Lots of unknown entries in /etc/services

ashwin_cse · 08-13-2007, 04:59 AM

I am using fc6 as server & it serves our purpose well. I wanted to check if there are any attacks on this server. I find there are lots of entries in /etc/services & most of the entries in this lengthy file are not used by people in the network. Although an entry exist here, a corresponding entry is not shown in system-config-services or in ntsysv. So is it safe to comment out the entries on services not used by us. Examples of services found in /etc/services are:

Code:

h323hostcallsc  1300/tcp     # H323 Host Call Secure
ms-sql-s        1433/tcp     # Microsoft-SQL-Server
ica             1494/tcp     # Citrix ICA Client
xns-mail        58/tcp       # XNS Mail
...
...

druuna · 08-13-2007, 05:24 AM

Hi,

/etc/services is used for name-number translations. See man services.

There are no security issues with this file (too my knowledge) and commenting out entries will not increase security. The name-number relations follow a standard, some fixed, others de facto. RFC 1700 describes them.

Hope this clears things up a bit.

ashwin_cse · 08-13-2007, 05:56 AM

Thank you for enlightening on services. Man pages on services was helpful. I don't know how it didn't turn up in google search. After this post atleast people like me will get the knowledge to look at right places. I will certainly go through the rfc mentioned.