Anti-spyware profile does not block every severity
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
Anti-spyware signatures detect command-and-control traffic from a host that is already compromised. With the severity left to alert, a matching callback is recorded and let through.
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 every severity, critical to informational, to reset-both or drop in the profile's rules.
- Keep the DNS signature and sinkhole settings, which PAN-SEC-087 and 088 read, as they are.
Command line
PAN-OS CLI, standalone firewall, vsys1
set vsys vsys1 profiles spyware <object-name> rules <profile-rule> severity [ critical high medium low informational ]set vsys vsys1 profiles spyware <object-name> rules <profile-rule> action reset-both
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 profiles spyware <object-name> rulesValues to fill in2
- <object-name>
- The object's name, as it appears on your firewall
- <profile-rule>
- The rule inside the profile, as it appears on your firewall
Before you type it1
- A profile's rules match in order, first match wins. Place the blocking rule above any rule that alerts on the same signatures.
How to confirm the fix
- Reopen the profile and confirm a blocking action on every severity.
- Watch the threat log for a day for sessions that were only alerted before.
Limits
- Severities only. The benchmark also names spyware categories and threats, which this check does not read.
- A profile this check does not report is not shown to block every severity: a severity no rule names is not listed by the reading, so it is counted as not established rather than as met.
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 Security Profiles
- PAN-SEC-086WildFire analysis profile forwards a narrowed set of file types or one direction
- PAN-SEC-087Anti-spyware profile has DNS lists and nothing set to sinkhole
- PAN-SEC-088Anti-spyware profile sinkholes DNS queries to no address
- PAN-SEC-099Vulnerability protection profile does not block critical or high severity
- PAN-SEC-133WildFire file size limit is below the documented default
- PAN-SEC-135WildFire session information is not all sent
- PAN-SEC-136Antivirus profile does not reset both sides on every decoder
- PAN-SEC-137URL filtering profile allows categories without logging
See it on your own firewall
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