full-disclosure - MyDoom virus sent is an earlier message with subject "Error"

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Message-ID: <20040208162544.XNSL189272.fep03-mail.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com@BillDell>
From: full-disclosure at royds.net (Bill Royds)
Subject:  MyDoom virus sent is an earlier message with subject "Error"

An earlier message sent to the Full Disclosure list was a copy of the Mydoom virus (since FD is not moderated).

It shows a little how this virus is propagating and one reason for its fast spread and persistence.

By using email addresses in files and saved email and also generating random addresses to the domains it finds, it is finding many more delivery addresses than previous viruses and using NDR responses to propagate to make multiple copies of itself to forward.

Here is the email to FD with headers that I received with some annotation to show deceptions that virus practises to help propagate.

The key header is the third Received: header
Received: from helgeson.com (80-235-33-127-dsl.mus.estpak.ee [80.235.33.127])
	by netsys.com (8.11.6p2-2003-09-16/8.11.6) with ESMTP id i18EnoU08477
	for <full-disclosure@...ts.netsys.com>; Sun, 8 Feb 2004 09:49:51 -0500 (EST)

The message claims to be from Joel@...geson.com, who is probably a member of the FD list, but who had absolutely nothing to do with the sending of the email. It was sent from host 80-235-33-127-dsl.mus.estpak.ee [80.235.33.127] (in Estonia) which was running the virus's SMTP engine, which fakes the SMTP HELO response to say it is helgeson.com.
  This seems to persuade some SMTP MTA's that it is not being forged, since the domain of nominal sender and the HELO domain are the same.

If instead of reaching a valid recipient (such as full-disclosure@...ts.netsys.com in this case), it had been sent to susan@...ts.netsys.com (one of its made-up email addresses), the lists.netsys.com NDR bounce message would send the message back to Joel@...geson.com carrying the complete virus (as it doesn't analyse the message, just returns it as attachment in bounce message).

Joel@...geson.com will be bombarded by the virus as if it were coming from postmaster@...ts.netsys.com, which may be on a whitelist and let through. So the virus manages to gain delivery through third parties as well as directly.

AV programs that send warnings to the from address do even more harm to Joel, who had nothing to do with the virus other than once posting in FD.

==================================================

Return-Path: <full-disclosure-admin@...ts.netsys.com>
Received: from netsys.com (NETSYS.COM [199.201.233.10])
	by mail2.zoneedit.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id D7D662EA976
	for <full-disclosure@...ds.net>; Sun,  8 Feb 2004 10:43:46 -0500 (EST)
Received: from NETSYS.COM (localhost [127.0.0.1])
	by netsys.com (8.11.6p2-2003-09-16/8.11.6) with ESMTP id i18EpXS09093;
	Sun, 8 Feb 2004 09:51:34 -0500 (EST)
Received: from helgeson.com (80-235-33-127-dsl.mus.estpak.ee [80.235.33.127])
	by netsys.com (8.11.6p2-2003-09-16/8.11.6) with ESMTP id i18EnoU08477
	for <full-disclosure@...ts.netsys.com>; Sun, 8 Feb 2004 09:49:51 -0500 (EST)
Message-Id: <200402081449.i18EnoU08477@...sys.com>
From: joel@...geson.com
To: full-disclosure@...ts.netsys.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
	boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0004_830D6A05.0CE2EC43"
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
Subject: [Full-Disclosure] Error
Sender: full-disclosure-admin@...ts.netsys.com
Errors-To: full-disclosure-admin@...ts.netsys.com
X-BeenThere: full-disclosure@...ts.netsys.com
X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.12
Precedence: bulk
List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.netsys.com/mailman/listinfo/full-disclosure>,
	<mailto:full-disclosure-request@...ts.netsys.com?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Id: Discussion of security issues <full-disclosure.lists.netsys.com>
List-Post: <mailto:full-disclosure@...ts.netsys.com>
List-Help: <mailto:full-disclosure-request@...ts.netsys.com?subject=help>
List-Subscribe: <http://lists.netsys.com/mailman/listinfo/full-disclosure>,
	<mailto:full-disclosure-request@...ts.netsys.com?subject=subscribe>
List-Archive: <http://lists.netsys.com/pipermail/full-disclosure/>
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 16:49:34 +0200

AS4?
??t_1??.,8(?9??W8Es???_D?j?1?_???P??U]??5?? etc.

******************   McAfee VirusScan ************************
******* Alert generated at: Sun, 08 Feb 2004 10:57:21 -0500 *********
*********************************************************************

McAfee VirusScan has detected a potential threat in this e-mail 
sent by joel@...geson.com.
The following actions were attempted on each suspicious part. 
We strongly recommend that you report this virus-related activity 
to joel@...geson.com.

 The attachment "doc.zip" is infected with the W32/Mydoom.a@MM Virus(es). 
This attachment has been cleaned.

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