Group has no members
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 empty address or service group is a rule field with nothing behind it. Whatever the rule was meant to match, it does not match through this group, and the name gives a reviewer no reason to suspect it.
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.
- Add the members the group is named for, or delete the group.
- Check every rule that references it for the behavior you actually expect.
Command line
PAN-OS CLI, standalone firewall, vsys1
set vsys vsys1 address-group <object-name> static <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 in2
- <object-name>
- The object's name, as it appears on your firewall
- <member>
- A member for this group
Before you type it1
- A group with no members matches nothing, which is not what an empty group looks like in a rule.
How to confirm the fix
- Run a policy match query for a flow the group was meant to cover and confirm which rule answers.
Limits
- A group staged ahead of a planned migration is legitimately empty for a while.
Compliance references
No benchmark recommendation is mapped to this control in this version.
More in Objects
- PAN-SEC-016Object is defined but never referenced
- PAN-SEC-017Address group is dangerously broad
- 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-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
- PAN-SEC-039Two address objects overlap under different names
See it on your own firewall
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