Shellshock (Software Bug) – What is it and how is it dangerous?
Few months ago, there was a news of technical bug hitting the computers and affecting the data , are you aware about that ?If no, here is a complete detail of that bug.
What is a Shellshock and how does it attacks ?
A bug, commonly known as the “Bash bug” or “Shellshock” got its name from the place where it attacks. It affects the system who basically runs Linux or Unix operating system.
ShellShock
In system running Linux or Unix there is a software installed by the name of Bash whose main task is to act as an interpreter and allows users to enter commands in simple text form which is interpreted by Bash and then run on the operating system. Bash also run commands passed to it by applications and in some cases allows environment variables, which are dynamic values affecting the way processes are run on a computer. An attacker attaches malicious code to the environment variable, which will run as soon as received by the system.
Where Shellshok Virus Attacks and its Affects
This bug basically attacks Linux and Unix system where Bash is installed. This bug allow an attacker to steal data from an infected computer plus allow it to to take control and make changes to the attacked devices.
How Shellshok it Exploits System ?
Running an Command-With Bash Vulnerability
This bug can be exploited by an attacker by simply forcing an application to end harmful environment variable to Bash. The attack basically takes place through web servers which make use of Common Gateway Interface (CGI) as it uses CGI to send malicious variable to the web server as it very well know that the server will use Bash to interpret the variable and thus the harmful command that was attached to it will also be run by it and this is how attack took place and once it enters the firewall it can do anything serious like stealing passwords, infecting computers on the network and altering files and so on.
How to prevent Shellshok Virus Attack ?
This bug is mostly dangerous for website owners and those who run their business through websites as it may end up stealing and getting hold on your critical data so it is always advised to apply available patches to the software to limit the attack and it’s consequences.
Watch out this video on : How to patch Atlantis Computing’s ILIO to prevent Linux Shellshock security vulnerabilities?
