CHiNA                                                       CHiNA
                          Hacking Unix!

                          By:  The Viper



 INTRO :  I'd first like to say before going on that CHiNA, (and that
          includes its members), take no blame whatsoever on the
          accuracy of this information. (It's about as close to 100%
          as we can presently find....)

          <Reproduced Without Permission from:  The Technocratic Times>
                        <c> 1989 - by US..of course!


This is the first article about how to hack and have fun with the most
common network system, called UNIX.

Unix is a trademark of BELL LABS...(Just had to say that for some reason..)

In this article, we will discuss the UNIX system that runs on the VAX
systems.  If you are hacking on another UNIX-type system, some commands
may differ, but since it is licensed by BELL, they can't make any big
changes...(Or Can They?  How well do we know Bell?)

Hacking onto a UNIX system is very difficult, and we strongly advise you
to look up an inside source, if possible.  He/She must NOT know what you
are up to.  Just ask him some simple questions about username, password
digits and that sort of stuff that can be very good to know about.
(We find it best, to prevent suspicious attitudes anyhow, to get yerself
a hold of the most idiotic bug-eyed nerds that ya ever did see, but of
course, one that knows about the system inside and out, or close to..)
(Those guys would never get suspicious!  I hope..err..umm..I think!)

It will be much easier if you can map the whole system, especially the
logon part.

The UNIX will not give you much when you try to break in.  Almost all
VAX's, after you get a carrier from them, respond:

=>login:

They give you no chance to see what the login name format is.  Most
commonly used are single words, under 8 digits, usually the persons
name.  There are ways around this, of course:

Most VAX's have an account called "SUGGEST" for people who want to make
a suggestion to the system root terminal.  This terminal is usually
watched by the SysOp, but late at night he is probably home, sleeping.

So, we can write a simple program to send the VAX this type of message:

        o  A screen freeze (ctrl-S)
        o  A screen clear (depends on system)
        o  About 255 garbage characters and then a command to
           create a login account
        o  A screen clear (again, depends on system)
        o  Then, unfreeze the terminal.

What this does:

When the terminal is frozen, it keeps a buffer of what is sent.  Well, the
buffer is about 127 characters long.  So you can overflow it with trash,
and then you send a command line to create an account (system dependent).
After this you clear the buffer and screen again, then unfreeze the
terminal.

NOTE:

This is a very bad way to do it and is much nicer if you just send a
command to the terminal to shut the system down or whatever you are after...

There is always an account called "ROOT", the most powerful account to be
on, since it has all of the system files on it.

If you hack your way onto this one, then everything will be easy from
here on..(Which we all know is impossible..but it happens..)

On the UNIX system, the abort key is the (ctrl-D) key.  Watch how many
many times you hit this since it is also a way to logoff the system!

Ok, now we are on the system and everything looks fine.

First of all, we should know a little about UNIX architecture:

The root directory, called "ROOT" is where the system resides.  After
this come a few "sub" root directories, usually to group (stats here,
private stuff, user log..etc..)

Under this one comes the superviser (the operator of the system) (Duhhh..)
and then finally the normal users.  In the UNIX "shell" everything is
treated the same way.  By this I mean: you can access a user directory
and so on.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, that will do it for this CHiNA infofile on "Having Fun With Unix"..
Depending on this success and usage of this article will determine if
there will be additional infofiles on this subject..)

If you have any suggestions on CHiNA infofiles that you would like to see
published, please call:

        The TinselTown Rebellion - [713]-xxx-xxxx
        The Mudd Club - [713]-xxx-xxxx

          (Sorry, due to security reasons, we are not able to publish
           the numbers to our boards at this time..We at least gave you
           a start on where to hack - we'll leave the other billions of
           combinations up to you!)

Or, call one of our CHiNA Nodes, and they can easily provide us with
your ideas.  We'll toss it around between members, and see what comes
up!  You never know..

Have fun, be careful, and take it easy.  All the information included
should be enough to provide hours of safe enjoyment.

                    Later,
                       The Viper
                         <CHiNA>

Thanks & Greets Go Out To:

The Conflict & Maxwell Smart (For Being the Greatest..And if you Believe That..)
Count Zero & Monalisa Overdrive (Where you two been hiding around lately???!?!)
                                (Haven't seen ya on any of our boards recently)
Our CHiNA Node SysOps:
----------------------
Mr. X - Vision - Celtic Phrost - Egghead Dude - Shadow Walker - Master Ryu -
The Oxidizer - The Ranger - The Genetic Terrorist - Jolly Green Giant -
Feetsack - The Orator

(Thanks for supportin' us guys!)

and a special thanks to:

Lord Blix & Da Guch (Just to make this file look really "spiffy"!)