UnrealIRCd
{{short description|Open-source IRC daemon}}
{{Infobox software
| name = UnrealIRCd
| logo = UnrealIRCd Logo.png
| logo size = 250px
| screenshot =
| caption = A screenshot of UnrealIRCd running on Windows XP
| author = Carsten V. Munk (stskeeps)
| developer = Bram Matthys (Syzop) and [https://www.unrealircd.org/index/about/staff others]
| released = {{release date and age|df=yes|1999|05}}{{cite web | url=https://forums.unrealircd.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8271 | title=UnrealIRCd celebrates its 15th birthday! | access-date=2014-05-18 | archive-date=2015-03-22 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322084854/https://forums.unrealircd.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8271 | url-status=live }}
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q944364|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q944364|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q944364|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q944364|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| programming language = C
| operating system =
| platform = Linux, BSD, Mac OS X, Solaris, HP-UX, Windows
| genre = IRCd
| license = GPLv1 or later{{cite web|url=https://github.com/unrealircd/unrealircd/blob/unreal60_dev/include/license.h|title=license.h|website=GitHub }}{{cite web|url=https://github.com/unrealircd/unrealircd/blob/unreal42/LICENSE|title=unrealircd/LICENSE at unreal42 ‧ unrealircd/unrealircd ‧ Github|website=github.com|access-date=May 20, 2019|archive-date=April 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419091055/https://github.com/unrealircd/unrealircd/blob/unreal42/LICENSE|url-status=live}}
| website = [https://www.unrealircd.org/ www.unrealircd.org]
}}
UnrealIRCd is an open-source IRC daemon, originally based on DreamForge, and is available for Unix-like operating systems and Windows. Since the beginning of development on UnrealIRCd c. May 1999, many new features have been added and modified, including advanced security features and bug fixes, and it has become a popular server.
Development
UnrealIRCd was originally based on DALnet's DreamForge IRCd, "a now deprecated IRC server that was the predecessor to the actively maintained Bahamut server."{{cite book
|last1 = Piccard
|first1 = Paul
|first2 = Brian
|last2 = Baskin
|first3 = George
|last3 = Spillman
|first4 = Marcus
|last4 = Sachs
|title = Securing IM and P2P Applications for the Enterprise
|edition = 1st
|publisher = Syngress Publishing
|date = May 2005
|isbn = 978-1-59749-017-7
|page = 370
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZU95ZdQ908C&pg=PA370
|access-date = 2011-09-10
|ref = Piccard
|archive-date = 2014-07-12
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140712094952/http://books.google.com/books?id=ZZU95ZdQ908C&pg=PA370
|url-status = live
}}
On July 13, 2007, Carsten V. Munk (stskeeps),{{cite web
|last=Munk
|first=Carsten V. (stskeeps)
|date=December 6, 2008
|url=http://forums.unrealircd.com/viewtopic.php?t=5701
|title=Stskeeps says goodbye
|publisher=Unrealircd.com
|access-date=September 11, 2011
|archive-date=April 2, 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402081521/http://forums.unrealircd.com/viewtopic.php?t=5701
|url-status=live
}} the founder of the UnrealIRCd project,{{cite web
|url=http://www.unrealircd.com/staff.php
|title=UnrealIRCd Staff/Contributors
|publisher=UnrealIRCd.com
|access-date=2009-09-10
|archive-date=2010-01-27
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127173438/http://www.unrealircd.com/staff.php
|url-status=live
}} announced that a future v4.0 would be a fork of InspIRCd. Later on, this idea was dropped.{{cite web
|author=Bishop, Nathan (nate)
|date=December 10, 2008
|title=UnrealIRCd Development & Future
|publisher=UnrealIRCd.com
|url=http://forums.unrealircd.com/viewtopic.php?t=5709
|access-date=2011-07-28
|archive-date=2011-07-28
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728130938/http://forums.unrealircd.com/viewtopic.php?t=5709
|url-status=live
}}
With the release of version 3.2.10 in December 2012, Bram Matthys (Syzop), the current project leader of UnrealIRCd, announced that development has been started on a 3.4 version. The 3.2 series will be maintained until the new version has been declared stable, which was expected to happen somewhere in 2014.{{cite web
|author=Matthys, Bram (Syzop)
|date=December 25, 2012
|title=Unreal3.2.10 released & Unreal3.4 development
|publisher=UnrealIRCd.org
|url=http://forums.unrealircd.org/viewtopic.php?t=8122
|access-date=2012-12-25
|archive-date=2015-03-30
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330012609/https://forums.unrealircd.org/viewtopic.php?t=8122
|url-status=live
}}
In October 2015 it was announced that due to the many changes the new series will be called UnrealIRCd 4 and the first Release Candidate was made available for download.{{cite web
|author=Matthys, Bram (Syzop)
|date=October 11, 2015
|title=UnrealIRCd 4.0.0-rc1 released
|publisher=UnrealIRCd.org
|url=http://forums.unrealircd.org/viewtopic.php?t=8407
|access-date=2015-10-11
|archive-date=2016-03-13
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313072434/https://forums.unrealircd.org/viewtopic.php?t=8407
|url-status=live
}}
An UnrealIRCd 4.0.0 stable release was made on December 24, 2015.{{cite web |url=https://forums.unrealircd.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8775 |title=UnrealIRCd 4.0.17 released |website=UnrealIRCd |date=Dec 23, 2017 |access-date=Apr 15, 2018 |archive-date=April 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416013110/https://forums.unrealircd.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8775 |url-status=live }}
Next UnrealIRCd 5 stable series was first released on December 13, 2019.{{cite web |url=https://forums.unrealircd.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8947 |title=UnrealIRCd 5.0.0 released - UnrealIRCd Forums |website=UnrealIRCd |date=Dec 13, 2019 |access-date=Aug 18, 2020 |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806221036/https://forums.unrealircd.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8947 |url-status=live }}
Features
Some of Unreal's features are referred to as "nonstandard", in that they are not listed in the IRC-related RFCs 1459 and 2811–2813,Piccard et al., p. 402 but are beneficial "from a security point of view." The software "possibly has the most security features of any IRC server", including "spam filters, different styles of user bans, various channel modes to prevent abuse and flooding, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) connection support, and compressed server connections." For example, the shun command blocks a user from transmitting any text, the spamfilter uses regular expressions and can automatically ban, shun or disconnect users, and dccdeny can block files from being transmitted.Piccard et al., p. 371
It includes the ability to password-protect server restart and stop commands, for operator use only.{{cite book
|editor=Mutton, Paul
|chapter=Chapter 15, Servers and Services: Hack 95
|last=Leadbeater
|first=David
|title=IRC Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools
|publisher=O'Reilly
|year=2004
|page=363
|isbn=0-596-00687-X
|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MbHAnBh9AqQC&pg=PA363
|quote=One of the most popular and full-featured ircds is Unreal.
|access-date=2011-09-19
|ref=Leadbeater
|archive-date=2014-07-12
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712094510/http://books.google.com/books?id=MbHAnBh9AqQC&pg=PA363
|url-status=live
}} The Windows version includes error reporting on startup. Unreal supports linking to IRC Services, and allowing Services to change channel modes.Leadbeater, p. 366.
Server-side filtering can be used by administrators to block transfers of files, or certain domains.Piccard et al., p. 409, 392
Unreal 3.2's "new-style" configuration file format is described as "more verbose" than traditional IRCd servers, which makes it easier set up; it is divided into "blocks" of related options, and has explanatory comments for each option.Leadbeater, p. 361.
Reception
UnrealIRCd is "one of the most popular and full-featured IRC daemons"Leadbeater, p. 360. and is used on the largest number of IRC servers, according to SearchIRC.com.{{cite web
|title=IRCd version overview
|work=SearchIRC
|access-date=2011-09-10
|url=http://searchirc.com/ircd-versions
|archive-date=2010-02-09
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209034848/http://searchirc.com/ircd-versions
|url-status=live
}}
This server is described as having "possibly the most security features of any IRC server."
Security issues
The tarball of version 3.2.8.1, from November 2009 to June 12, 2010, contained a trojan that allowed people to execute commands with the privileges of the user running the daemon, regardless of any user restrictions. The problem was fixed - the current tarball download is not suspected to contain a trojan.{{Cite journal
|title=Linux infection proves Windows malware monopoly is over; Gentoo ships backdoor? [updated]
|first=Ed
|last=Bott
|date=June 12, 2010
|journal=ZDNet
|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-infection-proves-windows-malware-monopoly-is-over-gentoo-ships-backdoor-updated/
|access-date=September 20, 2011
|archive-date=September 26, 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926142457/http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/linux-infection-proves-windows-malware-monopoly-is-over-gentoo-ships-backdoor-updated/2206
|url-status=live
|url=http://www.unrealircd.com/txt/unrealsecadvisory.20100612.txt
|date=June 12, 2010
|title=UnrealIRCd Security Advisory
|publisher=UnrealIRCd.com
|access-date=2011-09-10
|archive-date=2011-09-04
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904013021/http://www.unrealircd.com/txt/unrealsecadvisory.20100612.txt
|url-status=live
|title=Some UnrealIRCd 3.2.8.1 downloads trojaned (Update 3)
|date=June 12, 2010
|first=Christian
|last=Lederer
|publisher=IRCJunkie.org
|url=http://www.irc-junkie.org/2010-06-12/some-unrealircd-3-2-8-1-downloads-trojaned/
|access-date=2011-09-10
|archive-date=2011-08-01
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110801091303/http://www.irc-junkie.org/2010-06-12/some-unrealircd-3-2-8-1-downloads-trojaned/
|url-status=live
}} (rationale) The attack was attributed to the group Ac1db1tch3z.{{cn|date=July 2024}}
The "Firefox XPS" cross-protocol JavaScript-based attack on IRC networks was reported in January 2010;{{cite news
|title=Firefox-based attack wreaks havoc on IRC users
|first=Dan
|last=Goodin
|date=January 30, 2010
|work=The Register
|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/30/firefox_interprotocol_attack/
|access-date=2011-09-10
|archive-date=2011-08-17
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817114530/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/30/firefox_interprotocol_attack/
|url-status=live
}} UnrealIRCd developers later released a patch to set its anti-spoofing configuration parameter to "on" - the default was previously "off" - and "kill/zline/etc such connections".{{cite web
|title=Browser/Javascript POST attack
|author=Syzop
|date=February 28, 2010
|publisher=UnrealIRCd.com
|url=http://forums.unrealircd.com/viewtopic.php?t=6458
|access-date=2011-09-10
|archive-date=2011-09-28
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928005757/http://forums.unrealircd.com/viewtopic.php?t=6458
|url-status=live
|first=Christian
|last=Lederer
|date=March 1, 2010
|title=UnrealIRCd team releases patch against Firefox XPS attack
|publisher=irc-junkie.org
|url=http://www.irc-junkie.org/2010-03-01/unrealircd-team-releases-patch-against-firefox-xps-attack/
|access-date=2011-09-10
|archive-date=2011-09-01
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901044554/http://www.irc-junkie.org/2010-03-01/unrealircd-team-releases-patch-against-firefox-xps-attack/
|url-status=live
See also
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}