🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Nov18.202710.9652@mcs.kent.edu> keithf@Nimitz.mcs.kent.edu (Keith Fuller) writes:
>
> I heard that early UNIX systems came with a Trojan Horse.
> As I remember, the C compiler would compile one of the utilities
> in a way that would give a knowledgable person entry into any UNIX
> system.
> 
> Does anyone know anything about this?
> Like some other people who are asking such questions,
> I am indeed writing a term paper on UNIX security.
> 
As I remember it, cc used to recognize a peice of code as being
from the login program.  When you compiled login, the resulting
executable would have a back door login in it.

You could log in as "bell" and get in as root.

-- 
   _/   _/  _/_/_/_/  _/    _/  _/_/_/  _/    _/
  _/_/_/   _/_/      _/    _/    _/    _/_/  _/     K e v i n  W a l s h
 _/ _/    _/          _/ _/     _/    _/  _/_/      kev@dsbc.icl.co.uk
_/   _/  _/_/_/_/      _/    _/_/_/  _/    _/

In article <1992Nov18.202710.9652@mcs.kent.edu> keithf@Nimitz.mcs.kent.edu (Keith Fuller) writes:

   I heard that early UNIX systems came with a Trojan Horse.
   As I remember, the C compiler would compile one of the utilities
   in a way that would give a knowledgable person entry into any UNIX
   system.

   Does anyone know anything about this?

This is described in "Reflections on Trusting Trust", the ACM Turing
Award lecture by Ken Thompson, which appeared in Communications  of
the ACM, Vol. 27 # 8, August 1984. This should be required reading for
every CS student.

   Like some other people who are asking such questions,
   I am indeed writing a term paper on UNIX security.

Look at:
Farrow, _Unix System Security_, Addison-Wesley 1991
Garfinkel and Spafford, _Practical Unix Security_, O'Reilly &
Associates, 1991.

Sufficient references in both to get you as deep into the literature
as you have time for. If you want to make your paper stand out, you
might want to actually implement some of the suggestions instead of
just digesting and restating.

-- Craig Presson

In message <956@dsbc.icl.co.uk> kev@dsbc.icl.co.uk (Kevin Walsh) writes:
>In article <1992Nov18.202710.9652@mcs.kent.edu> keithf@Nimitz.mcs.kent.edu (Keith Fuller) writes:
>
>> I heard that early UNIX systems came with a Trojan Horse.
>> As I remember, the C compiler would compile one of the utilities
>> in a way that would give a knowledgable person entry into any UNIX
>> system.
> 
> As I remember it, cc used to recognize a peice of code as being
> from the login program.  When you compiled login, the resulting
> executable would have a back door login in it.

Well, I don't know if that was ever implemented and I'd be very surprised if it
ever made it out of the lab if it was. 

This means of attack was discussed by Dennis Ritchie in an early papaer (mid-70's) 
on UNIX security as an option that's available to would-be-crackers with source code. 
If I remember correctly, the paper was distributed with the Version 7 manual set. 

-- 
Steve McDowell             . . . . o o o o o 		Opinions are 
Exlog, Inc.	                  _____      o     	mine, not my 
mcdowell@exlog.com      _____====  ]OO|_n_n__][.    	employers..
		       [_________]_|__|________)<   

In article <1992Nov19.194057.19996@exlog.com> mcdowell@exlog.com (Steve McDowell) writes:
>
>In message <956@dsbc.icl.co.uk> kev@dsbc.icl.co.uk (Kevin Walsh) writes:
>>In article <1992Nov18.202710.9652@mcs.kent.edu> keithf@Nimitz.mcs.kent.edu (Keith Fuller) writes:
>>
>>> I heard that early UNIX systems came with a Trojan Horse.
>>> As I remember, the C compiler would compile one of the utilities
>>> in a way that would give a knowledgable person entry into any UNIX
>>> system.
>> 
>> As I remember it, cc used to recognize a peice of code as being
>> from the login program.  When you compiled login, the resulting
>> executable would have a back door login in it.
>
>Well, I don't know if that was ever implemented and I'd be very surprised if it
>ever made it out of the lab if it was. 
>
>This means of attack was discussed by Dennis Ritchie in an early papaer (mid-70's) 
>on UNIX security as an option that's available to would-be-crackers with source code. 
>If I remember correctly, the paper was distributed with the Version 7 manual set. 

I remember reading somewhere aboit this.  As I recall it, in addition to the 
cc program looking for the login code it would also look for a recompilation
of the cc program itself.  This way, as people would become suspisious and 
recompile the compiler with clean source, it would include the code to 
look for the login code.

I though that the code spread outside of the Bell Labs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gus Estrella   - Groupe Bull Worldwide Information Systems
--------------------------------------------------------------------------