Monthly Archives: June 2014

Linux services or daemons are programs that typically start when the system boots and remain running in the background until the system shuts down. What follows are three distinct ways to manage services RHEL and CentOS servers.

1. chkconfig – You can use this simple command to show current services, enable them, disable them, start and stop them. You can also set run levels for services to make sure they start when and how you want.

2. Setup – Red Hat based distributions have an ncurses tool that you can navigate with your keyboard for a variety of configuration settings. Among those are services. To run setup, simply type “setup” as root and navigate to “System services”.

3. Hosting Automation – If you do not want to manage services through the console or SSH, you can rely on some form of hosting automation, such as cPanel WHM or Webmin. These tools provide full functionality for services management.

For security and performance it is better to disable services you do not use. You can use any of the above three methods to accomplish that. You can also uninstall services if you are sure you will not need them in the near future – See more at: http://www.serverschool.com/server-configuration/3-ways-to-enable-and-disable-linux-services/#sthash.Rs7WvEpY.dpuf

A security vulnerability in OpenSSL dubbed Heartbleed has been found. This vulnerability was only recently discovered openly, but has been “in the wild” for over a year. It’s important to update your local version of OpenSSL to correct this issue. This brief guide will walk you through ensuring that the patch is installed on your Linode, and suggest additional steps you can take to ensure your server’s security. As always, we suggest having backups of your system prior to making any changes.

This guide is written for a non-root user. Commands that require elevated privileges are prefixed with sudo. If you’re not familiar with the sudo command, you can check our Users and Groups guide.

Installing the Patched Version

Here are the steps for ensuring you have the patched versions of OpenSSL on our most popular distros. If you’ve compiled from source, you’ll want to compile and reinstall using version 1.0.1g. Alternately you can recompile previous versions with the OPENSSL_NO_HEARTBEATS flag enabled to close the vulnerability.

Ubuntu and Debian

1.Check to see what your current OpenSSL version is:
$ openssl version -a
OpenSSL 1.0.1e 11 Feb 2013
built on: Sat Feb 1 22:14:33 UTC 2014
platform: debian-amd64
options: bn(64,64) rc4(16x,int) des(idx,cisc,16,int) blowfish(idx)
compiler: gcc -fPIC -DOPENSSL_PIC -DZLIB -DOPENSSL_THREADS -D_REENTRANT -DDSO_DLFCN -DHAVE_DLFCN_H -m64 -DL_ENDIAN -DTERMIO -g -O2 -fstack-protector –param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -Wformat -Werror=format-security -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -Wl,-z,relro -Wa,–noexecstack -Wall -DMD32_REG_T=int -DOPENSSL_IA32_SSE2 -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT5 -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_GF2m -DSHA1_ASM -DSHA256_ASM -DSHA512_ASM -DMD5_ASM -DAES_ASM -DVPAES_ASM -DBSAES_ASM -DWHIRLPOOL_ASM -DGHASH_ASM
OPENSSLDIR: “/usr/lib/ssl”

Pay attention to the built on: line. Versions built before April 7th are vulnerable.

2.For Debian and Ubuntu systems, run these commands to update and upgrade your packages:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

3.During the upgrade, you may be given a prompt like the one below. This window warns you about the security issue, and lists services that utilize OpenSSL and need to be restarted to apply the patch. You can add any additional services, by matching the init.d script name in this field.

An option window..

If you do not receive this prompt, be sure to manually restart any services that use OpenSSL.

4.After updating, run openssl version -a again to confirm the newer build:
openssl version -a
OpenSSL 1.0.1 14 Mar 2012
built on: Mon Apr 7 20:33:29 UTC 2014

…

CentOS

1.Check to see what your current OpenSSL version is:
openssl version -a
OpenSSL 1.0.1e-fips 11 Feb 2013
built on: Wed Jan 8 18:40:59 UTC 2014
platform: linux-x86_64
options: bn(64,64) md2(int) rc4(16x,int) des(idx,cisc,16,int) idea(int) blowfish(idx)
compiler: gcc -fPIC -DOPENSSL_PIC -DZLIB -DOPENSSL_THREADS -D_REENTRANT -DDSO_DLFCN -DHAVE_DLFCN_H -DKRB5_MIT -m64 -DL_ENDIAN -DTERMIO -Wall -O2 -g -pipe -Wall -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -fexceptions -fstack-protector –param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -m64 -mtune=generic -Wa,–noexecstack -DPURIFY -DOPENSSL_IA32_SSE2 -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT5 -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_GF2m -DSHA1_ASM -DSHA256_ASM -DSHA512_ASM -DMD5_ASM -DAES_ASM -DVPAES_ASM -DBSAES_ASM -DWHIRLPOOL_ASM -DGHASH_ASM
OPENSSLDIR: “/etc/pki/tls”
engines: dynamic

Pay attention to the built on: line. Versions built before April 7th are vulnerable.

2.To update OpenSSL from the repositories, run:
yum -y install openssl

After updating, run openssl version -a again to confirm the newer build:
openssl version -a
OpenSSL 1.0.1e-fips 11 Feb 2013
built on: Tue Apr 8 02:39:29 UTC 2014

…

3.Be sure to manually restart any services that use OpenSSL.

Fedora

1.Check to see what your current OpenSSL version is:
openssl version -a
OpenSSL 1.0.1e-fips 11 Feb 2013
built on: Fri Dec 20 13:57:26 UTC 2013
platform: linux-x86_64
options: bn(64,64) md2(int) rc4(16x,int) des(idx,cisc,16,int) idea(int) blowfish(idx)
compiler: gcc -fPIC -DOPENSSL_PIC -DZLIB -DOPENSSL_THREADS -D_REENTRANT -DDSO_DLFCN -DHAVE_DLFCN_H -DKRB5_MIT -m64 -DL_ENDIAN -DTERMIO -Wall -O2 -g -pipe -Wall -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -fexceptions -fstack-protector-strong –param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -grecord-gcc-switches -m64 -mtune=generic -Wa,–noexecstack -DPURIFY -DOPENSSL_IA32_SSE2 -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT5 -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_GF2m -DSHA1_ASM -DSHA256_ASM -DSHA512_ASM -DMD5_ASM -DAES_ASM -DVPAES_ASM -DBSAES_ASM -DWHIRLPOOL_ASM -DGHASH_ASM
OPENSSLDIR: “/etc/pki/tls”
engines: dynamic

Pay attention to the built on: line. Versions built before April 7th are vulnerable.

2.On Fedora systems, the patched version is currently being propagated through mirrors. You can update from the repositories with the following command:
sudo yum -y install openssl

You can also directly download the patched version and install it manually. For Fedora 20 (64-bit), run the following set of commands to install the patched version:
sudo yum -y install koji
koji download-build –arch=x86_64 openssl-1.0.1e-37.fc20.1
sudo yum localinstall openssl-libs-1.0.1e-37.fc20.1.x86_64.rpm openssl-1.0.1e-37.fc20.1.x86_64.rpm

3.After updating, run openssl version -a again to confirm the newer build:
openssl version -a
OpenSSL 1.0.1e-fips 11 Feb 2013
built on: Tue Apr 8 00:32:22 UTC 2014

…

4.Be sure to manually restart any services that use OpenSSL.

Reissue Certificates

The Heartbleed security bug would allow an attacker to read a portion of the memory on an unprotected system, including private keys used in SSL key pairs. It’s suggested that you reissue all key pairs, and revoke ones made previously. This can include keys used to create SSL certificates for web and mail servers. This means new SSL certificates should be generated or purchased.

You can follow the instructions here to create a new certificate signing request (CSR) and key, or check out the Apache-specific instructions here.

Additional Security Steps

While this security flaw has only recently been discovered openly, it has existed on many servers for well over a year. This means that any third party services you use that employ SSL encryption have been vulnerable. It’s suggested that you ensure that said services patch their systems, then reset your passwords.

More Information

You may wish to consult the following resources for additional information on this topic. While these are provided in the hope that they will be useful, please note that we cannot vouch for the accuracy or timeliness of externally hosted materials.

•Heartbleed.com

cPanel, Inc. is thrilled to release cPanel & WHM software version 11.44, which will soon be available in the RELEASE tier.

cPanel & WHM 11.44 offers a transfer and restore renovation, configuration clusters, a new edition of Paper Lantern, support access, and more.

Transfer & Restore Renovation
From simple log files and reports to a continuous transfer and restore process, a series of changes to transfer and restore functionality brings widespread benefits.

Configuration Clusters
cPanel & WHM now offers configuration clustering to streamline the process of updating multiple servers, adding a powerful boost in efficiency.

Paper Lantern
With a more agile, consistent framework, Paper Lantern for cPanel & WHM 11.44 signifies progress towards user interface perfection and stunning, user-created themes.

Support Access
Grant cPanel Support Access enables customers to quickly grant server access to cPanel support staff, therefore speeding up the resolution of issues with just a few mouse clicks.

Detailed information on all cPanel & WHM 11.44 features can be found at https://documentation.cpanel.net. An overview of the latest features and benefits is also available at http://releases.cpanel.net.

In 2013, it seemed that not a week went by without at least one announcement of some kind of serious security breach. The year was a massive challenge for service providers who have faced rapidly escalating threats to their infrastructure and the security of their customers. Massive DDoS attacks, SQL injection vulnerabilities and the potentially disastrous Heartbleed vulnerability are only a few examples of major incidents to strike hosts in the past year. Equally disturbing were instances where Drupal announced a security breach of its servers and MongoHQ revealed that a hacker had breached Amazon Web Services S3 storage accounts, gaining access to several client databases.

As hackers become adept at bypassing traditional security walls and increasing sophisticated at evading detection (e.g., The New York Times incident), what role do hosting providers play in finding solutions to these problems?

The solution is for hosting providers to become security providers. Leading security experts specializing in the hosting industry will discuss this paradigm shift and answer questions in an open forum. Panel members include: Hemant Jain of Fortinet, Jeffrey Lyon of Black Lotus Communications, Steven Ciaburri of Rack911, and Vann Abernethy of NSFOCUS Inc., Shay Rapaport of Fireblade, and Piero DePaoli of Symantec.

The panel is the last scheduled educational session at HostingCon 2014, taking place on Wednesday, June 18th from 11 a.m. until noon. It’s guaranteed to be a thought-provoking and lively way to mark the end of the educational sessions. Finish up the day with a networking lunch and make your way to the Exhibit Hall for the afternoon! The floor plan for the Hall has been pretty much finalized — take a look here.

But you can’t do that unless you are registered. Luckily, there’s still time to register for this year’s HostingCon.

For all the latest HostingCon news and information, visit HostingCon – Premier Industry Conference and Trade Show for Web Hosting and Cloud Service Providers

by Frances Krug

Spammers are targeting people concerned about the aftermath of the Heartbleed bug with emails prompting users to unknowingly download malware once they run a Heartbleed bug removal tool.

According to a blog post by Symantec last week, the spam requests users run the tool that is attached to the email to clean their computer from the infection. The email warns users that although they may have changed passwords on websites they use, they are still not completely secure and should run the removal tool to ensure complete protection.

The email preys on users who don’t know much about Heartbleed, and probably only heard about it in the media coverage. Heartbleed is not malware, therefore there is no way for it to infect computers.

Heartbleed impacted OpenSSL version 1.0.1 and could expose up to 64KB of memory to a connected client or server. The issue impacted a range of companies, websites and service providers, and this week The Core Infrastructure Initiative announced that it would prioritize funding to OpenSSL to improve its security.

The subject line, “Looking for Investment Opportunities from Syria,” should raise a red flag for users, since it is in no way related to the body, and is pretty typical language used with spammy emails.

The attached file is a .docx file, but once it is opened it appears as a encrypted zip file. Once the file is extracted, users find the heartbleedbugremovaltool.exe. This downloads a keylogger in the background and a progress bar shows up on screen. A pop-up evenutally appears, notifying the user that Heartbleed was not found on their computer.

DataCenterKnowledge has more on how companies are staying ahead of future Heartbleed-like security vulnerabilities by implementing effective security policies and proactively monitoring across their platforms.

by Nicole Henderson on June 3, 2014

cPanel, Inc. is thrilled to release cPanel & WHM software version 11.44, which is now available in the CURRENT tier.

cPanel & WHM 11.44 offers a transfer and restore renovation, configuration clusters, a new edition of Paper Lantern, support access, and more.

Transfer & Restore Renovation
From simple log files and reports to a continuous transfer and restore process, a series of changes to transfer and restore functionality brings widespread benefits.

Configuration Clusters
cPanel & WHM now offers configuration clustering to streamline the process of updating multiple servers, adding a powerful boost in efficiency.

Paper Lantern
With a more agile, consistent framework, Paper Lantern for cPanel & WHM 11.44 signifies progress towards user interface perfection and stunning, user-created themes.

Support Access
Grant cPanel Support Access enables customers to quickly grant server access to cPanel support staff, therefore speeding up the resolution of issues with just a few mouse clicks.

Detailed information on all cPanel & WHM 11.44 features can be found at https://documentation.cpanel.net. An overview of the latest features and benefits is also available at http://releases.cpanel.net.

SUMMARY

cPanel, Inc. has released EasyApache 3.24.19 with PHP versions 5.5.13 and 5.4.29. This release addresses the PHP vulnerabilities CVE-2014-0237 and CVE-2014-0238 with fixes to bugs in the fileinfo extension. We encourage all PHP users to upgrade to PHP version 5.5.13 or PHP version 5.4.29.

AFFECTED VERSIONS

All versions of PHP version 5.5 before 5.5.13.

All versions of PHP version 5.4 before 5.4.29.

SECURITY RATING

The National Vulnerability Database (NIST) has given the following severity ratings to these CVEs:

CVE-2014-0237 – MEDIUM

PHP 5.5.13

Fixed bug in the fileinfo extension related to CVE-2014-0237.

PHP 5.4.29

Fixed bug in the fileinfo extension related to CVE-2014-0237.

CVE-2014-0238 – MEDIUM

PHP 5.5.13

Fixed bug in the fileinfo extension related to CVE-2014-0238.

PHP 5.4.29

Fixed bug in the fileinfo extension related to CVE-2014-0238.

SOLUTION

cPanel, Inc. has released EasyApache 3.24.19 with the updated versions of PHP 5.4 and 5.5 to correct these issues. Unless you have disabled EasyApache updates, EasyApache will include the latest versions of PHP automatically. Run EasyApache to rebuild your profile with the latest version of PHP.

REFERENCES

http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2014-0237

http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2014-0238

http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php#5.4.29

http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php#5.5.13