[gentoo-user] vsftpd anonymous upload illegal PORT command

[Walter Dnes]

I'm trying to upload files from an OS/2 VM in machine A to anononymous
upload on another machine on my home LAN. I'm using the allegedly "very
simple" ftpd and getting nowhere, and Google isn't helping. To simplify
things, I built vsftpd without ssl, and iptables is off on both
machines. I don't think it's related to PASV, because the ancient ftp
client on the OS/2 VM doesn't understand the "ftp -p" option. My
/etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf file is...

listen=YES
local_enable=NO
anonymous_enable=YES
anon_upload_enable=YES
write_enable=YES
anon_mkdir_write_enable=YES
anon_root=/home/ftp
pasv_enable=YES
pasv_min_port=30000
pasv_max_port=30100
port_enable=YES
allow_writeable_chroot=YES

I successfully log in as user "anonymous", password "anonymous",
execute "bin". When I try uploading a file, I get the 500 PORT error.
Anybody have a working config? Or another simpler ftpd server?

--
Walter Dnes <walt...@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

[Jeriko One]

On 08/03/2017 05:13 AM, Walter Dnes wrote:
> I'm trying to upload files from an OS/2 VM in machine A to anononymous
> upload on another machine on my home LAN. I'm using the allegedly "very
> simple" ftpd and getting nowhere, and Google isn't helping. To simplify
> things, I built vsftpd without ssl, and iptables is off on both
> machines. I don't think it's related to PASV, because the ancient ftp
> client on the OS/2 VM doesn't understand the "ftp -p" option. My
> /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf file is...
>
> listen=YES
> local_enable=NO
> anonymous_enable=YES
> anon_upload_enable=YES
> write_enable=YES
> anon_mkdir_write_enable=YES
> anon_root=/home/ftp
> pasv_enable=YES
> pasv_min_port=30000
> pasv_max_port=30100
> port_enable=YES
> allow_writeable_chroot=YES
>
> I successfully log in as user "anonymous", password "anonymous",
> execute "bin". When I try uploading a file, I get the 500 PORT error.
> Anybody have a working config? Or another simpler ftpd server?
>

Are you able to upload files from other machines than this particular
VM? I don't have any problems uploading using your config.

Who owns /home/ftp? I think by default vsftpd will change the owner to
root which would cause problems.

[Mick]

On Thursday 03 Aug 2017 08:13:18 Walter Dnes wrote:
> I'm trying to upload files from an OS/2 VM in machine A to anononymous
> upload on another machine on my home LAN. I'm using the allegedly "very
> simple" ftpd and getting nowhere, and Google isn't helping. To simplify
> things, I built vsftpd without ssl, and iptables is off on both
> machines. I don't think it's related to PASV, because the ancient ftp
> client on the OS/2 VM doesn't understand the "ftp -p" option. My
> /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf file is...
>
> listen=YES
> local_enable=NO
> anonymous_enable=YES
> anon_upload_enable=YES
> write_enable=YES
> anon_mkdir_write_enable=YES
> anon_root=/home/ftp

Is this writeable?

> pasv_enable=YES
> pasv_min_port=30000
> pasv_max_port=30100
> port_enable=YES
> allow_writeable_chroot=YES
>
> I successfully log in as user "anonymous", password "anonymous",
> execute "bin". When I try uploading a file, I get the 500 PORT error.
> Anybody have a working config? Or another simpler ftpd server?

For these kind of jobs I tend to default to netcat (nc) or socat in listening
mode, because of its simplicity. However, I am not familiar with OS/2 to know
what it comes with. If it has busybox or you can install it there you can use
busybox nc and/or busybox ftpd.

In answering your question, I think the error you are getting is related to
the client not using a passive connection type. Can you enable passive
*after* it connects?

ftp> passive
ls

Alternatives are the busybox ftpd service or tftp, both of which are
relatively easy to run.

--
Regards,
Mick

[Walter Dnes]

On Thu, Aug 03, 2017 at 07:50:32AM -0700, Jeriko One wrote

> Are you able to upload files from other machines than this particular
> VM? I don't have any problems uploading using your config.

It fails uploading a test file from the linux machine hosting the VM.

> Who owns /home/ftp? I think by default vsftpd will change the owner
> to root which would cause problems.

I get more verbose error messages with the linux ftp client. On the h

[i3][root][/dev/shm] ftp 192.168.123.251
Connected to 192.168.123.251 (192.168.123.251).
220 (vsFTPd 3.0.2)
Name (192.168.123.251:waltdnes): anonymous
530 Please login with USER and PASS.
SSL not available
331 Please specify the password.
Password:
230 Login successful.
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> put hello.txt
local: hello.txt remote: hello.txt
200 PORT command successful. Consider using PASV.
553 Could not create file.
ftp> bye
221 Goodbye.

This was with the upload dir on 192.168.123.251 with permissions 555
[d531][root][~] ll /home/ftp/
total 8
dr-xr-xr-x 2 ftp ftp 4096 Aug 3 06:41 .
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4096 Aug 3 06:41 ..

If I change permissions on /home/ftp to 666, I get...

[i3][root][/dev/shm] ftp 192.168.123.251
Connected to 192.168.123.251 (192.168.123.251).
220 (vsFTPd 3.0.2)
Name (192.168.123.251:waltdnes): anonymous
530 Please login with USER and PASS.
SSL not available
331 Please specify the password.
Password:
500 OOPS: vsftpd: refusing to run with writable root inside chroot()
Login failed.
ftp> bye

How is this supposed to work anyways? Can't write to upload dir if
it's not writable, but vsftpd refuses to run if the upload dir is
writeable. Help.

[Mick]

It could not create file because your ftp user:group do not have write
permission.

> If I change permissions on /home/ftp to 666, I get...
>
> [i3][root][/dev/shm] ftp 192.168.123.251
> Connected to 192.168.123.251 (192.168.123.251).
> 220 (vsFTPd 3.0.2)
> Name (192.168.123.251:waltdnes): anonymous
> 530 Please login with USER and PASS.
> SSL not available
> 331 Please specify the password.
> Password:
> 500 OOPS: vsftpd: refusing to run with writable root inside chroot()
> Login failed.
> ftp> bye
>
> How is this supposed to work anyways? Can't write to upload dir if
> it's not writable, but vsftpd refuses to run if the upload dir is
> writeable. Help.

According to the man page here:

https://security.appspot.com/vsftpd/vsftpd_conf.html

" ... the anonymous ftp user must have write permission on desired upload
locations."

You may want to try setting

file_open_mode=0777

in your vsftpd.conf and check ftp user or group have write permissions within
the /home/ftp/ directory.

--
Regards,
Mick

[Bruce Schultz]

What about 777 for /home/ftp ?

Directories generally need the 'x' set

Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

[Walter Dnes]

On Thu, Aug 03, 2017 at 04:09:15PM +0100, Mick wrote

> On Thursday 03 Aug 2017 08:13:18 Walter Dnes wrote:

> > anon_root=/home/ftp
>
> Is this writeable?

If I do make it writeable, I get...

500 OOPS: vsftpd: refusing to run with writable root inside chroot()

Damned if I do; damned if I don't.

> For these kind of jobs I tend to default to netcat (nc) or socat
> in listening mode, because of its simplicity. However, I am not
> familiar with OS/2 to know what it comes with. If it has busybox or
> you can install it there you can use busybox nc and/or busybox ftpd.

I'm trying to transfer a turn-based video game (Galactic Civilizations
2.5) from an OS/2 Warp 3.5 VM to modern, but backwards-compatible
ArcaOS5 https://www.arcanoae.com/arcaos/ atftpd seems to be the answer.
Both the old OS/2 and the new ArcaOS5 have a tftp client. I've got both
of them talking with atftpd on my Gentoo desktop, and it's transferring
data as I type.

Having said that, I really want to get an ftp server working, as a
matter of principle. Please post your vsftpd.conf, and the output of
"ls -al /home/ftp" to give me an idea of what I'm doing wrong.

[David Haller]

Hello,

On Thu, 03 Aug 2017, Walter Dnes wrote:
>On Thu, Aug 03, 2017 at 04:09:15PM +0100, Mick wrote
>> On Thursday 03 Aug 2017 08:13:18 Walter Dnes wrote:
>
>> > anon_root=/home/ftp
>>
>> Is this writeable?
>
> If I do make it writeable, I get...
>
>500 OOPS: vsftpd: refusing to run with writable root inside chroot()

# mkdir /home/ftp/incoming
# chown ftp.ftp /home/ftp/incoming
# chmod 1777 /home/ftp/incoming
# chmod 555 /home/ftp

HTH,
-dnh

--
printk(KERN_CRIT PFX "Reboot didn't ?????\n");
linux-2.6.6/drivers/char/watchdog/softdog.c

[Walter Dnes]

On Fri, Aug 04, 2017 at 02:23:08PM +0200, David Haller wrote

> Hello,
>
> On Thu, 03 Aug 2017, Walter Dnes wrote:
> >On Thu, Aug 03, 2017 at 04:09:15PM +0100, Mick wrote
> >> On Thursday 03 Aug 2017 08:13:18 Walter Dnes wrote:
> >
> >> > anon_root=/home/ftp
> >>
> >> Is this writeable?
> >
> > If I do make it writeable, I get...
> >
> >500 OOPS: vsftpd: refusing to run with writable root inside chroot()
>
> # mkdir /home/ftp/incoming
> # chown ftp.ftp /home/ftp/incoming
> # chmod 1777 /home/ftp/incoming
> # chmod 555 /home/ftp

I did the above (copy+paste; *WITHOUT* the "#", in case anyone asks).
Here's what happens. Question... why is it prompting me with "530 Please
login with USER and PASS." *AFTER* I give username "anonymous". BTW, if
I try any username, other than anonymous, it dies with a message about
being only an anonymous ftp server.

[i3][waltdnes][~/downloads] ftp -p 192.168.123.251

Connected to 192.168.123.251 (192.168.123.251).
220 (vsFTPd 3.0.2)
Name (192.168.123.251:waltdnes): anonymous
530 Please login with USER and PASS.
SSL not available
331 Please specify the password.
Password:
230 Login successful.
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.

ftp> put install-x86-minimal-20170207.iso
local: install-x86-minimal-20170207.iso remote: install-x86-minimal-20170207.iso
227 Entering Passive Mode (192,168,123,251,117,59).

553 Could not create file.
ftp> bye
221 Goodbye.

I did manage to get the video game transferred with tftp, after a bit
of extra work. I don't know if it's the old OS/2 Warp tftp client, or
part of the protocol, but it can only transfer files up to 33553920
bytes in size, i.e. 32 * 1024 * 1024 - 512 bytes. 32 megabytes looks
like some sort of coded-in limit. I had to do the transfer in pieces
less than 32 megabytes. I still want to get anonymous ftp working.

[Mick]

Sounds obvious, but did you try using a different client to connect to the ftp
server anonymously and see what you get?
--
Regards,
Mick

[Walter Dnes]

On Mon, Aug 07, 2017 at 03:46:50PM +0100, Mick wrote

> > I did manage to get the video game transferred with tftp, after a bit
> > of extra work. I don't know if it's the old OS/2 Warp tftp client, or
> > part of the protocol, but it can only transfer files up to 33553920
> > bytes in size, i.e. 32 * 1024 * 1024 - 512 bytes. 32 megabytes looks
> > like some sort of coded-in limit. I had to do the transfer in pieces
> > less than 32 megabytes. I still want to get anonymous ftp working.
>
>
> Sounds obvious, but did you try using a different client to connect
> to the ftp server anonymously and see what you get?

I originally tried with the ancient OS/2 Warp ftp client from inside
the QEMU VM. Then I switched to testing the connection with net-ftp/ftp
from the Gentoo machine hosting the QEMU VM. The Gentoo client gives
more verbose error messages, but fails just like the ancient OS/2 Warp
ftp client.

[David Haller]

Hello,

On Mon, 07 Aug 2017, Walter Dnes wrote:
>On Fri, Aug 04, 2017 at 02:23:08PM +0200, David Haller wrote

>> # mkdir /home/ftp/incoming
>> # chown ftp.ftp /home/ftp/incoming
>> # chmod 1777 /home/ftp/incoming
>> # chmod 555 /home/ftp
>
> I did the above (copy+paste; *WITHOUT* the "#", in case anyone asks).
>Here's what happens. Question... why is it prompting me with "530 Please
>login with USER and PASS." *AFTER* I give username "anonymous". BTW, if
>I try any username, other than anonymous, it dies with a message about
>being only an anonymous ftp server.
>
>[i3][waltdnes][~/downloads] ftp -p 192.168.123.251
>Connected to 192.168.123.251 (192.168.123.251).
>220 (vsFTPd 3.0.2)
>Name (192.168.123.251:waltdnes): anonymous
>530 Please login with USER and PASS.
>SSL not available
>331 Please specify the password.
>Password:
>230 Login successful.
>Remote system type is UNIX.
>Using binary mode to transfer files.

Try a:

ftp> cd incoming

here...


>ftp> put install-x86-minimal-20170207.iso

or use

ftp> put install-x86-minimal-20170207.iso incoming/

there.

>local: install-x86-minimal-20170207.iso remote: install-x86-minimal-20170207.iso
>227 Entering Passive Mode (192,168,123,251,117,59).
>553 Could not create file.
>ftp> bye
>221 Goodbye.

HTH,
-dnh

--
panic("floppy: Port bolixed.");
linux-2.2.16/include/asm-sparc/floppy.h

[Walter Dnes]

> Try a:
>
> ftp> cd incoming

Thank you, that was it. I just pushed over a file from a Gentoo
machine to my desktop for a test. The OS/2 Warp ftp client still
doesn't work, but that's probably a VM networking issue. There are
other ways of getting data from inside the VM to the host machine, then
I can ftp from there.

Annoying "feature"... if I set "anon_root=/home/ftp/incoming/", then
vsftpd refuses to run, complaining about a writable chroot directory.
So I have to do an anonymous login, starting of in /home/ftp/ and then
manually "cd incoming".

[David Haller]

Hello,

On Tue, 08 Aug 2017, Walter Dnes wrote:
>> Try a:
>>
>> ftp> cd incoming
>
> Thank you, that was it. I just pushed over a file from a Gentoo
>machine to my desktop for a test. The OS/2 Warp ftp client still
>doesn't work, but that's probably a VM networking issue. There are
>other ways of getting data from inside the VM to the host machine, then
>I can ftp from there.
>
> Annoying "feature"... if I set "anon_root=/home/ftp/incoming/", then
>vsftpd refuses to run, complaining about a writable chroot directory.

Yeah, it's all about the writeable root (of the chroot). Whichever
path that is. Writeable chroot-root is just a "no-no" ;) And having
those rights on /incoming is quite sane...

>So I have to do an anonymous login, starting of in /home/ftp/ and then
>manually "cd incoming".

Or just add the target-dir at the end of the 'put foo /incoming/'.

And have a look at your client configuration ... For the plain
net-ftp/ftp client, it's ~/.netrc (see 'man 5 netrc'). Uhhm, that's
not quite intuitive to use... So here's a working example:

==== ~/.netrc ====
machine localhost
login anonymous password "test@localhost"
macdef init
pwd
cd /incoming
pwd


default login anonymous password "inv...@invalid.invalid"
====

That way, you'd be auto-logged-in and auto-chdired to incoming on
localhost. Ain't that nice? You could add more commands to that
init-macro... Like a 'put foo' ;) Add a host-alias to your /etc/hosts
use that for a 'machine foo' directive in your .netrc and *tada* all
can be automated ;) That's Unix: a large box of pieces that can all
be combined creatively - or less so.

The 'pwd' are just for debugging (and the macro-definition (here the
special init macro) ends at the empty line). That should get you
started :)

Anyway, TUI/GUI clients like ncftp and gftp often have similar
features... Or even read ~/.netrc.

HTH,
-dnh, lovin' it to know the basics, learned in the 90ies, still valid
today ...

--
Truth's a bitch. -- Beka Valentine, Andromeda 3x04 - "Cui Bono"