Management interface allows HTTP or Telnet
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
HTTP and Telnet send management credentials in clear text. When an administrator uses them, anyone on the path between the administrator and the firewall can read the session, password included.
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.
- Set disable-telnet and disable-http to yes under deviceconfig system service.
- Use HTTPS and SSH only.
Command line
PAN-OS CLI
set deviceconfig system service disable-telnet yesset deviceconfig system service disable-http yes
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 serviceBefore you type it1
- Confirm your own session is not using the service you are turning off.
How to confirm the fix
- Confirm HTTPS and SSH access works from the administrator network before disabling anything.
- Keep a console or out-of-band path open while making the change.
Limits
- Only a leaf the file writes as no is a finding. A leaf the file leaves out is the PAN-OS default, and HTTP and Telnet are disabled by default (CIS Palo Alto Firewall benchmark 1.2.3, Default Value).
- A reading before parser panos-2.52.0 cannot tell a written no from a leaf left out; such a false is recorded as not known, never as enabled.
- Interface management profiles are PAN-SEC-026.
Compliance references
CIS Palo Alto Firewall 11 Benchmark v1.2.0
Covers the whole 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-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-096Management interface accepts HTTPS or SSH from any address
- PAN-SEC-118Minimum password complexity is not enabled
- PAN-SEC-119Minimum password length is below 12
- PAN-SEC-120Passwords need no uppercase letter
- PAN-SEC-121Passwords need no lowercase letter
See it on your own firewall
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