[Infowarrior] - Major DNS vulnerability announced

[Richard Forno]

http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/800113

Vulnerability Note VU#800113
Multiple DNS implementations vulnerable to cache poisoning

Overview

Deficiencies in the DNS protocol and common DNS implementations  
facilitate DNS cache poisoning attacks.

I. Description

The Domain Name System (DNS) is responsible for translating host names  
to IP addresses (and vice versa) and is critical for the normal  
operation of internet-connected systems. DNS cache poisoning  
(sometimes referred to as cache pollution) is an attack technique that  
allows an attacker to introduce forged DNS information into the cache  
of a caching nameserver. DNS cache poisoning is not a new concept; in  
fact, there are published articles that describe a number of inherent  
deficiencies in the DNS protocol and defects in common DNS  
implementations that facilitate DNS cache poisoning. The following are  
examples of these deficiencies and defects:

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II. Impact

An attacker with the ability to conduct a successful cache poisoning  
attack can cause a nameserver's clients to contact the incorrect, and  
possibly malicious, hosts for particular services. Consequently, web  
traffic, email, and other important network data can be redirected to  
systems under the attacker's control.

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http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/800113