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  3. Our server is hacked: foreign addresses in china, finland, france etc

Our server is hacked: foreign addresses in china, finland, france etc

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  • Z ZeZaung

    Hello there

    Evidently, we got hacked.

    Our instance provider has let us know that we have abuse traffic emanating from our machine. We've monitored foreign addreses and know, for sure, the instance is compromised.

    Question for the cloudron's so-called turnkey security team: What can we do to protect ourselves? This is especially important to get an answer from you since we're incapable of installing modest network or Os-level security provisions within the instance without interfering with cloudron itself.

    We understand Cloudron literature suggests the following

    Security is a core feature of Cloudron and we continue to push out updates to tighten the Cloudron firewall's security policy. Our goal is that Cloudron users should be able to rely on Cloudron being secure out of the box without having to do manual configuration.
    

    Can the turnkey security team give us some advice on software we can install (that still works with cloudron) to deal with this? A lot of our preferred security & hardening measures are not doable without interfering with cloudron itself

    Before our team goes through the onerous process of creating a new instance and backing up these apps individually or resetting them all together, we want to know what security measures can be implemented on the second time around, so we aren't wasting time after the fact.

    A simple netstat and awk monitoring program shows unique hits from foreign addresses in countries such as China, finland, and France, all on strange ports certainly not associated with our deployed applications.

    Considering the restrictive nature of 3rd party installations of software on a OS level for the master control plane instance we are hoping cloudron's turnkey security team can get back to us promptly. the current state of things suggests we can't rely on cloudron as a platform for production grade loads or traffic.

    BrutalBirdieB Offline
    BrutalBirdieB Offline
    BrutalBirdie
    Partner
    wrote on last edited by
    #2

    @ZeZaung
    Could you please explain what got hacked?
    Because the statement:

    foreign addresses in china, finland, france etc

    can be expected for a public server.

    Our instance provider has let us know that we have abuse traffic emanating from our machine. We've monitored foreign addreses and know, for sure, the instance is compromised.

    What exactly was happening? This is all so vague.

    Can the turnkey security team give us some advice on software we can install (that still works with cloudron) to deal with this? A lot of our preferred security & hardening measures are not doable without interfering with cloudron itself

    To give advise or investigate it would be tremendously helpful to know what happened.
    Do you have:

    • logs
    • statements from the provider

    Did the server get compromised on the root level, was custom software running?
    An App level?


    Did you perhaps run an the adguard app and did not secure it properly, and it got used for a reflection attack?

    🤷
    Please share more details.

    Like my work? Consider donating a drink. Cheers!

    Z 1 Reply Last reply
    5
    • BrutalBirdieB BrutalBirdie

      @ZeZaung
      Could you please explain what got hacked?
      Because the statement:

      foreign addresses in china, finland, france etc

      can be expected for a public server.

      Our instance provider has let us know that we have abuse traffic emanating from our machine. We've monitored foreign addreses and know, for sure, the instance is compromised.

      What exactly was happening? This is all so vague.

      Can the turnkey security team give us some advice on software we can install (that still works with cloudron) to deal with this? A lot of our preferred security & hardening measures are not doable without interfering with cloudron itself

      To give advise or investigate it would be tremendously helpful to know what happened.
      Do you have:

      • logs
      • statements from the provider

      Did the server get compromised on the root level, was custom software running?
      An App level?


      Did you perhaps run an the adguard app and did not secure it properly, and it got used for a reflection attack?

      🤷
      Please share more details.

      Z Offline
      Z Offline
      ZeZaung
      wrote on last edited by
      #3

      @BrutalBirdie

      Answers to your question.

      Could you please explain what got hacked?

      The VPS itself has been hacked and an unknown process emanating from this IP has been detected by our cloud provider

      can be expected for a public server.

      I am telling you that connections from all these different hosts is unconnected and not explainable, no/

      Our instance provider has let us know that we have abuse traffic emanating from our machine. We've monitored foreign addreses and know, for sure, the instance is compromised.

      What exactly was happening? This is all so vague.

      See below

      Do you have:

      • logs
      • statements from the provider
        See below
      Hello,
      
      Here is a sample of the traffic that was detected per your request.
      
      -- Traffic excerpt below --
      
      Reported-From: root@dascos.info
      Report-ID: 1676447666@jeeg
      Category: abuse
      Report-Type: login-attack
      Service: 404trap
      User-Agent: csf v14.17
      Date: 2023-02-15T08:54:26+0100
      Source:(OUR.IP.WAS.HERE)
      Source-Type: ipv4
      Attachment: text/plain
      Schema-URL: https://download.configserver.com/abuse_login-attack_0.2.json
      
      (OUR.IP.WAS.HERE) 172.16.0.50 nolodapria.it [15/Feb/2023:08:54:17 +0100] GET /?author=161 HTTP/2.0 404
      (OUR.IP.WAS.HERE) 172.16.0.50 nolodapria.it [15/Feb/2023:08:54:18 +0100] GET /?author=162 HTTP/2.0 404
      (OUR.IP.WAS.HERE) 172.16.0.50 nolodapria.it [15/Feb/2023:08:54:19 +0100] GET /?author=163 HTTP/2.0 404
      (OUR.IP.WAS.HERE).16.0.50 nolodapria.it [15/Feb/2023:08:54:20 +0100] GET /?author=164 HTTP/2.0 404
      
      -- Traffic excerpt above --
      
      Please review and resolve the abuse.
      
      We will be forced to power down this instance if we do not receive an update within 24 hours.
      

      This was one of their warnings. We have done some preliminary investigation via netstat and rootkit searches and can provide logs to you. Who do we email?

      Can you help us differentiate the traffic we are seeing to discern what processes are responsible for this and where the security compromise is arising from within the operating system? A lot of our diagnostic tools we can not install without interfering with cloudron.

      Did you perhaps run an the adguard app and did not secure it properly, and it got used for a reflection attack?
      Sorry no

      Please let us know who to send this info to. We will capture logs over hte past 20 mins or so in a few files.

      BrutalBirdieB 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • Z ZeZaung

        @BrutalBirdie

        Answers to your question.

        Could you please explain what got hacked?

        The VPS itself has been hacked and an unknown process emanating from this IP has been detected by our cloud provider

        can be expected for a public server.

        I am telling you that connections from all these different hosts is unconnected and not explainable, no/

        Our instance provider has let us know that we have abuse traffic emanating from our machine. We've monitored foreign addreses and know, for sure, the instance is compromised.

        What exactly was happening? This is all so vague.

        See below

        Do you have:

        • logs
        • statements from the provider
          See below
        Hello,
        
        Here is a sample of the traffic that was detected per your request.
        
        -- Traffic excerpt below --
        
        Reported-From: root@dascos.info
        Report-ID: 1676447666@jeeg
        Category: abuse
        Report-Type: login-attack
        Service: 404trap
        User-Agent: csf v14.17
        Date: 2023-02-15T08:54:26+0100
        Source:(OUR.IP.WAS.HERE)
        Source-Type: ipv4
        Attachment: text/plain
        Schema-URL: https://download.configserver.com/abuse_login-attack_0.2.json
        
        (OUR.IP.WAS.HERE) 172.16.0.50 nolodapria.it [15/Feb/2023:08:54:17 +0100] GET /?author=161 HTTP/2.0 404
        (OUR.IP.WAS.HERE) 172.16.0.50 nolodapria.it [15/Feb/2023:08:54:18 +0100] GET /?author=162 HTTP/2.0 404
        (OUR.IP.WAS.HERE) 172.16.0.50 nolodapria.it [15/Feb/2023:08:54:19 +0100] GET /?author=163 HTTP/2.0 404
        (OUR.IP.WAS.HERE).16.0.50 nolodapria.it [15/Feb/2023:08:54:20 +0100] GET /?author=164 HTTP/2.0 404
        
        -- Traffic excerpt above --
        
        Please review and resolve the abuse.
        
        We will be forced to power down this instance if we do not receive an update within 24 hours.
        

        This was one of their warnings. We have done some preliminary investigation via netstat and rootkit searches and can provide logs to you. Who do we email?

        Can you help us differentiate the traffic we are seeing to discern what processes are responsible for this and where the security compromise is arising from within the operating system? A lot of our diagnostic tools we can not install without interfering with cloudron.

        Did you perhaps run an the adguard app and did not secure it properly, and it got used for a reflection attack?
        Sorry no

        Please let us know who to send this info to. We will capture logs over hte past 20 mins or so in a few files.

        BrutalBirdieB Offline
        BrutalBirdieB Offline
        BrutalBirdie
        Partner
        wrote on last edited by
        #4

        @ZeZaung
        please provide as many details as possible to support@cloudron.io

        Like my work? Consider donating a drink. Cheers!

        Z 1 Reply Last reply
        1
        • BrutalBirdieB BrutalBirdie

          @ZeZaung
          please provide as many details as possible to support@cloudron.io

          Z Offline
          Z Offline
          ZeZaung
          wrote on last edited by
          #5

          thanks, we'll be in toch

          BrutalBirdieB 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • girishG Offline
            girishG Offline
            girish
            Staff
            wrote on last edited by girish
            #6

            Yes, please send a mail to support@cloudron.io with more information. I am not really sure what was compromised or how things were compromised from your report. There is nothing inherently wrong with a server contacting china/finland/france depending on what software you have installed. If you can tell us what additional security measure you want to put in place , we can give suggestions there as well , so that it doesn't interfere with Cloudron.

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • Z ZeZaung

              thanks, we'll be in toch

              BrutalBirdieB Offline
              BrutalBirdieB Offline
              BrutalBirdie
              Partner
              wrote on last edited by
              #7

              @ZeZaung also I highly doubt you made a disk image of the server for forensic analytics, right?

              Like my work? Consider donating a drink. Cheers!

              Z L 2 Replies Last reply
              0
              • BrutalBirdieB BrutalBirdie

                @ZeZaung also I highly doubt you made a disk image of the server for forensic analytics, right?

                Z Offline
                Z Offline
                ZeZaung
                wrote on last edited by
                #8

                @BrutalBirdie Would a copy of a file generated at /var/backups suffice?

                BrutalBirdieB 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • Z ZeZaung

                  @BrutalBirdie Would a copy of a file generated at /var/backups suffice?

                  BrutalBirdieB Offline
                  BrutalBirdieB Offline
                  BrutalBirdie
                  Partner
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #9

                  @ZeZaung Please provide as many information as possible to support@cloudron.io

                  • VPS Provider
                  • OS Used (Version)
                  • was ssh for root enabled with a weak password
                  • what cloudron version was running
                  • what apps where running
                  • logs of the apps
                  • logs of the system

                  Provide as many details as possible.

                  Like my work? Consider donating a drink. Cheers!

                  Z 2 Replies Last reply
                  2
                  • BrutalBirdieB BrutalBirdie

                    @ZeZaung Please provide as many information as possible to support@cloudron.io

                    • VPS Provider
                    • OS Used (Version)
                    • was ssh for root enabled with a weak password
                    • what cloudron version was running
                    • what apps where running
                    • logs of the apps
                    • logs of the system

                    Provide as many details as possible.

                    Z Offline
                    Z Offline
                    ZeZaung
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #10

                    @BrutalBirdie
                    How do I tell which version of cloudron we're running?

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • BrutalBirdieB BrutalBirdie

                      @ZeZaung Please provide as many information as possible to support@cloudron.io

                      • VPS Provider
                      • OS Used (Version)
                      • was ssh for root enabled with a weak password
                      • what cloudron version was running
                      • what apps where running
                      • logs of the apps
                      • logs of the system

                      Provide as many details as possible.

                      Z Offline
                      Z Offline
                      ZeZaung
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #11

                      @BrutalBirdie Also, which system logs would be most appropriate?

                      BrutalBirdieB 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • Z ZeZaung

                        @BrutalBirdie Also, which system logs would be most appropriate?

                        BrutalBirdieB Offline
                        BrutalBirdieB Offline
                        BrutalBirdie
                        Partner
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #12

                        @ZeZaung like I said, a full disk image for forensic analysis would be best.

                        You can determine the Cloudron version from the latest backup made, since the newest backup included the box_X.Y.Z.tar.gz

                        If you can provide everything that you have from that system that would be best.

                        Like my work? Consider donating a drink. Cheers!

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • andreasduerenA Offline
                          andreasduerenA Offline
                          andreasdueren
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #13

                          Piggybacking on this thread: I was wondering for a while about enabling 2fa for SSH. would this interfere with cloudron?

                          jdaviescoatesJ BrutalBirdieB P 3 Replies Last reply
                          2
                          • andreasduerenA andreasdueren

                            Piggybacking on this thread: I was wondering for a while about enabling 2fa for SSH. would this interfere with cloudron?

                            jdaviescoatesJ Offline
                            jdaviescoatesJ Offline
                            jdaviescoates
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #14

                            @andreasdueren said in Our server is hacked: foreign addresses in china, finland, france etc:

                            I was wondering for a while about enabling 2fa for SSH. would this interfere with cloudron?

                            I shouldn't think so.

                            Personally I never have login with a password enabled and only have login via SHA public/ private keys enabled. Not sure what benefit 2FA would have in that case, but I'm presuming you've got a root password?

                            I use Cloudron with Gandi & Hetzner

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            1
                            • andreasduerenA andreasdueren

                              Piggybacking on this thread: I was wondering for a while about enabling 2fa for SSH. would this interfere with cloudron?

                              BrutalBirdieB Offline
                              BrutalBirdieB Offline
                              BrutalBirdie
                              Partner
                              wrote on last edited by BrutalBirdie
                              #15

                              @andreasdueren I am running all cloudron servers with root on complete lockdown.
                              This even blocks default support access for the staff, if you enabled it.

                              I also use normal ssh keys for the designated sudo user and also ed25519-sk and ecdsa-sk ssh keys for 2FA via Yubikey.
                              This works with no issues.

                              Like my work? Consider donating a drink. Cheers!

                              andreasduerenA 1 Reply Last reply
                              3
                              • BrutalBirdieB BrutalBirdie

                                @ZeZaung also I highly doubt you made a disk image of the server for forensic analytics, right?

                                L Offline
                                L Offline
                                LoudLemur
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #16

                                @BrutalBirdie Does Cloudron have a "click to create disk image" button?

                                BrutalBirdieB 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • L LoudLemur

                                  @BrutalBirdie Does Cloudron have a "click to create disk image" button?

                                  BrutalBirdieB Offline
                                  BrutalBirdieB Offline
                                  BrutalBirdie
                                  Partner
                                  wrote on last edited by BrutalBirdie
                                  #17

                                  @LoudLemur a disk image is a complete bit to bit copy to a file of the whole drive.
                                  There is no way a software running on the same drive and at the same time that can create such an image, since it would recursively write it self into infinity.

                                  For that you need a live boot and create it yourself with dd or a tool like clonzilla.

                                  For more details: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/disk_cloning

                                  Like my work? Consider donating a drink. Cheers!

                                  L 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • andreasduerenA andreasdueren

                                    Piggybacking on this thread: I was wondering for a while about enabling 2fa for SSH. would this interfere with cloudron?

                                    P Offline
                                    P Offline
                                    privsec
                                    wrote on last edited by privsec
                                    #18

                                    @andreasdueren said in Our server is hacked: foreign addresses in china, finland, france etc:

                                    Piggybacking on this thread: I was wondering for a while about enabling 2fa for SSH. would this interfere with cloudron?

                                    @jdaviescoates said in Our server is hacked: foreign addresses in china, finland, france etc:

                                    @andreasdueren said in Our server is hacked: foreign addresses in china, finland, france etc:

                                    I was wondering for a while about enabling 2fa for SSH. would this interfere with cloudron?

                                    I shouldn't think so.

                                    Personally I never have login with a password enabled and only have login via SHA public/ private keys enabled. Not sure what benefit 2FA would have in that case, but I'm presuming you've got a root password?

                                    I have all accounts require username, password, SSH with a key and 2FA

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    1
                                    • BrutalBirdieB BrutalBirdie

                                      @LoudLemur a disk image is a complete bit to bit copy to a file of the whole drive.
                                      There is no way a software running on the same drive and at the same time that can create such an image, since it would recursively write it self into infinity.

                                      For that you need a live boot and create it yourself with dd or a tool like clonzilla.

                                      For more details: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/disk_cloning

                                      L Offline
                                      L Offline
                                      LoudLemur
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #19

                                      Thanks. For a cloned disk image to be useful, wouldn't it also have to be very recent, too? Repeatedly cloning the entire disk and then archiving these images would be resource intensive.

                                      Perhaps information from btrfs or ZFS might be useful, if they were the file system.

                                      @BrutalBirdie said in Our server is hacked: foreign addresses in china, finland, france etc:

                                      @LoudLemur a disk image is a complete bit to bit copy to a file of the whole drive.
                                      There is no way a software running on the same drive and at the same time that can create such an image, since it would recursively write it self into infinity.

                                      For that you need a live boot and create it yourself with dd or a tool like clonzilla.

                                      For more details: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/disk_cloning

                                      BrutalBirdieB 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • L LoudLemur

                                        Thanks. For a cloned disk image to be useful, wouldn't it also have to be very recent, too? Repeatedly cloning the entire disk and then archiving these images would be resource intensive.

                                        Perhaps information from btrfs or ZFS might be useful, if they were the file system.

                                        @BrutalBirdie said in Our server is hacked: foreign addresses in china, finland, france etc:

                                        @LoudLemur a disk image is a complete bit to bit copy to a file of the whole drive.
                                        There is no way a software running on the same drive and at the same time that can create such an image, since it would recursively write it self into infinity.

                                        For that you need a live boot and create it yourself with dd or a tool like clonzilla.

                                        For more details: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/disk_cloning

                                        BrutalBirdieB Offline
                                        BrutalBirdieB Offline
                                        BrutalBirdie
                                        Partner
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #20

                                        @LoudLemur yes full disk images are regularly as big as the disk it self.
                                        So if you got a 1TB disk the Disk Image will be 1TB.
                                        Yes you could cut empty space which is unused.

                                        When a system is compromised, normally you shutdown the system, create a disk image and then format the server and setup new.
                                        Then this disk image can be used for later analytics.

                                        Like my work? Consider donating a drink. Cheers!

                                        humptydumptyH 1 Reply Last reply
                                        3
                                        • BrutalBirdieB BrutalBirdie

                                          @LoudLemur yes full disk images are regularly as big as the disk it self.
                                          So if you got a 1TB disk the Disk Image will be 1TB.
                                          Yes you could cut empty space which is unused.

                                          When a system is compromised, normally you shutdown the system, create a disk image and then format the server and setup new.
                                          Then this disk image can be used for later analytics.

                                          humptydumptyH Offline
                                          humptydumptyH Offline
                                          humptydumpty
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #21

                                          @BrutalBirdie on a vps, is a server snapshot the equivalent to a full disk image and can it be used for analytics?

                                          BrutalBirdieB 1 Reply Last reply
                                          1
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