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Pentest
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May 29, 2024 1:59 PM
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👉 Overview
👀 What ?
The Erlang Port Mapper Daemon (epmd) is a small name server included in Erlang/OTP and used by Erlang nodes to locate each other on a network. It maps symbolic node names to machine addresses, allowing distributed Erlang systems to communicate. In the context of cybersecurity, pentesting (penetration testing) epmd refers to the process of probing this server for vulnerabilities that can be exploited.
🧐 Why ?
The importance of pentesting epmd lies in its role as a potential entry point for attacks. An insecure epmd can be exploited by attackers to gain unauthorized access to a distributed Erlang system, causing serious security breaches. Therefore, it's important for cybersecurity professionals to understand how to pentest epmd, identify vulnerabilities, and propose solutions to secure it.
⛏️ How ?
Pentesting epmd involves several steps. First, you need to identify the target system running epmd. This can be done using network scanning tools like nmap. Once you've identified the target, you can proceed to probe it for vulnerabilities. This could involve testing for weak or default credentials, lack of encryption, or unauthenticated access. Finally, after identifying possible weaknesses, you should propose and implement solutions to secure the epmd.
⏳ When ?
Pentesting epmd should be carried out regularly as a part of an organization's overall cybersecurity strategy. It's particularly important when setting up a new distributed Erlang system or making significant changes to an existing one.
⚙️ Technical Explanations
Epmd operates by maintaining a local database of (name, port) pairs, where the name is a symbolic node name and the port is a TCP port on which the corresponding Erlang node is listening. When a node wants to connect to another, it queries epmd to get the port associated with the node name. In terms of security, the epmd does not implement any form of authentication or encryption. This means that anyone who can connect to the epmd (which by default listens on all network interfaces) can register or unregister node names or query the node list. Therefore, securing the epmd is crucial for the security of a distributed Erlang system.