P-660H/HW-T Series User' Guide
(ICMP) echo request packets (pings). Since the destination IP address of each packet is
the broadcast address of the network, the router will broadcast the ICMP echo request
packet to all hosts on the network. If there are numerous hosts, this will create a large
amount of ICMP echo request and response traffic. If a hacker chooses to spoof the
source IP address of the ICMP echo request packet, the resulting ICMP traffic will not
only clog up the "intermediary" network, but will also congest the network of the spoofed
source IP address, known as the "victim" network. This flood of broadcast traffic
consumes all available bandwidth, making communications impossible.
Figure 50 Smurf Attack
10.4.2.1 ICMP Vulnerability
ICMP is an error-reporting protocol that works in concert with IP. The following ICMP types
trigger an alert:
Table 34 ICMP Commands That Trigger Alerts
5
13
14
17
18
10.4.2.2 Illegal Commands (NetBIOS and SMTP)
The only legal NetBIOS commands are the following - all others are illegal.
Table 35 Legal NetBIOS Commands
MESSAGE:
REQUEST:
POSITIVE:
VE:
123
REDIRECT
TIMESTAMP_REQUEST
TIMESTAMP_REPLY
ADDRESS_MASK_REQUEST
ADDRESS_MASK_REPLY
Chapter 10 Firewalls