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(Perl: Lesson 10)

{ Policy Part 3: Parsing /etc/shadow  }

Section 0. Background Information
  1. What is /etc/shadow file?
    • The /etc/shadow file stores actual password in encrypted format for user's account with additional properties related to user password i.e. it stores secure user account information. All fields are separated by a colon (:) symbol. The file contains one entry per line for each user listed in /etc/passwd. Below are the fields that are present in the /etc/shadow file.
    • User name: It is your login name
    • Password: This is your encrypted password. The password should be minimum 6-8 characters long including special characters/digits
    • Last password change: (lastchanged): Days since Jan 1, 1970 that password was last changed Minimum:
    • The minimum number of days required between password changes i.e. the number of days left before the user is allowed to change his/her password Maximum:
    • The maximum number of days the password is valid (after that user is forced to change his/her password)
    • Warn: The number of days before password is to expire that user is warned that his/her password must be changed
    • Inactive: The number of days after password expires that account is disabled
    • Expire: days since Jan 1, 1970 that account is disabled i.e. an absolute date specifying when the login may no longer be used.
  1. Getting Perl
    • For the purposes of these perl lesson, I will be using a perl package that comes standard on Backtrack, Ubuntu and most flavors of Linux and Unix.
    • However, if you are using Windows, instead of a Linux, Unix or MAC operating system, you still have options.
  2. Pre-Requisite
  3. Lab Notes
    • In this lab we will do the following:
      1. We will download a basic perl program that parses out each element of the /etc/shadow file
      2. The program will provide extraction examples using split.

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Section 1. Login to BackTrack
  1. Start Up VMWare Player
    • Instructions:
      1. Click the Start Button
      2. Type Vmplayer in the search box
      3. Click on Vmplayer

     

  2. Open a Virtual Machine
    • Instructions:
      1. Click on Open a Virtual Machine

     

  3. Open the BackTrack5R1 VM
    • Instructions:
      1. Navigate to where the BackTrack5R1 VM is located
      2. Click on on the BackTrack5R1 VM
      3. Click on the Open Button

     

  4. Edit the BackTrack5R1 VM
    • Instructions:
      1. Select BackTrack5R1 VM
      2. Click Edit virtual machine settings

     

  5. Edit Virtual Machine Settings
    • Instructions:
      1. Click on Network Adapter
      2. Click on the Bridged Radio button
      3. Click on the OK Button

     

  6. Play the BackTrack5R1 VM
    • Instructions:
      1. Click on the BackTrack5R1 VM
      2. Click on Play virtual machine

     

  7. Login to BackTrack
    • Instructions:
      1. Login: root
      2. Password: toor or <whatever you changed it to>.

     

  8. Bring up the GNOME
    • Instructions:
      1. Type startx

 

Section 2. Bring up a console terminal
  1. Start up a terminal window
    • Instructions:
      1. Click on the Terminal Window

     

  2. Obtain the IP Address
    • Instructions:
      1. ifconfig -a
    • Note(FYI):
      • My IP address 192.168.1.111.
      • In your case, it will probably be different.

 

Section 3. Download scan_shadow.pl
  1. Become the student user and make a directory
    • Instructions:
      1. cd /home/student
      2. mkdir -p perl_lessons/
      3. cd perl_lessons/

     

  2. Download scan_shadow.pl
    • Instructions:
      1. wget http://www.computersecuritystudent.com/UNIX/PERL/lesson10/scan_shadow.pl.TXT
      2. mv scan_shadow.pl.TXT scan_shadow.pl
      3. chmod 700 scan_shadow.pl
      4. perl -c scan_shadow.pl
      5. ./scan_shadow.pl
      6. ls -l POLICY-A03.txt

     

Section 4. Analyze The Code
  1. SheBang Directive
    • Instructions:
      1. vi scan_shadow.pl
      2. :set nu
      3. Press the <Enter> key
    • Note(FYI):
      • Line 1: #!/usr/bin/perl
        • #! - is called the SheBang Directive.  SheBang is an interpreter directive that tells Linux to load the following program.
        • /usr/bin/perl - is the Perl Interpreter.  SheBang tells the program loader to run the Perl Interpreter.
      • Line 4: chomp(my $PRINT = $ARGV[0]);
        • $ARGV is a special perl array to receive command line arguments.
        • $PRINT will be used to tell the program to output data to the screen.
      • Line 7:  my $dir = "/home/student/perl_lessons";
        • Set the $dir variable to the directory location of the program.
      • Line 10: $log = "$dir/POLICY-A03.txt";
        • Set the $log variable to the output file name.
      • Line 12: open(LOG,">$log") || die "Cannot Open Filename: $!";
        • Open the log file POLICY-A02.txt.  LOG is the filehandle name. The greater than operator (>) mean to write to output.
      • Line 15: chomp($EPOCH_SECONDS = `date +%s`);
        • Determine Today's EPOCH in seconds Jan 1, 1970.
      • Line 18: $EPOCH_DAYS = sprintf("%.0f",$EPOCH_SECONDS/86400);
        • Determine Today's EPOCH in days since Jan 1, 1970.  EPOCH Seconds is converted to days, since there are 86400 seconds in one day.  Perl's sprintf utility allow you to format a decimal point.
      • Line 21: &scan_shadow;
        • Execute the subroutine scan_shadow.
      • Line 23: close(LOG);
        • Close the filehandle LOG, which is log file POLICY-A02.txt.

     

  2. Explaining Lines 25 through 38
    • Instructions:
      1. Arrow down to line 25
    • Note(FYI):
      • Line 25 through 38: sub print_it
        • This subroutine has two actions: (1) Print to Output (line 37), and (2) Print to Screen (Lines 31 to 34).
      • Line 28: chomp(my $tmp = $_[0]);
        • Assign variable $tmp to first parameter.
      • Line 31 - 34: if($PRINT eq "-v")
        • If $PRINT is equal to -v, then print output to screen.
      • Line 37: print LOG "$tmp\n";
        • Print output to the filehandle LOG, which means print to the output file POLICY-A03.txt.

     

  3. Explaining Lines 40 through 43
    • Instructions:
      1. Arrow down to line 40
    • Note(FYI):
      • Line 40: sub scan_shadow
        • The scan_shadow subroutine scans the /etc/shadow file.
      • Line 43: my @CONTENTS = `cat /etc/shadow`;
        • This cats the contents of the /etc/shadow file into an array.

     

  4. Explaining Lines 45 through 49
    • Instructions:
      1. Arrow down to line 45
    • Note(FYI):
      • Line 45: foreach my $line (@CONTENTS)
        • This is a foreach loop.  We will go through the array @CONTENTS line by line.  Remember the @CONTENTS array contains the /etc/login.defs file.
      • Line 47: chomp($line);
        • Perl has a built in function called chomp that removes any end of line characters.
      • Line 49: ($username,$password,$lastchange,$minimum,$maximum,$warn,$inactive,$expire) = split(/:/,$line);
        • Perl's split is used to extract each element between the colon(:) delimiter from the /etc/shadow file.

     

  5. Explaining Lines 55 through 62
    • Instructions:
      1. Arrow down to line 55
    • Note(FYI):
      • Password: It your encrypted password. The password should be minimum 6-8 characters long including special characters/digits
      • Line 55: if($password ne "")
        • If password is not blank, then Password Set Correctly.
      • Line 59: else
        • If password is blank, then print a violation.

     

  6. Explaining Lines 68 through 78
    • Instructions:
      1. Arrow down to line 68
    • Note(FYI):
      • Last password change (lastchanged): Days since Jan 1, 1970 that password was last changed
      • Line 68: my $LCDAYS = ($EPOCH_DAYS - $lastchange);
        • Subtract password's last epoch change day from today's epoch day number.
      • Line 71-74: if($LCDAYS <= 90)
        • If $LCDAYS is less than or equal to 90 days, then the password change date is within range.
      • Line 75-78: else
        • If $LCDAYS is great than 90 days, then print a violation

     

  7. Explaining Lines 84 through 98
    • Instructions:
      1. Arrow down to line 84
    • Note(FYI):
      • Minimum: The minimum number of days required between password changes i.e. the number of days left before the user is allowed to change his/her password
      • Line 84: if($minimum > 0)
        • If the minimum number of days before a password can be changed is greater than 0, then setting is within range.
      • Line 88: else
        • If the minimum number of day is less than or equal to 0, then print violation..
      • Line 97: }
        • End of foreach loop.
      • Line 98: }
        • End of subroutine.

     

  8. Save and Quit
    • Instructions:
      1. Press the <Esc> key
      2. :q!
      3. Press the <Enter> key

 

Section 5. Proof of Lab
  1. Project
    • Instructions:
      1. cp scan_shadow.pl scan_shadow.BKP
      2. Your project is to write an if-clause that interrogate the $maximum variable to see the number of days is less than or equal to 90 days.
      3. vi scan_shadow.pl
      4. After the line that contains "#Project Work Starts Here", place the below code.
        • 
#Maximum: The maximum number of days the password is valid (after that user is 
#forced to change his/her password)

#If the maximum number of days is greater 90 days, then print violation

if($maximum <= 90)
{
	&print_it("[3.4] Username: $username, [Passed]: Maximum Days ($maximum) Within Range");
}
else
{
	&print_it("[3.4] Username: $username, [Violation]: Maximum Days ($maximum) Outside of Range");
}
      5. Press <Esc>
      6. :wq!

       

  2. Proof of Lab
    • Instructions
      1. chmod 700 scan_shadow.pl
      2. perl -c scan_shadow.pl
      3. ./scan_shadow.pl -v | grep Violation | wc -l
        • "l" as in lima.
      4. date
      5. echo "Your Name"
        • Put in your actual name in place of "Your Name"
        • e.g., echo "John Gray"
    • Proof Of Lab Instructions:
      1. Press the <Ctrl><Alt> keys simultaneously
      2. Press the <PrtScn> key
      3. Paste into a word document
      4. Upload to Moodle
     


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