cs490ns - cotter1 Snort Intrusion Detection System

cs490ns - cotter2 Outline What is snort? What can it do? How is it installed? How is it configured? How is it used?

cs490ns - cotter3 History First released in 1998 by Martin Roesch Originally intended to be a lightweight intrusion detection technology. Has evolved... 3 Million downloads 225k active users.

cs490ns - cotter4 Capabilities Four modes of operation –Packet Sniffer mode –Packet Logger mode –Network Intrusion Detection Mode –Network Intrusion Prevention

Capabilities Packet Sniffer mode –Read packets (based on rules) and display on console –./snort -dev Packet Logger –Log all packets into a local log, organized into directories by IP address –./snort –dev –l./log –./snort –dev –l./log –h /24

Capabilities NIDS Mode –Scan packets for a given combination of parameters –Output options – ASCII / binary (tcpdump format) –./snort –d –l./log –h /24 –c snort.conf

cs490ns - cotter7 Snort Rule alert tcp any any -> $Home 80 (flags:S; msg:“Port 80 SYN”;) Action Field –alert, log, pass, activate, dynamic Protocol Field –tcp, udp, icmp, ip Source / Destination address and port –direction indicator Rule Options –msg, logto, id, dsize, seq, ack, flags, content, session

cs490ns - cotter8 Example Rules alert tcp any any -> /24 21 \ (msg: “attempted anonymous ftp access”; \ content: “anonymous”; offset: 5;) alert tcp any any -> any any (msg: “Null Scan”; \ flags: 0) log tcp any any <> /24 21 \ (session: printable;) alert udp any any -> / \ (msg: “Back Orifice”;)

cs490ns - cotter9 Rule Types Alert Rules Pass Rules Log Rules Safe Order: Alert, Pass, Log Efficient Order: Pass, Alert, Log

cs490ns - cotter10 Installing Snort Locating the IDS relative to network –Place Snort outside of firewall –Place Snort just inside firewall –Place Snort on critical systems (host based) Install software –Download source or binaries from snort.org Windows / Linux –Compile and/or install. /etc/snort (configuration files) /usr/sbin (executable program) /var/log/snort (typical log file directory)

cs490ns - cotter11 /etc/snort/snort.conf Serves as a default configuration –(once home network has been identified) Data Types –include (similar to programming includes) include: reference.config –preprocessor (functional modules) preprocessor frag3 –var (variables) var HOME_NET /24 –config (configure various options) config disable_tcpopt_obsolete_alerts

cs490ns - cotter12 snort.conf setup 1) Set the variables for your network 2) Configure dynamic loaded libraries 3) Configure preprocessors 4) Configure output plugins 5) Add any runtime config directives 6) Customize your rule set

cs490ns - cotter13 snort.conf setup Set the variables for your network –var HOME_NET [ /24, /24] –var EXTERNAL_NET any –var DNS_SERVERS $HOME_NET –var HTTP_SERVERS $HOME_NET –var HTTP_PORTS 80 –var ORACLE_PORTS 1521 –var RULE_PATH /etc/snort/rules

snort.conf setup Configure dynamic loaded libraries –Located in /usr/lib/snort- 2.x.x_dynamicpreprocessor libsf_dcerpc_preproc.so libsf_dcerpc_preproc.so.0 libsf_dns_preproc.so libsf_dns_preproc.so.0 libsf_ftptelnet_preproc.so libsf_ftptelnet_preproc.so.0 :

cs490ns - cotter15 snort.conf setup Configure preprocessors –preprocessor flow: stats_interval 0 hash 2 –preprocessor frag3_global: max_frags –preprocessor frag3_engine: policy first detect_anomalies –preprocessor stream4: disable_evasion_alerts –preprocessor rpc_decode: –preprocessor bo

cs490ns - cotter16 snort.conf setup Configure output plugins –output alert_syslog: LOG_AUTH LOG_ALERT –output database: log, mssql, dbname=snort \ user=snort password=test –output alert_unified: filename snort.alert, limit 128 –ruletype suspicious { type log output log_tcpdump: suspicious.log } –suspicious tcp $HOME_NET any -> $HOME_NET 6667 \ (msg:"Internal IRC Server";)

cs490ns - cotter17 snort.conf setup Add any runtime config directives –config ignore_ports: tcp : –config ignore_ports: udp 1:17 53 –config disable_decode_alerts –config disable_tcpopt_obsolete_alerts

cs490ns - cotter18 snort.conf setup Customize your rule set –include $RULE_PATH/local.rules –include $RULE_PATH/bad-traffic.rules –include $RULE_PATH/exploit.rules –include $RULE_PATH/scan.rules –include $RULE_PATH/finger.rules –include $RULE_PATH/ftp.rules (More than 50 sets of rules defined)

cs490ns - cotter19 bad-traffic rules 12 rules in test rule set alert tcp $EXTERNAL_NET any <> $HOME_NET 0 (msg:"BAD-TRAFFIC tcp port 0 traffic"; flow:stateless; classtype:misc-activity; sid:524; rev:8;) –Capture any incoming traffic to port 0 of any LAN HOME_NET machine. –More information given in signature file 524.txt

Signature 524.txt Rule: -- Sid: Summary: This event is generated when TCP traffic to port 0 is detected. This should not be seen in normal TCP communications. -- Impact: Possible reconnaisance. This may be an attempt to verify the existance of a host or hosts at a particular address or address range. -- Detailed Information: TCP traffic to port 0 is not valid under normal circumstances. an indicator of unauthorized network use, reconnaisance activity or system compromise. These rules may also generate an event due to improperly configured network devices. -- Affected Systems: Any -- Attack Scenarios: The attacker could send packets to a host with a destination port of 0. The attacker might also be using hping to verify the existance of a host as a prelude to an attack. -- Ease of Attack: Simple -- False Positives: None Known -- False Negatives: None Known -- Corrective Action: Disallow TCP traffic to port Contributors: Original rule writer unknown Sourcefire Vulnerability Research Team Nigel Houghton -- Additional References: cs490ns - cotter20

cs490ns - cotter21 Certified Rules for Snort bin/downloads.cgi Subscription User Rules –Available immediately upon release Registered User Rules –Same rules, but released with a 30 day delay Unregistered User Rules –Single set of rules for each snort release (mostly for testing purposes).

cs490ns - cotter22 Typical Installations Used in any of the configurations discussed in IDS lecture Installation may be configured with several Snort sensors –outside network –monitoring traffic just inside firewall –monitoring key servers

Inline Mode Configure Snort to receive packets from iptables rather than libpcap. Separate capability that must be explicitly installed. Adds 3 new rule types –Drop –iptables drops packet and snort logs –Reject – iptables rejects packet and snort logs –Sdrop – iptables will drop packet. No logging.

Inline Mode Start iptables –iptables –A OUTPUT –p tcp –dport –j QUEUE –Traffic is routed to QUEUE, where it can be captured by snort_inline Start Snort –snort_inline –QDc../etc/drop.conf –l /var/log/snort -Q – get packets from iptables -D – run in daemon mode -c – specify configuration file -l – specify log file

cs490ns - cotter25 Complex installations Use Snort to monitor traffic and log suspicious or dangerous traffic. Store information in binary format –Much faster than ascii storage. Store information to a database –mysql, postgresql, oracle, MS sql, ODBC –Much easier to process / analyze data Use data analysis front-ends to examine logs –Barnyard ( –BASE (Basic Analysis and Security Engine)

cs490ns - cotter26 Summary Snort is a powerful tool for monitoring network traffic for anomalies that might indicate network intrusion Can be used in several different configurations Well supported –Code Base –Rules Sets