Remote Desktop Security
Raghav Chawla, Jon Ussery
Group 20
What is Remote Desktop?
Remote administration software
Ran on foreign host’s server
Displayed locally
Motivation
Very popular
Increasingly mobile society
Need to access home/work PCs
Extremely vulnerable
Easy to exploit these vulnerabilities
Complete access
How Does it Work?
For Microsoft services:
Terminal services allow user to access data
and applications on a remote computer
Different than appstreaming, as
computations are processed on remote pc
History (Microsoft software)
Terminal services were introduced in
Windows NT 4.0
Vastly improved in Windows 2000
Vista has new developments as well
Clipboard
Audio
Differences
In client versions of Windows OS,
only one user can be logged in at a
time
In the server version, concurrent
sessions are allowed
Terminal Services provide for remote
software access
In Action
Runs on port 3389
Includes ActiveX control
Winlogon.exe authenticates user
Keyboard and mouse inputs are transmitted via
TCP connection
Virtual Channels allow other devices to work
(such as printers, audio, etc.)
Some Software Distributions
Microsoft Remote Desktop
Connection
RealVNC
TightVNC
Apple Remote Desktop (for Apple
pc’s)
GoToMyPC
Software Comparison
The Lab
Hacking into remote desktop
Remotely Enabling remote desktop
Multiuser remote desktop hack
Hacking through a firewall
Security measures
Hacking into Remote
Desktop
Transferred WinVNC files on remote
pc
Used RegINI.exe to load data
(password, socket connections) into
registry
Installed VNC through command
prompt
Enable Remote Desktop via
Network
Use Regedit to connect to the
Network registry
Find client machine on network
After a few registry edits, remote desktop
functionality will be available
Multiuser Desktop Hack
Boot Windows in safe mode
Changed terminal services settings
Replaced termsrv.dll files with
alternate
Multiuser Hack (cont.)
Changed some registry settings
Finally, tweak Terminal Services settings
Hacking Through A Firewall
Useful if port 3389 is blocked
Used Putty to setup a tunnel for
accessing RDC Server
Security Measures
Limit users who can log on remotely
Security Measures (cont.)
Set an account lockout policy
Security Measures (cont.)
Require passwords and at least 128-bit
encryption
Run - %SystemRoot%\system32\
gpedit.msc /s
Security Measures (cont.)
Change the RDP port number
Edit registry as follows:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal
Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp
Other Tools
Loopback!
Any Questions?