[NMAP] Evading IDS/Firewalls
This post is a snippet from a Wiki article I am writing for http://blackhatacademy.org and is nowhere NEAR like the full thing. Keep an eye on BHA - when they reopen there will be all kinds of badassery available :D
Now this article was designed to show the BASICS of IDS/IPS/Firewall evasion using nmap. Not covering Idle/ACK and other scans yet - this is kind of a crash course into several methods.
Evasion and Stealth Techniques
Decoy Scanning Decoy Scanning is a very simple technique nmap can use for obfusticating the original source IP address of a port scan. Essentially it sends some of the probes from spoofed IP addresses that the user specify, in the hopes that they "mask" the users true IP address in the targets log files. Remember - the users IP will still be in the logs!
root@bha:~# nmap -sS -sV -Dmicrosoft.com,github.com,fbi.gov,nsa.gov,google.com target.tld
This would launch a "Stealth SYN" scan with Version Fingerprinting against "target.tld", masquerading as microsoft.com, fbi.gov, nsa.gov and google.com. Note how the decoys are used in the string: -D[Decoy1],[Decoy2] - a comma seperated list. This is the correct way to structure your decoy lists.
Now, this tactic has several glaring issues.
The users are most likely on a DSL or Cable line. This means the users IP address is going to stand out like a sore thumb as it resolves to a cable/DSL provider and NOT a large corporate/government network. So, if the user ais going to scan using Decoys, they make sure to use IP addresses from similar "internet demographics" as them. I.E: If scanning from a Cable/DSL connection, a users decoy bounces should also be DSL/Cable connections.
The other issue with Decoy scanning is that if the users Decoy's are not, in fact, online/up, the user may accidentally hoze their target. One method that has been used with success is to quickly scan a few ranges known to have home/DSL lines on them, and use the ones that are "up" as decoys.
Some firewalls and IDS systems can be evaded by the correct use of packet fragmentation. Essentially this means "splitting" your packets in an attempt to disguise your traffic. It is a somewhat-decent method when combined with other techniques, however it has been known to slow the scan down somewhat.
The following scan string is an example:
root@bha:~# nmap -sS -sV -f target.tld
This would fragment the packets sent to target.tld to some degree, and for finer grained control over the packet fragmentation you may manually set the MTU value using the --mtu <value> arguement. It is advised to experiment with this in order to find optimal settings for your scanning.
The MTU must be a multiple of 8 (i.e. a legitimate MTU value) for this to work. Otherwise nmap will just throw an error and exit.
Essentially this technique hopes that IDS/switches/firewalls will not do a great job of reassembling the packets sent, and allow "evil" packets through the filters where they are reassembled and interpreted/replied to by the target system.
Some firewall/IDS systems either log, or block, the packets sent by nmap for obvious reasons. One common way to "signature" nmap packets is the default data length, so in order to bypass filters and evade IDS systems, you can specify your own data length for the packets using the --data-length=<value> arguement.
The following scan string is an example:
root@bha:~# nmap -sS -sV --data-length=1337 target.tld
This would scan "target.tld" with packets of "length" 1337. Effectively this technique adds extra "padding" to the packet, making it look less like a scan-packet and more like a legitimate packet.
NOTE: Timing can be seen as both evasion AND/OR performance related. Staff have no doubt this will cause multiple EDITS so just leave it as-is unless you have a VERY valid reason to edit.
Timing your scans is an excellent way to lower the detection threshold you have. Fast, noisy scans tend to get detected instantly, wheras if the same scan was done incredibly slowly, it has a much smaller chance of detection.
The timing flag works like so: -T<value> where value is 0-5. There are also "key words" you can use like -T aggressive, etc. The key words are paranoid, sneaky, polite, aggressive, insane. They basically do what they say.
The following scan string is an example:
root@bha:~# nmap -sS -sV -T1 target.tld
This would launch a scan (an incredibly slow one) against target.tld. Remember, slow and sneaky is generally a lot better than loud and fast!
1. Do several "Scans" of the target. Break your scans up into chunks of "ports of interest", for example, if you wanted to map out 25 ports on a target server, break them into groups of 5 and scan each group individually with delays between the scans.
2. Layer your source-obfustication techniques. Use both decoys and timing, along with fragmentation, extra "padding", etc. The more "layers" of hiding the better.
The following scan string is an example:
root@bha:~# nmap -Dmicrosoft.com,github.com,fbi.gov,nsa.gov,google.com -sS -sV -T1 -f --mtu=24 --data-length=1227 target.tld
The above scan string would use decoys, scan EXTREMELY slowly, fragment the packets, and add padding to them to try make them look more legit.
3. While you should keep your scans slow, you should also keep your "scan time" to a minimum. Break the scan up into several smaller jobs.
Finally, remember: Do not scan any networks you do not own. The information here is so people can see HOW IDS/IPS are evaded for use in pentests or so they can try write IDS/IPS rules to detect these :)
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