Thanks in advance
Declan
--== Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ ==--
---Share what you know. Learn what you don't.---
>I have an ASP site that is tailored to suit groups of individuals based on
>their IP address. Their IP address is retrieved from the
>Request.ServerVariables("REMOTE_ADDR") which is then added to their Session
>variable. This is used to determine the information content sent to that
>user. What I want to know is can this IP address be spoofed ? As the tailored
>sites contain sensitive information, it is critical that we don't leave
>ourselves open to attack by this method. If it can, then what is the most
>sucure way (apart from HTTPS) to host an ASP site ?
The IP address in ServerVariables can certainly be spoofed.
Check this URL for an intro to how spoofing is done
http://network.miami.edu/james/.spoof
Hosting a "secure" site, SSL or otherwise, is no protection
against IP spoofing. Secure sites are meant to prevent
sniffing, a totally separate attack.
Michael
IP addresses can always be spoofed. They are a good safeguard, but
will never protect you against a determined invader. IP + cookies is
a slightly better safeguard, but still supplies no absolute
safeguard. I don't know why HTTPS has been ruled out for your
solution, but I would suggest rethinking it. Share and Enjoy,
David Saff
IP + cookies won't do anything to detect or foil IP spoofing
unless you're talking about a cookie that persists between
sessions. If the IP is spoofed in the routing table, then you've
formed a two-way link with the imposter and the cookie would
just get set on his machine. If the link isn't two-way (that is,
the imposter is just forging headers to lie about his IP), then
anything you send back to him will be mis-addressed and he
won't get it - a fairly useless spoof unless it's just a DOS attack.
HTTPS also wouldn't do anything about IP spoofing. It would
simply encrypt your link with the imposter. It guards against
sniffing, but not spoofing.
Michael