On 19 March 2012 18:52, Ansgar Wiechers <bugtraq (at) planetcobalt (dot) net [email concealed]> wrote:
> On 2012-03-19 Dan Lynch wrote:
>>>>> New vulnerabilities will be discovered every now and then. Duh. The
>>>>> question is: do they get fixed in a timely manner?
>>>>
>>>> The fact is that "open port" is a potential attack vector because a
>>>> vulnerability may be discovered in the application.
>>>
>>> I'm sorry to have to break this to you, but as long as you're using
>>> TCP/IP you need an open port if you want to be able to establish a
>>> connection.
>> But it's clear that *any* open port represents additional risk. If
>> that open port is not required for the function of the system (as
>> terminal services/RDP generally is not), it's an unnecessary risk
>> (however convenient it might be). And that risk is compounded if that
>> port is running by necessity with system level permissions, and
>> offering up a login screen that people use with their admin
>> credentials. Also, terminal services is dependent on the loading of
>> yet another service: RPC.

This is my point exactly - any port represent an attack vector. This
is not to say that you should not have open ports (you cannot operate
without ports), but rather, you should congnisant of the fact that if
a vulnerability is identified in the listening application, you may be
vulnerabile.

Software restrictions solutions (i.e AppLocker) are not a panacea, but
they CAN protect you to a certain extent. The article from SANS
provide a "good" (not comprehensive) analysis of their limitations:
http://www.sans.org/reading_room/whitepapers/sysadmin/application-whitel
isting-panacea-propaganda_33599

Its correct that assuming the RDP service is running in the context of
system and is exploited by malware, you are truly buggered. However
you can mitigate this by employing least privileges. RDP should be
running in the local context (not Domain Admin or System) with the
minimum set of privileges required.

But you cannot stop there, if using Windows, look at DEP for buffer
overflow protection and a reasonable HIPS.

The key is defence in depth and this should be applied for all
externally facing system.

>> For these reasons, I don't believe the concern expressed over exposing
>> RDP to the internet is "a massive generalisation". I think that
>> concern is clearly justified.
>
> Indeed. And I didn't write anything about "massive generalisation". I
> did, however, want to point out that one newly discovered vulnerability
> is no proof whatsoever for a claim about unpatched vulnerabilities.
>
>> RDP is not of the same risk level as, say NTP.
>
> I'd argue that the complexity of VPN (or SSH) services is closer to RDP
> than to NTP, though. ;)
>
>> And if, when we point out that risk, CEOs then see security officers
>> as "the enemy", it's because the security folks have failed to (1)
>> account for the value in the convenience offered by things like RDP,
>> (2) reasonably evaluate that value against the risk, and (3) consider
>> what actions, configurations and technologies are available to
>> mitigate the risk.
>
> No argument there. And FTR: personally I do prefer using RDP through
> encrypted tunnels, even though RDP itself is an encrypted protocol.
>
> Regards
> Ansgar Wiechers
> --
> "All vulnerabilities deserve a public fear period prior to patches
> becoming available."
> --Jason Coombs on Bugtraq
>
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