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Security researchers have developed two working exploits that poison vulnerable domain name system servers, allowing attackers to redirect unwitting end users to impostor sites. What's more, the attack code has been added to Metasploit, a penetration testing tool used to test the security of computers and networks. The program, which is maintained by HD Moore, makes it easy for white hats and black hats alike to exploit vulnerable servers.

Some people have complained that Kaminsky's bug has been shamelessly hyped. We disagree. Should there be widespread exploitation of the flaw, the result would be chaos. Attackers could taint the machines relied on by millions of people. When they typed bankofamerica.com into their browser, they'd have no way of knowing whether they were being directed to the real site or one designed to steal their money. Trust on the internet, as flawed as it may be now, would completely break down.

Much of the attack code was written by |)ruid, a researcher from the Computer Academic Underground. According to Moore, it could be used like this:

1. Bad Guy probes the target DNS to see if it's vulnerable (a couple free services can do this)
2. Bad Guy picks a domain they want to hijack for users of that DNS Server
3. Bad Guy runs the bailiwicked_domain module and takes control of that domain in the cache of that server

At this point, anyone who uses that vulnerable DNS server is going to see the wrong DNS server record for the poisoned domain

The exploits are available here and here.

Currently, the exploits work only on caching servers used by ISPs and other large organizations, but Moore said they could be modified to work against client-side resolvers, which are used on desktop machines.

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More than two weeks after security researchers warned of a critical defect in the net's address lookup system, some of the world's biggest internet service providers - including AT&T, BT, Time Warner and Bell Canada - have yet to install a patch inoculating their subscribers against attacks.

According to an informal survey of Register readers, 15 ISPs failed the "Check my DNS" test (see button to the right) on the website of researcher Dan Kaminsky, who discovered the bug. Now that attack code exploiting the vulnerability has been leaked into the wild, millions of subscribers are at risk of being silently redirected to impostor sites that try to install malware or steal sensitive information. Comcast and Plusnet were the only two ISPs we found that weren't vulnerable.

Subscribers of ISPs that are still vulnerable ought to hardwire an alternate DNS server into their operating system. We're partial to OpenDNS. They've been vulnerability free since at least July 8, when Kaminsky announced the bug.

Other ISPs that were reported vulnerable include: Skybroadband, Carphone Warehouse Broadband, Opal Telecom, T-Mobile, Videotron Telecom, Roadrunner, Orange, Enventis Telecom, Earthlink, Griffin Internet and Jazztel. Virgin Media, and Demon Internet were reported as potentially being vulnerable.

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