Basic HoneyD configuration

After first getting HoneyD up and running previously for a proof of concept I’ve begun a wider implementation of HoneyD to function as the backbone for an upgraded research environment.
HoneyD’s key strength is it’s flexibility, HoneyD’s website contains some sample configuration files that show HoneyD emulating multiple systems running different OSes and applications, a large multi-site network and even a config file to create a honeypot environment for a wireless network. I’ve found these samples immensely useful references for developing custom templates for my own implementation.
At a bare minimum a HoneyD configuration file requires a defined default template, the current default template for this environment is borrowed from one of the sample files and is a tarpit, designed to slow down network sweeps and automated worms; similar to LaBrea tarpit.

create default
set default personality “Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP1”
set default default tcp action tarpit open
set default default udp action block
set default default icmp action open

HoneyD can emulate both Windows and ‘nix systems (and many less common systems), for initial deployment we’re going with an even mix of Windows and Linux host template, each each with a template for a e-mail, web and development server.
Linux configuration:

# Linux Mail
create linux_mail
set linux_mail personality “Linux 2.4.20”
set linux_mail default tcp action reset
set linux_mail default udp action block
set linux_mail default icmp action open
set linux_mail uptime 73921
add linux_mail tcp port 110 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/qpop.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_mail tcp port 143 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/cyrus-imapd.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_mail udp port 161 “perl scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/fake-snmp.pl public private –config==scripts/unix/general”
bind 10.x.y.x linux_mail
# Linux Web
create linux_web
set linux_web personality “Linux 2.4.20”
set linux_web default tcp action reset
set linux_web default udp action block
set linux_web uptime 13282
add linux_web tcp port 21 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/proftpd $ipsrc $spor$ipdst $dport”
add linux_web tcp port 80 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/apache.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_web udp port 161 “sh scripts/unix/general/snmp/fake-snmp.pl $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
bind 10.x.y.z linux_web
# Linux Development Box (EVERYTHING installed)
create linux_dev
set linux_dev personality “Linux 2.4.20”
set linux_dev default tcp action reset
set linux_dev default udp action block
set linux_dev default icmp action open
set linux_dev uptime 8324
add linux_dev tcp port 21 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/proftpd.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_dev tcp port 22 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/ssh.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_dev tcp port 23 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/telnetd.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_dev tcp port 25 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/sendmail.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_dev tcp port 79 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/fingerd.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_dev tcp port 80 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/apache.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_dev tcp port 110 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/qpop.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_dev tcp port 111″perl scripts/unix/general/rpc/bportmapd –proto tcp –host scripts/unix/general/rpc/hosts/debian –srcip $ipsrc –dstip $ipdst –srcport $srcport –dstport $dport –logfile /var/log/honeyd –logall”
add linux_dev tcp port 143 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/cyrus-imapd.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_dev tcp port 515 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/lpd.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_dev tcp port 3128 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/squid.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_dev tcp port 8080 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/squid.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_dev tcp port 8081 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/squid.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add linux_dev udp port 53 proxy 24.35.0.12:53
add linux_dev udp port 111″perl scripts/unix/general/rpc/bportmapd –proto udp –host scripts/unix/general/rpc/hosts/debian –srcip $ipsrc –dstip $ipdst –srcport $srcport –dstport $dport –logfile /var/log/honeyd –logall”
add linux_dev udp port 161 “perl scripts/unix/general/snmp/fake-snmp.pl public private –config=scripts/unix/general”
add linux_dev udp port 514 “sh scripts/unix/linux/suse8.0/syslogd.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
bind 10.x.y.z linux_dev

Windows configuration:

# Windows Mail Server
create win_mail
set win_mail personality “Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition”
set win_mail default tcp action reset
set win_mail default udp action block
set win_mail default icmp action open
set win_mail uptime 42256
add win_mail tcp port 25 “sh scripts/win32/win2k/exchange-smtp.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add win_mail tcp port 110 “sh scripts/win32/win2k/exchange-pop3.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add win_mail tcp port 143 “sh scripts/win32/win2k/exchange-imap.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add win_mail udp port 161 “perl scripts/unix/general/snmp/fake-snmp.pl public private –config=scripts/unix/general”
bind 10.x.y.z win_mail
# Windows Web Server
create win_web
set win_web personality “Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition”
set win_web default tcp action reset
set win_web default udp action block
set win_web default icmp action open
set win_web uptime 12256
add win_web tcp port 21 “sh scripts/win32/win2k/msftp.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add win_web tcp port 80 “sh scripts/win32/win2k/iis.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add win_web udp port 161 “perl scripts/unix/general/snmp/fake-snmp.pl public private –config=scripts/unix/general”
bind 10.x.y.z win_web
# Windows ‘Dev’ Server
create win_dev
set win_dev personality “Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition”
set win_dev default tcp action reset
set win_dev default udp action block
set win_dev default icmp action open
set win_dev uptime 8826
add win_dev tcp port 21 “sh scripts/win32/win2k/msftp.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add win_dev tcp port 25 “sh scripts/win32/win2k/exchange-smtp.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add win_dev tcp port 80 “sh scripts/win32/win2k/iis.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add win_dev tcp port 110 “sh scripts/win32/win2k/exchange-pop3.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add win_dev tcp port 143 “sh scripts/win32/win2k/exchange-imap.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add win_dev tcp port 389 “sh scripts/win32/win2k/ldap.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add win_dev tcp port 5901 “sh scripts/win32/win2k/vnc.sh $ipsrc $sport $ipdst $dport”
add win_dev udp port 161 “perl scripts/unix/general/snmp/fake-snmp.pl public private –config=scripts/unix/general”
bind 10.x.y.z win_dev

As others have should in the sample configs I’ve linked to above, this config barely scratches the surface of HoneyD’s capabilities but it is sufficient to rapidly get a working honeypot environment working and collecting attack information.
Something that frequently surprises anyone not involved in infosec on a daily basis is the speed at which a newly connected system on the Internet will be targeted by a malicious party. In this case the environment was functioning for under a minute before it received it’s first contact from the outside world, as shown in the timestamps from HoneyD’s log file:

2010-04-17-16:41:09.2549 honeyd log started ——
2010-04-17-16:42:04.9735 tcp(6) – 188.26.75.203 2027 10.3.1.15 445: 48 S [Windows XP SP1]
2010-04-17-16:42:05.4878 tcp(6) – 188.26.75.203 2027 10.3.1.15 445: 48 S [Windows XP SP1]
2010-04-17-16:42:06.0341 tcp(6) – 188.26.75.203 2027 10.3.1.15 445: 48 S [Windows XP SP1]
2010-04-17-16:43:00.3707 tcp(6) – 91.1.250.229 1450 10.3.1.6 445: 64 S [Windows 2000 RFC1323]
2010-04-17-16:43:00.9051 tcp(6) – 91.1.250.229 1450 10.3.1.6 445: 64 S [Windows 2000 RFC1323]
2010-04-17-16:43:01.4310 tcp(6) – 91.1.250.229 1450 10.3.1.6 445: 64 S [Windows 2000 RFC1323]
2010-04-17-16:43:27.1202 tcp(6) – 94.24.134.186 1103 10.3.1.5 445: 48 S [Windows XP SP1]

— Andrew Waite

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6 Comments

  1. Hey Andrew,
    First time posting, been reading your blog for ages. Thanks for taking the time to cover this, have wanted to get down and dirty with HoneyD for ages but honestly haven’t had the time to learn… must get on and read that virtual honeypots book.. 🙂
    Cheers!

    1. Thanks for taking the time to comment, always good to know I’m not just talking to a virtual wall. I’m still finding my feet with HoneyD, trying to find the best way to utilise it and get the best from the system and resource investment. If you’ve got any interesting features you’re curious about let me know and I’ll likely take a look and see what they can do.
      Cheers

  2. Kind of an older post, but I have been playing with Honeypots recently, various ones, and one thing that I have noticed with Honeyd is the nmap.prints file it uses seems to be way out of date. I mean its useful that I have the ability to take over the unused IP’s, but after a long nmap scan and some sifting, all these out of date servers will probably be found out fake no problem.
    Do you know any way to use more up to date fingerprints. Information on the subject seems to be dated, or at least I can’t find more recent stuff.
    Btw, really like your blog, its been very helpful 🙂

    1. Thanks for the kind words, glad you find the content useful.
      I had a similar problem with the fingerprints when I first setup honeyd. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a workable solution; I had tried providing honeyd with the latest nmap.prints file but if my memory is correct the .prints file format has been changed in recent versions and honeyd’s capabilities hasn’t been updated to take advantage of newer files.
      In my experience it doesn’t make _too_ much different as most of the interact I get with my honeyd environment are clearly just automated scans. From talking to those that attack and/or test environments can already identify honeypot setups with relative ease so this isn’t the only give-away.

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