Code Report Summary

Event Overview

• Incident: 4chan users faced a hacking incident causing account access issues.
• Perpetrators: Hackers from Soyjack.party, a site stemming from the defunct QA board on 4chan.

Details of the Hack

• Method: Exploitation of security vulnerabilities in PHP backend rather than using stolen passwords or social engineering.
• Vandalism: Restoration of a defunct forum to post a "you got hacked" message.
• Data Exposure: Leaked private emails and IP logs of 4chan janitors.

Technical Insights

• Vulnerability: Deprecated software, including outdated PHP and Ghostscript (last updated in 2012), facilitated the hack.
• PHP Concerns: 4chan’s PHP version hasn't been updated since 2016, running on outdated FreeBSD (version 10.1 from 2014).
• Security Measure Attempt: 4chan uses aggressive browser fingerprinting to control spam and prevent ban evasion.

Response & Developments

• CVE Database: Importance addressed, immediate government funding renewal noted after temporary defunding.
• Hacker Tactics: Elevation to global user status without exploiting all possible data.
• Moderation Tools: Discovery of discrepancies in ban reasons shown to users versus staff.

Lessons & Recommendations

• Database Suggestions: Timecale, an open-source high-performance database built on Postgres, recommended for efficient handling of large volumes of data.

Conclusion

• Presentation: Intended informative video not sharing hack source code due to community guidelines.
• Call to Action: Explore TimescaleDB for better performance and analytics.

Thank you for watching this edition of the Code Report. Stay tuned for more updates.