Enabled rule with no hit in the counted window
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
A rule no traffic has matched over a long window is probably obsolete, and an obsolete allow rule widens what the firewall admits.
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.
- Ask the rule's owner whether it is still needed. If not, disable it first, watch for a business cycle, then delete it. Commit.
Command line
PAN-OS CLI, standalone firewall, vsys1
set vsys vsys1 rulebase security rules <object-name> disabled yesAn 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 rulebase security rules <object-name>Values to fill in1
- <object-name>
- The object's name, as it appears on your firewall
Before you type it1
- A configuration shows definitions and references, not traffic, so review this before you run it.
How to confirm the fix
- On the firewall (read only): show rule-hit-count vsys vsys-name vsys1 rule-base security rules rule-name <rule>, and confirm the hit count and the last reset.
Limits
- A rule kept for a rare event (disaster recovery, a yearly job) can show no hit and still be needed.
- A firewall clock corrected forward during the window makes the window look longer than it was, by the size of the correction.
Compliance references
No benchmark recommendation is mapped to this control in this version.
More in Security Policies
- PAN-SEC-095Rules can be merged without changing what they permit
- PAN-SEC-104Built-in interzone default rule does not log
- PAN-SEC-110No deny rule names the Palo Alto Networks threat IP lists
- PAN-SEC-164An application override rule is configured to bypass App-ID
- ISE-SEC-001Authorization rule grants open access with no condition
- ISE-SEC-002Default authorization rule grants open access
- ISE-SEC-003MAB rule grants open access
- ISE-SEC-004Exception rule grants open access ahead of the policy
See it on your own firewall
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