TZUTC: -0500
MSGID: 272.fido-bbbsengl@1:3634/12 22aed78e
REPLY: 1:282/1031.0 66cd3fa3
PID: Synchronet 3.17c-Linux  Feb 14 2020 GCC 7.4.0
TID: SBBSecho 3.10-Linux r3.151 Feb 14 2020 GCC 7.4.0
CHRS: ASCII 1
NOTE: FSEditor.js v1.103
  Re: All nodes busy?
  By: Jeff Smith to All/kim Heino on Sun Feb 16 2020 02:03:06


 JS> I currently have the 22 node version of BBBS Toy-4. Since upgrading
 JS> to the current version I have noticed that I frequently (At least
 JS> once a day) run out of available nodes. I don't recall noticing
 JS> this issue with previous versions of BBBS. I use iptables to help
 JS> manage port access. Recently I have reconfigured bbbsd to run
 JS> using all non-standard ports to see if that would affect my bust
 JS> port issue. It didn't seem to make a difference. Is there
 JS> something I am missing? Has anyone else had a problem with busy
 JS> nodes with BBBS?

there is a new wave of bots attempting to recruit buggy routers into their
botnet(s)... just ask my IDS/IPS* about it ;)

but seriously, can you shorten your timeout on login for inactivity? if they
don't know what to do, they will sit at the login prompt until they or you
time out... the faster you can time them out, the faster you can get your
nodes freed back up for real users...

another thing you might be able to do is to drop/block IPs that connect more
than X times in Y seconds... some BBSes have this capability and i use it in
my IDS/IPS as well... for example, this rule from my IDS/IPS detects 5 TCP
SYNs within 60 seconds and raises an alert which triggers a block of the
connecting IP...

alert tcp $EXTERNAL_NET any -> $HOME_NET 23 (msg:"Rapid TELNET \
  Inbound - Possible Brute Force Attack"; flags: S; \
  detection_filter: track by_src, count 5, seconds 60; \
  classtype:unsuccesful-user; sid:100000020; rev:3;)

i highly recommend running an IDS/IPS package on one's perimeter firewall if
they can... it takes some time to tune it for one's network traffic but once
that is done, there's little to do other than sit back, watch the nefarious
trash on the outside beat on the door trying to get in, and laugh at them... i
should also note that our setup does not use any database logging/monitoring
techniques with our IDS/IPS... doing this does allow for deeper analysis of
alerted network traffic but in our case, we haven't seen a need for such in
our case...


* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusion_detection_system


)\/(ark
--- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
 * Origin: SouthEast Star Mail HUB - SESTAR (1:3634/12)
SEEN-BY: 1/120 123 14/6 18/0 90/1 103/705 116/116 123/0 25 50 150
SEEN-BY: 123/170 755 135/300 153/7715 154/10 30 40 700 203/0 221/0
SEEN-BY: 221/6 227/114 201 400 229/426 452 1014 240/5832 249/206 317
SEEN-BY: 261/38 280/464 5003 292/854 300/4 317/3 322/757 342/200 396/45
SEEN-BY: 423/120 712/848 770/1 2452/250 3634/0 12 15 27 50 119
PATH: 3634/12 154/10 280/464 229/426