Management interface accepts HTTPS or SSH from any address
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
With no permitted IP list the management interface answers every host that can reach its address. The web interface and SSH are where administrator credentials are typed, and where published vulnerabilities in the management plane are reached.
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 administrator networks, jump hosts and the Panorama address to the permitted IP list under deviceconfig system.
- Disable any management service on this interface that no administrator uses.
Command line
PAN-OS CLI
set deviceconfig system permitted-ip <management-network>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 deviceconfig system permitted-ipValues to fill in1
- <management-network>
- The network your administrators connect from
Before you type it1
- A permitted address list that leaves out your own network locks you out.
How to confirm the fix
- Confirm the networks you add cover every path administrators use, including the VPN pool and Panorama.
- Test HTTPS and SSH from each of them before committing, with a console or out-of-band path open.
Limits
- SNMP with an empty list is reported by PAN-SEC-077 and is not repeated here; this check speaks when HTTPS or SSH is on.
- A service block the file does not contain, or a service flag it writes unreadably, leaves the check unable to say whether anything answers, and it records that instead of passing.
Compliance references
CIS Palo Alto Firewall 11 Benchmark v1.2.0
Covers part of the recommendation
Where a control aligns with a recommendation of the CIS Palo Alto Firewall 11 Benchmark v1.2.0, that recommendation is cited as a reference. Only that version was checked. A reference is not a certification.
More in Administrators and Access
- PAN-SEC-026Management access allows HTTP or Telnet
- PAN-SEC-028More superuser administrators than a small team needs
- PAN-SEC-029Well known administrator account is active with full privilege
- PAN-SEC-046Administrator has no central authentication profile
- PAN-SEC-097Management interface allows HTTP or Telnet
- PAN-SEC-118Minimum password complexity is not enabled
- PAN-SEC-119Minimum password length is below 12
- PAN-SEC-120Passwords need no uppercase letter
See it on your own firewall
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