Trend Micro rolls out free tools to protect users against Shellshock (the Bash bug)

Trend Micro, a security software and solutions provider, has released license-free tools to help protect web users against the Shellshock or Bash bug across the Mac OSX and Linux platforms. 

Source: Trend Micro infographic.

Broadly publicised the week of 22 September, Shellshock is a vulnerability that can exploit command access to Linux-based systems and adversely impact a majority of the web servers around the world, as well as Internet-connected devices on the Mac OSX platform. The vulnerability has potential to adversely impact a half billion web servers and other Internet-connected devices including mobile phones, routers and medical devices.

"Since this situation has potential to escalate quickly, we are taking immediate preventative steps to help keep the public safe from this unprecedented vulnerability," said Eva Chen, CEO, Trend Micro. "We believe the most responsible course of action is for technology users to remain calm and apply the resources made available from Trend Micro, and others, to create a strong defensive front. By making our tools accessible free of charge to our customers, and beyond, we are trying to address this 'outbreak' to stop a possible epidemic before it can start."

One of the free tools featured, the on-demand BashLite Malware Scanner, will determine if the BashLite malware is resident on Linux systems.

"Shellshock could be notably more widespread than the infamous Heartbleed from earlier this year," said Raimund Genes, CTO, Trend Micro. "Heartbleed was very different in nature and behaviour. With Shellshock the threats are much more severe."

For those unable to implement the Trend Micro wall of protection against the Shellshock threat, Trend Micro's threat defense experts recommend the following steps to help businesses and end-users mitigate the vulnerability:

• End-users should watch for patches for Mac OSX and implement them immediately.
• Linux system operators should consider virtually patching until a patch is available from their vendor.
• Linux/Apache web server operators using BASH scripts should consider retooling those scripts to use something other than BASH until a patch is available.
• Hosted service customers should contact their service provider to determine if they are vulnerable and find out their remediation plans if they are exposed.

Trend Micro researchers are currently monitoring this vulnerability in the wild to anticipate additional escalations. The company has released a detailed blog post explaining the vulnerability with additional recommendations to stay protected, and created an infographic detailing what the vulnerability is and how it works.