off the network. That is, of course, if the network was designed
  with that in mind.


Dan Faerch wrote:
 The subject on switches.. It is a general misunderstanding that switches
 provide security.. There are several easy tricks to make a switch spill its
 guts.. They were designed for performance and no one ever promised security
 :)

Cisco, in fact does promise security when using thier switches. Well,
most of thier switches. But I do agree that they are designed with
security as an other-than-primary goal. However, they can provide a
layer of abstraction, to help prevent sniffing.

wheee.
-Will Wesley, CCNA
Cheer up! Things are getting worse at a slower rate.


-- 
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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-27 Thread Dan Faerch

Gareth Bowker wrote:
If someone's already logged in, and they visit a webpage on the same domain
which asks for a username and password for the same realm as the one used
to
log in, the browser will send the username/password pair without asking the
user for any confirmation.

At least I assume that's what Dan meant above and I assume that that would
happen (I haven't tried it myself).

Yep... Thats what i meant... The browser will retransmit the username and
password with every request while youre roaming the same realm.. All you'd
have to do is make a page identify itself with the same realm-name and then
log the username and password.


Martin wrote (on the subject of switches):
 you know their algorithm against MAC table overflow?
No i dont.. I would be very interrested in reading about it, if you know of
a link.. Im sure that it would be possible to enforce some level of
security..
It is correct that you can get switches that, one way or another, will try
to enforce the switching mode and thus, not reentering hub-mode.. Also the
locking mechanism some switches use, that locks the MAC/IP pair to a single
port is quite good, but rather annoying to work with in most office
enviroments (because of laptops and so forth).. And most
systemadministrators doesnt know how theese are enabled or simply never knew
they existed. Theese security measures are therefore often not enabled or
manually disabled for convenience.

And then there is the matter of the price ;)

- Dan



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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-27 Thread martin f krafft
also sprach Dan Faerch [EMAIL PROTECTED] [2002.04.27.2120 +0200]:
  you know their algorithm against MAC table overflow?
 No i dont.. I would be very interrested in reading about it, if you know of
 a link.. Im sure that it would be possible to enforce some level of
 security..

it's quite simple. i don't have a link. but these switches clear out
their MAC tables LRU style at a rate indirectly proportional to the
space left. so if you manage to half the space left by MAC flooding,
they'll clean out the tables twice as fast. if you manage to half the
remaining space, they'll clean out four times as fast. there's very
little chance that a you can fill those tables and make it enter hub
mode.

 It is correct that you can get switches that, one way or another, will try
 to enforce the switching mode and thus, not reentering hub-mode.. Also the
 locking mechanism some switches use, that locks the MAC/IP pair to a single
 port is quite good, but rather annoying to work with in most office
 enviroments (because of laptops and so forth)..

aside from the fact that you can still change you MAC address at
will... but yes, these are good for static environments only, but they
aren't a security measure. `ifconfig eth0 hw ether 00:11:22:33:44:55`
is all i have to say...

switches are *not* a security measure, period.

-- 
martin;  (greetings from the heart of the sun.)
  \ echo mailto: !#^.*|tr * mailto:; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  
one should never trust a woman who tells her real age.
 if she tells that, she'll tell anything.
-- oscar wilde


pgpWiS72NUL0V.pgp
Description: PGP signature


Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-26 Thread eim

Hallo Brane,

I'm actually a K-13 student, and so in my 'strategic'
position I'm on both sides, admin of debian box and 3v1l cracker :)

No, well.. I was just kidding, I have really better things to
do than actually cracking Debian boxes in pubblic environments,
but anyway I what do you think about using https for .htaccess
authentication ?

With https data will be encripted and it's impossible to
find out login and password because they're not sent over
the net in a clear way.

Consider using https.

Good work and protect your boxes !

 - Ivo

On Thu, Apr 25, 2002 at 09:09:03PM -0600, Schusselig Brane wrote:
 Tom Dominico wrote:
  
  Hello all,
  
  I have written some php-based internal systems for our users.  Users are
  required to authenticate to access this system, and their login
  determines what they are allowed to do within the system.  I am
  concerned that their logging in with cleartext passwords is a security
  risk.  I work in a K-12 school enviroment, and many of these students
  are rather devious and resourceful (as I was at that age :) ).  My fear
  is some bright student setting a sniffer up on my network and gleaning
  passwords from it.
  
  I am wondering if any of you have had similar problems.  What is a more
  secure way for people to login?  Is SSL an option, and if so, how do I
  go about using it?  Do I have to purchase a certificate?  Or is there
  some other option?  Finally, should I be using .htaccess at all, or is
  there a better way?  Thank you in advance for your advice.
 
 Another option would be to run switches instead of normal hub or bus
 topology. Switches tend not to allow other nodes on a network to see
 data that is passing over it. However, it will more than likely prove to
 be a PITA to convince budget makers to allow the expense of the new
 equipment.
 
 Useless input, I know. But, I didn't see anyone else mention this. As a
 side note, if your installation is new enough, switches may already be
 in place, and you don't have much to worry about as far as stuff getting
 sniffed off the network. That is, of course, if the network was designed
 with that in mind.
 
 -Will Wesley, CCNA
 To make tax forms true they should read Income Owed Us and Incommode
 You.
 
 
 -- 
 To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-26 Thread Dan Faerch


Htaccess:
---
You should be aware, that when you use normal .htaccess protection, browser
never logout..With eg. Internet Explorer, all intances of IE have to be
closed to make the browser forget the login..

There are several tricks to make the browser forget the login, but none
really secure.. One is to make a logout link that links to eg.
https://logout:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/logout

In the logout folder you make a new htaccess file that uses another
htpassword file which contains a user called logout with a password called
logout, but keeping the same REALM.. (the realm is importent)..

This rewrite's the browser credentials for your realm with username and
password logout.. (Make sure users in /logout have no vital access
offcourse)

The hard part is to get ppl to use the logout link and not just closing the
instance of the browser..

Second more, if your users are allowed to have pages on the same address as
the login system, the browser can, without much effort, be tricked into
giving away your systems username and password to a personal user page...


Switches:

The subject on switches.. It is a general misunderstanding that switches
provide security.. There are several easy tricks to make a switch spill its
guts.. They were designed for performance and no one ever promised security
:)


SSL:
---

No you do not need to purchase a certificate.. Simply generate your own..

Yet, in an enviroment where users share the same pc, security is hard to
achive (i am assuming that youre runnig a windows enviroment), since varios
keyloggers can be installed on the clients, you have access to the cache and
the cookies. On this i have no wonderous advise :)..


(i didnt follow the thread, only the content of this mail, so i hope im not
repeating anything already said)

- Dan Faerch
A/S ScanNet
(Denmark)




- Original Message -
From: eim [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Schusselig Brane [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, April 26, 2002 5:57 PM
Subject: Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?


 Hallo Brane,

 I'm actually a K-13 student, and so in my 'strategic'
 position I'm on both sides, admin of debian box and 3v1l cracker :)

 No, well.. I was just kidding, I have really better things to
 do than actually cracking Debian boxes in pubblic environments,
 but anyway I what do you think about using https for .htaccess
 authentication ?

 With https data will be encripted and it's impossible to
 find out login and password because they're not sent over
 the net in a clear way.

 Consider using https.

 Good work and protect your boxes !

  - Ivo

 On Thu, Apr 25, 2002 at 09:09:03PM -0600, Schusselig Brane wrote:
  Tom Dominico wrote:
  
   Hello all,
  
   I have written some php-based internal systems for our users.  Users
are
   required to authenticate to access this system, and their login
   determines what they are allowed to do within the system.  I am
   concerned that their logging in with cleartext passwords is a security
   risk.  I work in a K-12 school enviroment, and many of these students
   are rather devious and resourceful (as I was at that age :) ).  My
fear
   is some bright student setting a sniffer up on my network and gleaning
   passwords from it.
  
   I am wondering if any of you have had similar problems.  What is a
more
   secure way for people to login?  Is SSL an option, and if so, how do I
   go about using it?  Do I have to purchase a certificate?  Or is there
   some other option?  Finally, should I be using .htaccess at all, or is
   there a better way?  Thank you in advance for your advice.
 
  Another option would be to run switches instead of normal hub or bus
  topology. Switches tend not to allow other nodes on a network to see
  data that is passing over it. However, it will more than likely prove to
  be a PITA to convince budget makers to allow the expense of the new
  equipment.
 
  Useless input, I know. But, I didn't see anyone else mention this. As a
  side note, if your installation is new enough, switches may already be
  in place, and you don't have much to worry about as far as stuff getting
  sniffed off the network. That is, of course, if the network was designed
  with that in mind.
 
  -Will Wesley, CCNA
  To make tax forms true they should read Income Owed Us and Incommode
  You.
 
 
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  To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-26 Thread martin f krafft

also sprach eim [EMAIL PROTECTED] [2002.04.26.1757 +0200]:
 With https data will be encripted and it's impossible to
 find out login and password because they're not sent over
 the net in a clear way.

never say impossible.

-- 
martin;  (greetings from the heart of the sun.)
  \ echo mailto: !#^.*|tr * mailto:; net@madduck
  
crying is the refuge of plain women but the ruin of pretty ones.
-- oscar wilde



msg06507/pgp0.pgp
Description: PGP signature


Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-26 Thread martin f krafft

also sprach Dan Faerch [EMAIL PROTECTED] [2002.04.26.1955 +0200]:
 Second more, if your users are allowed to have pages on the same
 address as the login system, the browser can, without much effort,
 be tricked into giving away your systems username and password to
 a personal user page...

how?

 The subject on switches.. It is a general misunderstanding that
 switches provide security.. There are several easy tricks to make
 a switch spill its guts.. They were designed for performance and no
 one ever promised security

true, and i love this one because it's the first thing everyone says
in response to hearing something said on 'sniffing'. uhm, every
previously not so exposed person as we are, i mean.

but have you tried your luck on one of the better cisco and
hewlett-packard switches? you know their algorithm against MAC table
overflow? if yes, then just think about it, and about how good it is.

-- 
martin;  (greetings from the heart of the sun.)
  \ echo mailto: !#^.*|tr * mailto:; net@madduck
  
micro$oft productivity software
  - see reductio ad absurdum, conclusions.



msg06509/pgp0.pgp
Description: PGP signature


Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-26 Thread Steve Mickeler

Trust not in switches.

They too can be easily manipulated unless you have locked them down at a
mac address and port level.

'apt-get install dsniff' ; 'man arpspoof'


 Another option would be to run switches instead of normal hub or bus
 topology. Switches tend not to allow other nodes on a network to see
 data that is passing over it. However, it will more than likely prove to
 be a PITA to convince budget makers to allow the expense of the new
 equipment.

 Useless input, I know. But, I didn't see anyone else mention this. As a
 side note, if your installation is new enough, switches may already be
 in place, and you don't have much to worry about as far as stuff getting
 sniffed off the network. That is, of course, if the network was designed
 with that in mind.

 -Will Wesley, CCNA
 To make tax forms true they should read Income Owed Us and Incommode
 You.


 --
 To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]




[-] Steve Mickeler [ [EMAIL PROTECTED] ]

[|] Todays root password is brought to you by /dev/random

[+] 1024D/ACB58D4F = 0227 164B D680 9E13 9168  AE28 843F 57D7 ACB5 8D4F


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-26 Thread eim
Hallo Brane,

I'm actually a K-13 student, and so in my 'strategic'
position I'm on both sides, admin of debian box and 3v1l cracker :)

No, well.. I was just kidding, I have really better things to
do than actually cracking Debian boxes in pubblic environments,
but anyway I what do you think about using https for .htaccess
authentication ?

With https data will be encripted and it's impossible to
find out login and password because they're not sent over
the net in a clear way.

Consider using https.

Good work and protect your boxes !

 - Ivo

On Thu, Apr 25, 2002 at 09:09:03PM -0600, Schusselig Brane wrote:
 Tom Dominico wrote:
  
  Hello all,
  
  I have written some php-based internal systems for our users.  Users are
  required to authenticate to access this system, and their login
  determines what they are allowed to do within the system.  I am
  concerned that their logging in with cleartext passwords is a security
  risk.  I work in a K-12 school enviroment, and many of these students
  are rather devious and resourceful (as I was at that age :) ).  My fear
  is some bright student setting a sniffer up on my network and gleaning
  passwords from it.
  
  I am wondering if any of you have had similar problems.  What is a more
  secure way for people to login?  Is SSL an option, and if so, how do I
  go about using it?  Do I have to purchase a certificate?  Or is there
  some other option?  Finally, should I be using .htaccess at all, or is
  there a better way?  Thank you in advance for your advice.
 
 Another option would be to run switches instead of normal hub or bus
 topology. Switches tend not to allow other nodes on a network to see
 data that is passing over it. However, it will more than likely prove to
 be a PITA to convince budget makers to allow the expense of the new
 equipment.
 
 Useless input, I know. But, I didn't see anyone else mention this. As a
 side note, if your installation is new enough, switches may already be
 in place, and you don't have much to worry about as far as stuff getting
 sniffed off the network. That is, of course, if the network was designed
 with that in mind.
 
 -Will Wesley, CCNA
 To make tax forms true they should read Income Owed Us and Incommode
 You.
 
 
 -- 
 To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-26 Thread Dan Faerch

Htaccess:
---
You should be aware, that when you use normal .htaccess protection, browser
never logout..With eg. Internet Explorer, all intances of IE have to be
closed to make the browser forget the login..

There are several tricks to make the browser forget the login, but none
really secure.. One is to make a logout link that links to eg.
https://logout:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/logout

In the logout folder you make a new htaccess file that uses another
htpassword file which contains a user called logout with a password called
logout, but keeping the same REALM.. (the realm is importent)..

This rewrite's the browser credentials for your realm with username and
password logout.. (Make sure users in /logout have no vital access
offcourse)

The hard part is to get ppl to use the logout link and not just closing the
instance of the browser..

Second more, if your users are allowed to have pages on the same address as
the login system, the browser can, without much effort, be tricked into
giving away your systems username and password to a personal user page...


Switches:

The subject on switches.. It is a general misunderstanding that switches
provide security.. There are several easy tricks to make a switch spill its
guts.. They were designed for performance and no one ever promised security
:)


SSL:
---

No you do not need to purchase a certificate.. Simply generate your own..

Yet, in an enviroment where users share the same pc, security is hard to
achive (i am assuming that youre runnig a windows enviroment), since varios
keyloggers can be installed on the clients, you have access to the cache and
the cookies. On this i have no wonderous advise :)..


(i didnt follow the thread, only the content of this mail, so i hope im not
repeating anything already said)

- Dan Faerch
A/S ScanNet
(Denmark)




- Original Message -
From: eim [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Schusselig Brane [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: debian-security@lists.debian.org
Sent: Friday, April 26, 2002 5:57 PM
Subject: Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?


 Hallo Brane,

 I'm actually a K-13 student, and so in my 'strategic'
 position I'm on both sides, admin of debian box and 3v1l cracker :)

 No, well.. I was just kidding, I have really better things to
 do than actually cracking Debian boxes in pubblic environments,
 but anyway I what do you think about using https for .htaccess
 authentication ?

 With https data will be encripted and it's impossible to
 find out login and password because they're not sent over
 the net in a clear way.

 Consider using https.

 Good work and protect your boxes !

  - Ivo

 On Thu, Apr 25, 2002 at 09:09:03PM -0600, Schusselig Brane wrote:
  Tom Dominico wrote:
  
   Hello all,
  
   I have written some php-based internal systems for our users.  Users
are
   required to authenticate to access this system, and their login
   determines what they are allowed to do within the system.  I am
   concerned that their logging in with cleartext passwords is a security
   risk.  I work in a K-12 school enviroment, and many of these students
   are rather devious and resourceful (as I was at that age :) ).  My
fear
   is some bright student setting a sniffer up on my network and gleaning
   passwords from it.
  
   I am wondering if any of you have had similar problems.  What is a
more
   secure way for people to login?  Is SSL an option, and if so, how do I
   go about using it?  Do I have to purchase a certificate?  Or is there
   some other option?  Finally, should I be using .htaccess at all, or is
   there a better way?  Thank you in advance for your advice.
 
  Another option would be to run switches instead of normal hub or bus
  topology. Switches tend not to allow other nodes on a network to see
  data that is passing over it. However, it will more than likely prove to
  be a PITA to convince budget makers to allow the expense of the new
  equipment.
 
  Useless input, I know. But, I didn't see anyone else mention this. As a
  side note, if your installation is new enough, switches may already be
  in place, and you don't have much to worry about as far as stuff getting
  sniffed off the network. That is, of course, if the network was designed
  with that in mind.
 
  -Will Wesley, CCNA
  To make tax forms true they should read Income Owed Us and Incommode
  You.
 
 
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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-26 Thread Mike Renfro
On Fri, Apr 26, 2002 at 07:55:06PM +0200, Dan Faerch wrote:

 You should be aware, that when you use normal .htaccess protection,
 browser never logout..With eg. Internet Explorer, all intances of IE
 have to be closed to make the browser forget the login..

Actually, I think instances of IE that were each run from the desktop
or quicklaunch bar don't share authentication info. At least this has
been my experience with IE4 and 5.x. However, if you use File / New to
start a new window, that window will share authentication info with
the parent.

-- 
Mike Renfro  / RD Engineer, Center for Manufacturing Research,
931 372-3601 / Tennessee Technological University -- [EMAIL PROTECTED]


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-26 Thread martin f krafft
also sprach eim [EMAIL PROTECTED] [2002.04.26.1757 +0200]:
 With https data will be encripted and it's impossible to
 find out login and password because they're not sent over
 the net in a clear way.

never say impossible.

-- 
martin;  (greetings from the heart of the sun.)
  \ echo mailto: !#^.*|tr * mailto:; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  
crying is the refuge of plain women but the ruin of pretty ones.
-- oscar wilde


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-26 Thread martin f krafft
also sprach Dan Faerch [EMAIL PROTECTED] [2002.04.26.1955 +0200]:
 Second more, if your users are allowed to have pages on the same
 address as the login system, the browser can, without much effort,
 be tricked into giving away your systems username and password to
 a personal user page...

how?

 The subject on switches.. It is a general misunderstanding that
 switches provide security.. There are several easy tricks to make
 a switch spill its guts.. They were designed for performance and no
 one ever promised security

true, and i love this one because it's the first thing everyone says
in response to hearing something said on 'sniffing'. uhm, every
previously not so exposed person as we are, i mean.

but have you tried your luck on one of the better cisco and
hewlett-packard switches? you know their algorithm against MAC table
overflow? if yes, then just think about it, and about how good it is.

-- 
martin;  (greetings from the heart of the sun.)
  \ echo mailto: !#^.*|tr * mailto:; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  
micro$oft productivity software
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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-25 Thread Schusselig Brane

Tom Dominico wrote:
 
 Hello all,
 
 I have written some php-based internal systems for our users.  Users are
 required to authenticate to access this system, and their login
 determines what they are allowed to do within the system.  I am
 concerned that their logging in with cleartext passwords is a security
 risk.  I work in a K-12 school enviroment, and many of these students
 are rather devious and resourceful (as I was at that age :) ).  My fear
 is some bright student setting a sniffer up on my network and gleaning
 passwords from it.
 
 I am wondering if any of you have had similar problems.  What is a more
 secure way for people to login?  Is SSL an option, and if so, how do I
 go about using it?  Do I have to purchase a certificate?  Or is there
 some other option?  Finally, should I be using .htaccess at all, or is
 there a better way?  Thank you in advance for your advice.

Another option would be to run switches instead of normal hub or bus
topology. Switches tend not to allow other nodes on a network to see
data that is passing over it. However, it will more than likely prove to
be a PITA to convince budget makers to allow the expense of the new
equipment.

Useless input, I know. But, I didn't see anyone else mention this. As a
side note, if your installation is new enough, switches may already be
in place, and you don't have much to worry about as far as stuff getting
sniffed off the network. That is, of course, if the network was designed
with that in mind.

-Will Wesley, CCNA
To make tax forms true they should read Income Owed Us and Incommode
You.


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-25 Thread Steve Mickeler


Trust not in switches.

They too can be easily manipulated unless you have locked them down at a
mac address and port level.

'apt-get install dsniff' ; 'man arpspoof'


 Another option would be to run switches instead of normal hub or bus
 topology. Switches tend not to allow other nodes on a network to see
 data that is passing over it. However, it will more than likely prove to
 be a PITA to convince budget makers to allow the expense of the new
 equipment.

 Useless input, I know. But, I didn't see anyone else mention this. As a
 side note, if your installation is new enough, switches may already be
 in place, and you don't have much to worry about as far as stuff getting
 sniffed off the network. That is, of course, if the network was designed
 with that in mind.

 -Will Wesley, CCNA
 To make tax forms true they should read Income Owed Us and Incommode
 You.


 --
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[-] Steve Mickeler [ [EMAIL PROTECTED] ]

[|] Todays root password is brought to you by /dev/random

[+] 1024D/ACB58D4F = 0227 164B D680 9E13 9168  AE28 843F 57D7 ACB5 8D4F


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A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-22 Thread Tom Dominico

Hello all,

I have written some php-based internal systems for our users.  Users are
required to authenticate to access this system, and their login
determines what they are allowed to do within the system.  I am
concerned that their logging in with cleartext passwords is a security
risk.  I work in a K-12 school enviroment, and many of these students
are rather devious and resourceful (as I was at that age :) ).  My fear
is some bright student setting a sniffer up on my network and gleaning
passwords from it.

I am wondering if any of you have had similar problems.  What is a more
secure way for people to login?  Is SSL an option, and if so, how do I
go about using it?  Do I have to purchase a certificate?  Or is there
some other option?  Finally, should I be using .htaccess at all, or is
there a better way?  Thank you in advance for your advice.

Tom Dominico
Technology Coordinator
Parlier Unified School District


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-22 Thread Greg Hunt

You might want to take a look at using digest authentication, which sends a MD5 digest 
of the pasword instead of the actual password.

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/howto/auth.html

 I have written some php-based internal systems for our users.  Users are
 required to authenticate to access this system, and their login
 determines what they are allowed to do within the system.  I am
 concerned that their logging in with cleartext passwords is a security
 risk.  I work in a K-12 school enviroment, and many of these students
 are rather devious and resourceful (as I was at that age :) ).  My fear
 is some bright student setting a sniffer up on my network and gleaning
 passwords from it.
 
 I am wondering if any of you have had similar problems.  What is a more
 secure way for people to login?  Is SSL an option, and if so, how do I
 go about using it?  Do I have to purchase a certificate?  Or is there
 some other option?  Finally, should I be using .htaccess at all, or is
 there a better way?  Thank you in advance for your advice.

-- 
--SupplyEdge---
Greg Hunt
800-733-3380 x 107
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


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A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-22 Thread Tom Dominico
Hello all,

I have written some php-based internal systems for our users.  Users are
required to authenticate to access this system, and their login
determines what they are allowed to do within the system.  I am
concerned that their logging in with cleartext passwords is a security
risk.  I work in a K-12 school enviroment, and many of these students
are rather devious and resourceful (as I was at that age :) ).  My fear
is some bright student setting a sniffer up on my network and gleaning
passwords from it.

I am wondering if any of you have had similar problems.  What is a more
secure way for people to login?  Is SSL an option, and if so, how do I
go about using it?  Do I have to purchase a certificate?  Or is there
some other option?  Finally, should I be using .htaccess at all, or is
there a better way?  Thank you in advance for your advice.

Tom Dominico
Technology Coordinator
Parlier Unified School District


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Re: A more secure form of .htaccess?

2002-04-22 Thread Jay Kline
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

 I am wondering if any of you have had similar problems.  What is a more
 secure way for people to login?  Is SSL an option, and if so, how do I
 go about using it?  Do I have to purchase a certificate?  Or is there
 some other option?  Finally, should I be using .htaccess at all, or is
 there a better way?  Thank you in advance for your advice.

You will run into this problem with just about all forms of authentication. 
You *can* generate a self signed certificate for free, however, most web 
browsers will pop up a warning saying the certificate cannot be verified.  If 
you had some way of forcing all browsers in the building to accept it, then 
no one would be any the wiser.  There is a HOWTO on Apache and SSL that 
explains how to do this.  

The .htaccess method is not a terrible method, assuming people dont have 
general access to the files (they are on a server they dont have access to, 
or permissions on the files are set up so that no one has access to them).  
Some say this is a better method than using generated forms, because of its 
ease of administration, however the problem is with logging out.  The 
authentication method has no way of really logging out, and there is not a 
real standard.  Most (but not all) browsers will reset authentication when 
they reach a 404 in the realm they are logged in to.  So it depends on the 
application.


Jay
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