CERT Advisory: Public Alert about the Code Red worm

[aideen]

Just in case you haven't see this:

 

 

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We the CERT/CC, along with other organizations listed below are

jointly publishing this alert about a serious threat to the Internet

 

For Immediate Release: 3:00 PM EDT July 29, 2001

 

A Very Real and Present Threat to the Internet: July 31 Deadline For Action

 

Summary: The Code Red Worm and mutations of the worm pose a continued

and serious threat to Internet users. Immediate action is required to

combat this threat. Users who have deployed software that is

vulnerable to the worm (Microsoft IIS Versions 4.0 and 5.0) must

install, if they have not done so already, a vital security patch.

 

How Big Is The Problem?

 

On July 19, the Code Red worm infected more than 250,000 systems in

just 9 hours. The worm scans the Internet, identifies vulnerable

systems, and infects these systems by installing itself. Each newly

installed worm joins all the others causing the rate of scanning to

grow rapidly. This uncontrolled growth in scanning directly decreases

the speed of the Internet and can cause sporadic but widespread

outages among all types of systems. Code Red is likely to start

spreading again on July 31st, 2001 8:00 PM EDT and has mutated so that

it may be even more dangerous. This spread has the potential to

disrupt business and personal use of the Internet for applications

such as electronic commerce, email and entertainment.

 

Who Must Act?

 

Every organization or person who has Windows NT or Windows 2000

systems AND the IIS web server software may be vulnerable. IIS is

installed automatically for many applications. If you are not certain,

follow the instructions attached to determine whether you are running

IIS 4.0 or 5.0. If you are using Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows

Me, there is no action that you need to take in response to this

alert.

 

What To Do If You Are Vulnerable?

 

a. To rid your machine of the current worm, reboot your computer.

b. To protect your system from re-infection: Install Microsoft?s patch for the Code Red vulnerability problem:

* Windows NT version 4.0: http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/Release.asp?ReleaseID=30833

* Windows 2000 Professional, Server and Advanced Server: http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/Release.asp?ReleaseID=30800

 

Step-by-step instructions for these actions are posted at

www.digitalisland.com/codered

 

Microsoft's description of the patch and its installation, and the

vulnerability it addresses is posted at:

 

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/MS01-033.asp

 

Because of the importance of this threat, this alert is being made

jointly by:

 

Microsoft

The National Infrastructure Protection Center

Federal Computer Incident Response Center (FedCIRC)

Information Technology Association of America (ITAA)

CERT Coordination Center

SANS Institute

Internet Security Systems

Internet Security Alliance

 

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