Re: Italian Fastweb "La Mozzerella" FTP client

[Bruce Perens <bruce@perens.com>]

Thanks for setting me straight.

This was coming in on my backup DSL, which is only 128K bits and which
I have configured to get the FTP traffic for the huge US map database so
that the main (768K bit) DSL is free for the web server, VoIP, and other
activities. It would have been more easily tolerated on a more powerful
system with a higher speed connection.

I have asked the upstream maintainer of vsftpd to make it a configuration
file option to hang up on clients that send repeated PORT commands
without any intervening file transfer. That way, cooperative sysadmins
can enable that feature, rather than being open to it at all times.

I'll re-enable that address as soon as I have time to hack my copy of
vsftpd.

	Thanks

	Bruce

On Sat, Jan 18, 2003 at 03:48:13PM +0100, Leonardo Boselli wrote:
> Mozzarella is not an FTP client.
> fastweb is a provider that put all their customer behind PAT.
> Someone discovere a failure in the work of the routers and so 
> activated a server by opening the data port toward an FTP server.
> This way an incoming port is always open toward an host in hat 
> network.
> The article clearly state that the job has to be done in cooperation 
> with the administrator of the remote server involved in the activity, 
> so he can avoid the problem you had (most likely using a machine 
> with the ftp server actrive, but without real ftp traffic)
> Likely someone has used YOUR server without asking yoiur 
> authorization, hende the DoS .
> You should remove the block to that host since it is the common 
> address for an entire borough !!!!
> Actually the ten connection activated per second is not a bug but 
> an intenbtional feature of the program.
> 
> On 18 Jan 2003, at 5:50, Bruce Perens wrote:
> > I have a problem that needs translation. In 
> > http://www.s0ftpj.org/bfi/online/bfi10/BFi10-13.html there is an
> > explanation and source for an FTP client to work around some
> > complication of the Italian Fastweb service. This client will send
> > PORT commands in an endless loop when it connects to my system. I'm
> > running the vsftpd server from unstable. I can't read the paper, but
> > the source is clear enough.
> 
> --
> Leonardo Boselli
> Nucleo Informatico e Telematico del Dipartimento Ingegneria Civile
> Universita` di Firenze , V. S. Marta 3 - I-50139 Firenze
> tel +39 0554796431 cell +39 3488605348 fax +39 055495333
> http://www.dicea.unifi.it/~leo