- db-wg - mailman.ripe.net

v6wpd release announcement
by DB Role Account 24 Apr '03

24 Apr '03

[apologies for duplicate messages] Dear Colleagues, We are happy to announce the IPv6 Whois Proxy Daemon source code release. The release contains the software for proxying a RIPE Whois server on an IPv6 network. It contains the facility of mapping individual IPv6 addresses to RFC1918 IPv4 addresses, in order to ensure proper access list controls. The software is available at ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/dbase/software/v6wpd-1.0.0.tar.gz Please contact dbtools(a)ripe.net for any comments. Best regards, -- Can Bican DB Group RIPE NCC

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Improvements to database update software
by DB-News 23 Apr '03

23 Apr '03

[apologies for duplicate messages] Dear Colleagues, The Database Group at the RIPE NCC has been working on restructuring the dbupdate program. This is the part of the RIPE Whois server that processes update requests from users. The main goal has been to improve the acknowledgement messages that users receive from the RIPE Whois Database and provide clearer error reporting and authorisation information. We have also been able to make the software easier to maintain and modify. This will reduce the time spent fixing bugs and adding new features. Details may be found here: http://www.ripe.net/db/dbupdate/ A page further explaining the new acknowledgements can be found here: http://www.ripe.net/db/dbupdate/acknowledgments.html The new dbupdate messages have a different format. Therefore a phased approach to introducing the new server has been taken. For a period we will use the new dbupdate in parallel with the old one. This will allow people using automated tools time to update their software. PRE-MIGRATION Before the new dbupdate was available. auto-dbm-old(a)ripe.net DOES NOT EXIST auto-dbm(a)ripe.net --> old dbupdate auto-dbm-new(a)ripe.net DOES NOT EXIST DAY-X, Wednesday, 23 April, 2003 The new dbupdate is available but must be requested specifically. auto-dbm-old(a)ripe.net --> old dbupdate auto-dbm(a)ripe.net --> old dbupdate auto-dbm-new(a)ripe.net --> new dbupdate DAY-Y, Wednesday, 7 May, 2003 The new dbupdate is the default but the old dbupdate may be requested specifically. auto-dbm-old(a)ripe.net --> old dbupdate auto-dbm(a)ripe.net --> new dbupdate auto-dbm-new(a)ripe.net --> new dbupdate DAY-Z (POST-MIGRATION), Wednesday, 4 June, 2003 The old dbupdate is no longer available. auto-dbm-old(a)ripe.net DOES NOT EXIST auto-dbm(a)ripe.net --> new dbupdate auto-dbm-new(a)ripe.net DOES NOT EXIST Best regards, -- Shane Kerr Database Group RIPE NCC

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announcement of unreferenced person cleanup mechanism
by RIPE Database Manager 16 Apr '03

16 Apr '03

[apologies for duplicate messages] Introduction ------------ The primary function of the person records in the RIPE Whois Database is to document the contact people for IP address space, Autonomous System Numbers, or routing-related records. While all the data in the RIPE Database can be viewed publicly, unnecessary public dispersal of the information may cause infringement privacy rights of individuals. Periodic automatic deletion of person objects that are not referenced as a contact will help to reduce the amount of private data and free the resources consumed by them. This cleanup was discussed on the Database Working Group mailing list, and previously presented as part of the development plans. More information can be found at: http://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail-archives/db-wg/2002/msg00096.html Clean-up Process ---------------- The proposed operation of periodically removing unreferenced person objects will consist of three steps: 1. Periodically counting the references to person objects. 2. Warning the owners of objects by e-mail if they are unreferenced for more than 60 days. 3. Deleting the object automatically if it is still unreferenced 30 days after the warning. The warning will be sent to the e-mail addresses in the "mnt- by:" or the "e-mail:" attributes of person objects. - If the person object is maintained, each maintainer will be notified as follows: - If there are "mnt-nfy:" attributes, the e-mail addresses listed there will be mailed. - Or, the e-mail addresses in the "e-mail:" fields of the "admin-c:" and "tech-c:" entries of the maintainers will be mailed. - If the person object is not maintained, and there are "e-mail:" attributes in the object, those e-mail addresses will be mailed. Due to the initial high amount of unreferenced person objects, the time intervals mentioned above will not be observed for all person objects. In order to eliminate possible service outages, a limited amount of warnings will be mailed and a limited amount of person objects will be deleted every day. Timeline -------- On Tuesday, 29 April, 2003, the first e-mails will be sent notifying the appropriate parties about person objects that have been unreferenced for more than 60 days. The first deletions will occur 30 days later, on Thursday, 29 May, 2003. The process will be an on-going service, and objects that become and remain unreferenced will be treated in the same manner in the future. -- Can Bican DB Group RIPE NCC

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Deprecating auth=NONE
by Hank Nussbacher 15 Apr '03

15 Apr '03

Back in March 2002 we started to deprecate auth=MAIL-FROM. In August we finished it: http://www.ripe.net/ripencc/pub-services/db/mailfrom.html We did not do the same for auth=NONE and the RIPE announcement stated: "Though NONE "auth" scheme is even weaker it is not supposed to be consciously used for object protection, but rather as notification facility. Therefore NONE "auth" scheme is outside the scope of this proposal." It has come lately to the attention in the Internet security realm that spammers as well as crackers are hijacking IP address space. One easy way to "steal" IP address space is via those that have auth=NONE on their objects. Go to: http://www.ripe.net/db/whois-free.html select ALL and type in the search bar "auth: none". The results of those that can have their IPs easily hijacked is, how shall I say this, enormous. Luckily the RIPE search form is limited to 100 hits. Just as an example and not to pick on C&W but: aut-num: AS13186 as-name: UNSPECIFIED descr: C&W SA Autonomous System descr: Alcalde Barnils 64-68 descr: Parque Empresarial Sant Joan descr: 08190 Sant Cugat del Valles descr: BARCELONA import: from AS3352 action pref=100; accept ANY import: from AS12541 action pref=100; accept ANY import: from AS3561 action pref=100; accept ANY import: from AS16091 action pref=100; accept AS16091 export: to AS3352 announce AS13186 AS16091 export: to AS12541 announce AS13186 AS16091 export: to AS3561 announce AS13186 AS16091 export: to AS16091 announce ANY default: to AS12541 action pref=100; networks ANY admin-c: RV4415-RIPE tech-c: XL5-RIPE remarks: AS3352 -> anvazque@obscured-domain remarks: AS12541 ->graham.cole@obscured-domain mnt-by: AS13186-MNT mntner: AS13186-MNT descr: Cable and Wireless SA admin-c: RV4415-RIPE tech-c: XL5-RIPE upd-to: d12@obscured-domain auth: NONE mnt-by: AS13186-MNT referral-by: RIPE-DBM-MNT route: 212.66.160.0/19 descr: Intercom Servicios Telematicos Avanzados, S.A. origin: AS13186 notify: xlario@obscured-domain mnt-by: AS13186-MNT I could right now remove the route entry for 212.66.160.0/19 or change it to some other origin and thereby hijack the entry. All those that use auto-build tools based on the info in RIPE would allow me to announce the /19 and not C&W in Spain. Just an example. There are thousands. RIPE NCC won't deprecate auth=NONE without us telling them to do it. Why would we not want this? -Hank

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Problems with RipeWhois.pm
by Arnd Vehling 28 Mar '03

28 Mar '03

Hi All, i am experiencing the following problem with the RipeWhois perl modul supplied with asused-3.65 / $Id: RipeWhois.pm,v 1.4 2001/04/18 17:01:20 timur Exp $ The "RipeWhois" function only works as long as i have the environment variables WHOIS_HOST set. If i unset the var the function stops working. I verified that with the supplied test client "cwhois". All command-line parameters and in-script defaults are ignored. OS is Solaris, perl version is: v5.6.1 Any Ideas? best regards, Arnd -- NetHead Network Design and Security Arnd Vehling av(a)nethead.De Gummersbacherstr. 27 Phone: +49 221 8809210 50679 Köln Fax : +49 221 8809212

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Ref: Abuse contact
by Wilfried Woeber, UniVie/ACOnet 27 Mar '03

27 Mar '03

>To: s.willing(a)mops.net >CC: anti-spam-wg(a)ripe.net >From: RIPE Database Manager <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net> >Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2003 10:07:29 +0100 >Subject: [anti-spam-wg(a)ripe.net] Re: NCC#2003034446 Abuse contact > >Dear Sebastian, > >Any changes to database schemas are decided upon in >RIPE Database Working Group, Yes, in principle, but as a matter of fact we prefer requests for object creations or modifications to come in from the "user base" (including a rough blueprint :-), i.e. the appropriate RIPE WG(s). >which is an open working >group. It has a mailing list. You can subscribe to it >and present your proposal there, for the review of other >members of the WG. Its web page is: > >http://www.ripe.net/ripe/wg/db/index.html In this particular case I'd expect (at least) Anti-SPAM to discuss any deployment scenarios, before we go ahead and modifify objects. As a personal note - I tend to think the IRT object might be a better place to put such stuff. Because the IP-address management role(s), being more administartive, often do not have close links to abuse or incident roles within an ISP. >If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate >to contact <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net>. > >Regards, > >Engin Gunduz >____________________________ >RIPE Database Administration. Cheers, Wilfried (RIPE DB-WG Chair) _________________________________:_____________________________________ Wilfried Woeber : e-mail: Woeber(a)CC.UniVie.ac.at UniVie Computer Center - ACOnet : Tel: +43 1 4277 - 140 33 Universitaetsstrasse 7 : Fax: +43 1 4277 - 9 140 A-1010 Vienna, Austria, Europe : RIPE-DB: WW144, PGP keyID 0xF0ACB369 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On Tue, 25 Mar 2003 09:53:28 +0100 (CET), S Willing wrote: * Hello! * * Some RIPE entries already include abuse information, but not in a uniform type. * * Arin has some extra abuse contact attributes: * OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE23-ARIN * OrgAbuseName: Abuse * OrgAbusePhone: +1-800-436-8489 * OrgAbuseEmail: abuse(a)genuity.com * * I'ld like to suggest a new RIPE-DB attribute: "abuse-mail". * * It should be required for every new allocation and optional for assignments. * Somewhere in the future, the whois server should automatically return the * most-specific "abuse-mail"-entry which exists. * For example: 10.1.0.0/16 allocation has an "abuse-mail"-entry, but * 10.1.2.0/25 has none. In this case, the entry from the allocation * is returned. * 10.1.3.128/26 has an own "abuse-mail"-entry which is returned if * someone queries this object. * * MfG / Regards, * S.Willing * * ************************************************************************ * M / W / S Sebastian Willing * http://www.mops.net Technical director * Telefon: 01803/684310578 e-Mail: s.willing(a)mops.net * Telefax: 01805/445169111 SW88-RIPE * ************************************************************************ * --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Mirroring of LEVEL3 database
by Koepp, Karsten 12 Mar '03

12 Mar '03

Hello around, does anyone besides me consider the Level (3) IRR database useful to be mirrored? I can find the Level(3) data on whois.ra.net but I would like to continue using whois.ripe.net. I understand the db admins position but I consider this source valuable. I have no statistics on the number of objects - I just happen to meet source LEVEL3 now and then. Karsten > Dear Karsten.Koepp, > > Regarding you question about the RIPE NCC mirroring the LEVEL > 3 database, > we currently have no plans on doing that as we were not requested by > LEVEL 3 to carry a mirror of their data. > > Our requirements for mirroring are: > 1. The source is a public IRR > 2. It should have considerable size > 3. It should be useful for the users in the RIPE region > > We don't seek out databases to mirror, although if a number > of our users > think that it can be useful we can ask permission for that. > > Best Regards, > Tiago Antao > ---------------------------- > RIPE Database Administration >

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Proposed change 2003.1: notification for more-specific
by Shane Kerr 10 Mar '03

10 Mar '03

Colleagues, This is one of a number of proposed changes to the way the RIPE Database works. These are changes that are intended to make the database work more consistently, as well as provide an increased level of security and control to users. Please have a look, and discuss it here. [2003.1] Notification on more-specific object creation authorisation -------------------------------------------------------------------- Change: When the creation of an object requires authorisation by a less-specific object, normal mntner notification will apply; "upd-to:" is notified of failure, and "mnt-nfy:" is notified of success. Where there are multiple maintainers, only one is needed to successfully authorise the creation, but all the maintainers in the list will be notified. For example: inetnum: 192.168.101.0 - 192.168.101.255 . . . mnt-by: EXAMPLE-MNT mnt-lower: ANOTHER-MNT mnt-lower: YET-ANOTHER-MNT If the successful creation of the more specific inetnum: inetnum: 192.168.201.0 - 192.168.201.255 . . . mnt-by: SOME-MNT Is authorised by YET-ANOTHER-MNT in the less specific inetnum, notifications will be sent to the "mnt-nfy:" listed in both ANOTHER-MNT and YET-ANOTHER-MNT. Motivation: This is useful for two cases. The first is so that the maintainer of an object will be notified when unauthorised attempts to create objects occur and will receive confirmation when objects are successfully created. The second is for cases where there are multiple maintainers in a position to authorise a creation (as in the example above). The maintainers that did not specificially authorise the creation are still notified (this is how notification for updates works today). -- Shane Kerr RIPE NCC

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Proposed change 2003.3: "reclaim:"-like functionality
by Shane Kerr 10 Mar '03

10 Mar '03

Colleagues, This is one of a number of proposed changes to the way the RIPE Database works. These are changes that are intended to make the database work more consistently, as well as provide an increased level of security and control to users. Please have a look, and discuss it here. [2003.3] Implementation of "reclaim:"-like functionality -------------------------------------------------------- Proposal: Any maintainer that would have been able to authorise the creation of an object can authorise the deletion of the same object. If creation of an object requires authorisation from multiple maintainers (e.g. route objects that require authorisation from an aut-num and an inetnum), then any of those maintainers may authorise the deletion. Motivation: The maintainer of an object is responsible for insuring that the data in the object is accurate. For hierarchical objects the maintainer can delegate responsibility for a subset. However, under the current implementation, there is no way for the maintainer to delete objects created and delegated to maintainers who should not or will not have access to the resources represented by these objects any more. For example, if the holder of portable address space changes ISP, then the address space will be advertised from a different AS. This means that the old route object is invalid and should be deleted. However, if the old ISP maintains the object, then the holder of the space has no way to delete the old object. This old route object will prevent the creation of a new route object that represents the new arrangement. The "reclaim:" attribute defined in RPSS allows for very similar functionality, but it may not be added to space that already has objects. This means that any existing more-specific objects cannot be deleted by the maintainers of the less-specific objects. For the case of old objects - the ones most likely to need such deletion - this means that the "reclaim:" attribute does not help. The "reclaim:" attribute also has a different syntax, depending on the specific object type that it is present in. This complicates parsing of objects. -- Shane Kerr RIPE NCC

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Another Proposal: Sort of generated Authorized-by Attribute + some PGP stuff
by Ulrich Kiermayr 04 Mar '03

04 Mar '03

Hi List, Since Shane has posted some proposals for the RIPE-DB, I have another one: For Updates which have been authorized by someone using strong encryption it would be nice to reflect the key that has been used in the object. this is similar to the changed: attribute but should be generated by the robot and not filled in by the user. Why? At the moment there is no way to tell that data within the Database is authentic in a way that it was really put in by the person who is in the object (pls. correct me if I am wrong), and the mnt-* just prevents you from stealing an object and not from giving it away to pretend something. Usually this is not bad, but related to some irt-stuff it can give the people the opportunity to pretend to be someone else. If the authorizing key was reflected in the object, one can check if who sent the update.... Something else related to PGP (and discussed with wilfried a while ago): it would be really nice to be able to link key-certs and persons/roles together other than by using remarks.... (as we do it now). lG uk -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ulrich Kiermayr Zentraler Informatikdienst der Universitaet Wien Network Security Universitaetsstrasse 7, 1010 Wien, Austria ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eMail: ulrich.kiermayr(a)univie.ac.at Tel: (+43 1) 4277 / 14104 Hotline: security.zid(a)univie.ac.at Fax: (+43 1) 4277 / 9140 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ GPG Key fingerprint = BF0D 5749 4DC1 ED74 AB67 7180 105F 491D A8D7 64D8

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