Linux/Windows Naming Conflict

[shpshftr]

Hello

I just installed Suse 9.3 on a box with nothing else. Did install using all default settings. Odd thing happend. Couldn't get it to get DHCP. Brought down the interface and back up. Suddenly one of my users on a Windows box lost his network connection. Didn't think much of that and corrected his problem. Returned to Suse box where it was asking me to login and showing the same name as the Windows box that lost it's network connection. My naming convention is extremely specific to my company and I definitely did not give the Linux box that name. Anyone have any idea how it decided to grab that name? Thanks in advance.

 

[stefanwagner]

No. Sometimes dhcp uses the mac to identify a machine, but the mac shouldn't change by accident when changing the OS (while it is easy, to fake a mac if you like to).
And the probability of a MAC - conflict by random is nearly zero, and again independent from the OS.

But you could check both MACs just to be sure about that.

seeking a job as java-programmer in Berlin:

http://home.arcor.de/hirnstrom/bewerbung

 

[shpshftr]

Yeah it is odd. Checked the mac addresses right when it happend. Found an area in Suse with a check box that says update host name through DHCP. Once that was unchecked it didn't happen again. Though I had already created a reservation for it under it's mac so it couldn't possibly happen again anyway. Problem was solved easily but I wondered if someone who knows more about Linux than me knew how it goes about determining what name to use from DHCP. Anyway thanks for your post. Hope you get something in Berlin. If you ever decide to move to Chicago let me know as we write trading software and are always looking for good dev guys.

 

[LawnBoy]

(while it is easy, to fake a mac if you like to)

ARRRG!!! You're kidding me! Much of my security depends on MAC addresses. Can you point me at some reference materials regarding this?
<kicks self for being ignorant>

 

[BIS]

man ifconfig?

 

[thedaver]

There are Windows utilities for setting a new MAC address as well. IFCONFIG on linux makes it trivially simple.

D.E.R. Management - IT Project Management Consulting

http://www.dermanagement.com/

 

[LawnBoy]

hw class - Set the hardware address of this interface, if the device driver supports this operation.

Do many drivers support this? How can I find out which ones do?

 

[abaldwin]

Hey LawnBoy, check out most commercial routers. LinkSys routers make mac spoofing a one line entry. On the setup just enter the mac that you want it to be.


Useful for replacing routers on ISP's that require your mac to be registerd with them for use.



Andy Baldwin

"Testing is the most overlooked programming language on the books!

 

[Trevoke]

Yeah but don't worry *too much* about it.
If they don't know what the MAC addresses are, it's still secure.
....
Until they learn. So make sure they don't.

-Haben sie fosforos?
-No tiengo caballero, but I have un briquet.

 

[LawnBoy]

I hate the idea of security through ignorance, but what can ya do. Time to enable Spanning Tree Protocol on all my network switches... Topology loops can be ugly.

 

[pansophic]

Don't let them learn the mac address? You just run tcpdump -i eth0 and sniff before you even attempt to assign an IP address.

Security through obscurity is not security.


pansophic