6. Firewall - DDoS Protection
6.1 Firewall, CSF Installation
CODE wget http://www.configserver.com/free/csf.tgz
tar -xzf csf.tgz
cd csf
In order to install csf your server needs to have some ipt modules
enabled. csftest is a perl script and it comes with csf. You can check
those mudules with it.
CODE ./csftest.pl
The output should be like this:
./csftest.pl
Testing ip_tables/iptable_filter...OK
Testing ipt_LOG...OK
Testing ipt_multiport/xt_multiport...OK
Testing ipt_REJECT...OK
Testing ipt_state/xt_state...OK
Testing ipt_limit/xt_limit...OK
Testing ipt_recent...OK
Testing ipt_owner...OK
Testing iptable_nat/ipt_REDIRECT...OK
Don't worry if you don't have all those mudules enabled, csf will work if
you didn't get any FATAL errors at the end of the output.
Now, get to installation
CODE ./install.sh
You will have to edit csf.conf file. It's located here:
CODE /etc/csf/csf.conf
You need to edit it like this:
Testing = "0"
And you need to configure open ports in csf.conf or you won't be able to
access these ports. In most cases it should be configured like this if
you are using cP/WHM. If you are running something on some other port
you will have to enable it here. If you changed SSH port you will have
to add a new port here:
# Allow incoming TCP ports
TCP_IN = "20,21,22,25,53,80,110,143,443,465,587,993,995,207 7,2078,2082,2083,2086,2087,2095,2096"
# Allow outgoing TCP ports
TCP_OUT = "20,21,22,25,37,43,53,80,110,113,443,587,873,2087, 2089,2703"
6.2) CSF Connection Limit
There is in csf.conf CT option, configure it like this
CT_LIMIT = "200"
It means every IP with more than 200 connections is going to be blocked.
CT_PERMANENT = "1"
IP will blocked permanenty
CT_BLOCK_TIME = "1800"
IP will be blocked 1800 secs(1800 secs = 30 mins)
CT_INTERVAL = "60"
Set this to the the number of seconds between connection tracking scans.
After csf.conf editing you need to restart csf
root@server [~# service csf restart
6.3) SYN Cookies
Edit the /etc/sysctl.conf file and add the following line in order to enable SYN cookies protection:
# Enable TCP SYN Cookie Protection
net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies = 1
CODE service network restart
6.4 CSF as security testing tool
CSF has an option "Server Security Check". Go to WHM - Plugins - CSF -
Test Server Security. You will see additional steps how to secure the
server even more. I'm writing only about most important things here and
I covered most of them in the paper but if you want you can follow steps
provided by CSF to get the server even more secured.
6.5 Mod_Evasive
ModEvasive module for apache offers protection against DDoS (denial of service attacks) on your server.
To install it login into SSH and type:
CODE cd /root/
wget http://www.zdziarski.com/projects/mod_evasive/mod_evasive_1.10.1.tar.gz
tar zxf mode_evasive-1.10.1.tar.gz
cd mod_evasive
then type...
CODE /usr/sbin/apxs -cia mod_evasive20.c
When mod_evasive is installed, place the following lines in your httpd.conf (/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf)
DOSHashTableSize 3097
DOSPageCount 2
DOSSiteCount 50
DOSPageInterval 1
DOSSiteInterval 1
DOSBlockingPeriod 10
6.6 Random things:
csf -d IP - Block an IP with CSF
csf -dr IP - Unblock an IP with CSF
csf -s - Start firewall rules
csf -f - Flush/stop firewall rules
csf -r - Restart firewall rules
csf -x - Disable CSF
csf -e - Enable CSF
csf -c - Check for updates
csf -h - Show help screen
-Block an IP via iptables
iptables -A INPUT -s IP -j DROP
-Unblock an IP via iptables
iptables -A INPUT -s IP -j ACCEPT
-See how many IP addresses are connected to the server and how many connections has each of them.
netstat -ntu | awk '{print $5}' | cut -d: -f1 | sort | uniq -c | sort -n
7. Mod_Security
Mod_Security is a web application firewall and he can help us to secure our sites against RFI, LFI, XSS, SQL Injection etc
If you use cP/WHM you can easly enable Mod_security in WHM - Plugins - Enable Mod_Security and save
Now I will explain how to install Mod_security from source.
You can't install Mod_Security if you don't have libxml2 and http-devel libraries.
Also, you need to enable mod_unique_id in apache modules, but don't worry, I will explain how to do it
Login into SSH and type...
CODE yum install libxml2 libxml2-devel httpd-devel libxml2 libxml2-devel httpd-devel
should be installed now
then you need to edit httpd.conf file, you can find it here:
CODE nano /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
You need to add this in your httpd.conf file
LoadModule unique_id_module modules/mod_unique_id.so
Now download the latest version of mod_security for apache2 from http://www.modsecurity.org
login into SSH and type...
CODE cd /root/
wget http://www.modsecurity.org/download/modsecurity-apache_2.5.6.tar.gz
tar zxf modsecurity-apache_2.5.6.tar.gz
cd modsecurity-apache_2.5.6
cd apache2
then type:
CODE ./configure
make
make install
Go at the end of httpd.conf and place an include for our config/rules file...
Include /etc/httpd/conf/modsecurity.conf
# /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
LoadModule unique_id_module modules/mod_unique_id.so
LoadFile /usr/lib/libxml2.so
LoadModule security2_module modules/mod_security2.so
Include /etc/httpd/conf/modsecurity.conf
You need to find a good rules for Mod_Security. You can find them at
official Mod_Security site. Also, give a try to gotroot.com rules. When
you find a good rules, just put them in /etc/httpd/conf/modsecurity.conf
And restart httpd at the end, type "service httpd restart" into SSH.
8. Anti-Virus - ClamAV
You need AV protection to protect the server against worms and trojans
invading your mailbox and files! Just install clamav (a free open source
antivirus software for linux). More information can be found on clamav.
website - http://www.clamav.net
In order to install CLamAV login into SSH and type
CODE yum install clamav
Once you have installed clamav for your CentOS, here are some basic commands you will need:
Update the antivirus database
CODE freshclam
Run antivirus
CODE clamscan -r /home
Running as Cron Daily Job
To run antivirus as a cron job (automatically scan daily) just run
crontab -e from your command line. Then add the following line and save
the file.
CODE @daily root clamscan -R /home
It means clamav will be scanning /home directory every day. You can change the folder to whatever you want to scan.
9. Rootkit
Rootkit scanner is scanning tool to ensure you for about 99.9%* you're clean of nasty tools.
This tool scans for rootkits, backdoors and local exploits by running tests like:
-MD5 hash compare
-Look for default files used by rootkits
-Wrong file permissions for binaries
-Look for suspected strings in LKM and KLD modules
-Look for hidden files
-Optional scan within plaintext and binary files
Installation:
Login into SSH and type
CODE cd /root/
wget http://downloads.rootkit.nl/rkhunter-1.2.7.tar.gz
tar -zxvf rkhunter-1.2.7.tar.gz
cd rkhunter
./installer.sh
Scan the server with rkhunter
CODE rkhunter -c
10. The Rest of it
10.1 Random suggestions
If you use bind DNS server then we need to edit named.conf file
named.conf is located here: /etc/named.conf
and add
recursion no; under Options
Options{
recursion no;
Now restart bind, type into SSH
CODE service named restart
This will prevent lookups from dnstools.com and similar services and reduce server load
In order to prevent IP spoofing, you need to edit host.conf file like this:
This file is located here: /etc/host.conf
Add that in host.conf
order bind,hosts
nospoof on
Hide the Apache version number:
edit httpd.conf (/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf)
ServerSignature Off
10.2 Passwords
Don't use the same password you are using for the server on some other places.
When the Datacenter contacts you via e-mail or phone, always request
more informations. Remember, someone alse could contact you to get some
information or even root passwords.
10.3 Random thoughts
No matter what you need to secure the server, don't think you are safe
only because you are not personally involved in any ###### with
"hackers". When you are hosting hacking/warez related sites you are the
target. There is no such thing as totally secured server. Most important
things are backups, make sure you will always have an "up-to-date"
offsite backups |
YourForum > Tutorials > cPanel Tutorials > How To: WHM/cPanel Hardening & Security - The Basics - Part 2
