Redhat Linux xinetd error

Dear all,

I am reciving the following error in the /var/log/messages of my system

Jul 18 11:14:27 airtest xinetd[12969]: START: echo-dgram pid=0 from=::ffff:XX.XX.XX.X
Jul 18 11:14:27 airtest xinetd[12969]: START: echo-dgram pid=0 from=::ffff:XX.XX.XX.X
Jul 18 11:19:17 airtest xinetd[12969]: START: echo-dgram pid=0 from=::ffff:XX.XX.XX.X
Jul 18 11:19:17 airtest xinetd[12969]: START: echo-dgram pid=0 from=::ffff:XX.XX.XX.X

Can somebody help me understand and resolve the above error?

Regards
Pistachio

I am assuming that the tail end is a source IP address. If this is the case, you could:-

  • Consider disabling the echo port.
  • Investigate why the source is polling you.
  • Remove xinetd entirely and force users to use SSH

To disable echo, have a look in /etc/xinetd.d/echo-dgram There is a statement that you can set disable = yes Restart xinetd to make this effective:-

service xinetd restart

The default is disabled, so I wonder what the requirement was.

Forcing SSH is always a little contentious though. If you need a telnet type client, there is of course putty, but we've gone for SecureCRT from Van Dyke Technologies and it's pretty good. You do pay for it though.

I hope that this helps,
Robin
Liverpool/Blackburn