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Smurfable Linux Kernel



Hi list,

A couple of months ago I pointed out to the Linux Kernel networking maintainers an oversight which caused the kernel to be vulnerable to some form of smurf attack.

The problem lay in the kernel's inability to ignore icmp timestamp broadcast requests, thus IP networks with Linux boxes on board could lend themselves to possible DoS attacks.

The problem was fixed straight away and is now missing from the 2.6.13 branch. Described misbehavior can now be controlled via icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts sysctl.

- Tomek