Address group is dangerously broad
At a glance
Base severity
Area
Platform
Evidence level
Benchmark reference
Reads the export, not the device
ConfigProof reads a configuration export. This control is evaluated against the objects in that file, and it reports what the file says. It does not connect to the device and sees no traffic, so a finding here describes the configuration, not what the firewall is doing right now.
Why it matters
An address group that contains 0.0.0.0/0, or that has grown past a reviewable number of members, means every rule using it is far wider than its name suggests.
How to fix it
Web interface
The steps below are written for the web interface. A finding raised on your own export carries the same steps with your object names filled in.
- Remove any 0.0.0.0/0 or ::/0 member from the group.
- Split oversized groups by function or environment.
- Re-check every rule that references the group after the split.
Command line
PAN-OS CLI, standalone firewall, vsys1
delete vsys vsys1 address-group <object-name> static <broad-member>set vsys vsys1 address-group <object-name> static <narrowed-member>
An example. Values in angle brackets are yours to supply; a finding on your own export fills in the names it read. Nothing here commits. Review the candidate configuration, then commit it yourself.
Read it back
show vsys vsys1 address-group <object-name>Values to fill in3
- <object-name>
- The object's name, as it appears on your firewall
- <broad-member>
- The member that makes the group too wide
- <narrowed-member>
- The narrower member to use instead
Before you type it1
- Narrowing this changes who reaches what. Confirm the new set covers the traffic the application needs.
How to confirm the fix
- Review every rule that references the group after splitting it.
- Confirm the split groups still cover the hosts the service needs.
Limits
- A group deliberately modeling the whole internet for a deny rule is legitimate; groups used only by deny rules score lower impact.
Compliance references
No benchmark recommendation is mapped to this control in this version.
More in Objects
- PAN-SEC-015Duplicate address objects with the same value
- PAN-SEC-016Object is defined but never referenced
- PAN-SEC-018Allow rule uses an object that resolves to the whole internet
- PAN-SEC-034Configuration references an object that does not exist
- PAN-SEC-035Group has no members
- PAN-SEC-036Group contains itself through a chain of nested groups
- PAN-SEC-037One object name is defined at more than one scope
- PAN-SEC-038Policy field holds a literal address instead of a named object
See it on your own firewall
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