Stock fingerd running
| finger-out (48) |  Low Risk |
Description:
The finger service or daemon was detected as running. Finger can give an attacker information, such as login accounts and trusted hosts.
Platforms Affected:
- Apple, Mac OS
- Cisco, IOS
- Compaq, Tru64
- Data General, DG/UX
- HP, HP-UX
- IBM, AIX
- IBM, OS2
- Linux, Kernel
- Microsoft, Windows 2000
- Microsoft, Windows 2003 Server
- Microsoft, Windows 95
- Microsoft, Windows 98
- Microsoft, Windows 98SE
- Microsoft, Windows Me
- Microsoft, Windows NT 4.0
- Microsoft, Windows XP
- Novell, NetWare
- SCO, SCO Unix
- SGI, IRIX
- Sun, Solaris
- Various vendors, Finger Service
- WindRiver, BSDOS
Remedy:
Disable finger, or install a finger daemon that limits the type of information provided.
Unix: Disable the finger daemon, or configure the type of information available from finger. Unix systems can use GNU finger available from the GNU finger 1.37 download site. See References.
To disable the finger daemon started from inetd:
- Edit the /etc/inetd.conf (or equivalent) file.
- Locate the line that controls the daemon.
- Type a # at the beginning of the line to comment out the daemon.
- Restart inetd.
— OR —
For more information on GNU finger, go to the GNU finger 1.37 download site. See References.
Windows: The finger service is not native to Windows, but may be present.
Note: The finger service may be included as part of another application, such as Netscape Mail Server.
CAUTION: Repeated use of finger can cause a system to become overloaded, which can cause it to stop responding. An attacker can use this susceptibility to disrupt the network.
To stop or disable the service in Windows NT:
- To permanently disable the service, click Disabled.
- To turn the service off unless manually activated by the user or a program, click Manual.
Consequences:
Obtain Information
References:
- FTP directory /pub/gnu/finger/ at prep.ai.mit.edu, GNU finger 1.37 download at ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/finger/finger-1.37.tar.gz.
- CVE-1999-0612: A version of finger is running that exposes valid user information to any entity on the network.
Reported:
Not available
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