Authentication profile does not lock accounts after failed logins
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 lockout, a password can be guessed without limit. A lockout with no time limit turns failed logins into a way to shut an administrator out.
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 Failed Attempts and Lockout Time on the profile to non-zero values your policy names, for example 3 attempts and 15 minutes.
Command line
PAN-OS CLI, standalone firewall, vsys1
set vsys vsys1 authentication-profile <object-name> lockout failed-attempts <failed-attempts>set vsys vsys1 authentication-profile <object-name> lockout lockout-time <lockout-minutes>
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 authentication-profile <object-name> lockoutValues to fill in3
- <object-name>
- The object's name, as it appears on your firewall
- <failed-attempts>
- Failed logins before the account locks, 1 to 10, for example 3
- <lockout-minutes>
- Minutes the account stays locked, 1 to 60, for example 15
How to confirm the fix
- Fail a test login the set number of times and confirm the account locks and later unlocks.
Limits
- A leaf the profile does not write is recorded as not written: the CIS benchmark states no value for it.
- On a Panorama each template stack is judged as its firewalls receive it: its own settings first, then its members in order. A stack holding a template this file lacks is recorded rather than passed.
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 Identity and Authentication
- PAN-SEC-078Local user database account is enabled beside external authentication
- PAN-SEC-080Authentication sequence has a single member
- PAN-SEC-114LDAP server profile does not verify the server certificate
- PAN-SEC-115RADIUS server profile authenticates with PAP or CHAP
- PAN-SEC-131User-ID agent probes clients with WMI
- PAN-SEC-132User-ID is enabled and no include or exclude network is listed
- PAN-SEC-165An authentication policy rule is configured with a single factor
- ISE-SEC-006Authentication continues after a failure
See it on your own firewall
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