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    LAN interface goes down randomly

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved IDS/IPS
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    • P
      pfsjap @michmoor
      last edited by

      @michmoor Well, it turned out I was wrong in my assumption, NAS is not able to connect to the internet. However, DNS resolver answers queries. Other LAN segments can connect to the internet.

      This is from the NAS:

      $ nslookup google.com 192.168.1.1
      Server:         192.168.1.1
      Address:        192.168.1.1#53
      
      Non-authoritative answer:
      Name:   google.com
      Address: 142.250.186.46
      
      $ sudo ping 142.250.186.46
      PING 142.250.186.46 (142.250.186.46): 56 data bytes
      ping: sendto: Network is unreachable
      $
      

      I don't know if it is just a coincidence, but visiting this web page has triggered the problem several times: link

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        michmoor LAYER 8 Rebel Alliance @pfsjap
        last edited by michmoor

        @pfsjap Is the NAS and your client machine on the same VLAN?
        Is your DNS Resolver PFsense or another server?
        Do you have Suricata/Snort enabled on the interface?

        Firewall: NetGate,Palo Alto-VM,Juniper SRX
        Routing: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
        Switching: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
        Wireless: Unifi, Aruba IAP
        JNCIP,CCNP Enterprise

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          pfsjap @michmoor
          last edited by

          @michmoor No VLANs in configuration, PC and NAS are just in the same LAN,
          pfSense DNS Resolver is in use,
          Snort is enabled with Subscriber Rules.

          It seems, that a simple picture hosted by i.postimg.cc triggers the problem, for example this.

          Since you asked about Snort being enabled, you may want me to disable it, so I will try that next. If it works with Snort being disabled, then there's obviously a bug in Snort or in the rules. If the problem persists, I'll block i.postimg.cc in DNSBL for the time being. I will block it anyway, as I do want to continue using Snort.

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            pfsjap @michmoor
            last edited by

            @michmoor It was Snort, I get the picture ok with Snort being disabled.

            I was wondering, if pfBlockerNG gets the domain first, or is it Snort? If Snort, then I have to keep Snort disabled?

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            • M
              michmoor LAYER 8 Rebel Alliance
              last edited by

              @pfsjap said in LAN interface goes down randomly:

              then there's obviously a bug in Snort or in the rules. I

              that's incorrect. Snort rules block things. Snort is not a trivial tool to use. It takes experience and an understanding of networking security to fine-tune. If you see Snort triggered then you need to investigate the rule. Finally, if Snort is enabled my recommendation would be to turn off blocking. Monitor the alerts for some time and understand whats going on.

              PFblockerNG would not prevent you from accessing the internet. It will sinkhole sites according to whats in the feeds you selected.

              Firewall: NetGate,Palo Alto-VM,Juniper SRX
              Routing: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
              Switching: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
              Wireless: Unifi, Aruba IAP
              JNCIP,CCNP Enterprise

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              • S
                skogs
                last edited by

                There is a simple default snort/suricata rule for the .cc top level domain.

                alert dns $HOME_NET any -> any any (msg:"ET DNS Query for .cc TLD"; dns.query; content:".cc"; endswith; fast_pattern; classtype:bad-unknown; sid:2027758; rev:5; metadata:affected_product Any, attack_target Client_Endpoint, created_at 2019_07_26, deployment Perimeter, former_category DNS, signature_severity Minor, updated_at 2020_09_17;)
                

                If you keep the system running in block/IPS mode you will have a lot of things like this. Like mentioned above, start out in alert/monitor/IDS to see what triggers. Most likely you will have to turn off a lot of the ET INFO rules .. because they're annoyingly common.

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                • M
                  michmoor LAYER 8 Rebel Alliance @skogs
                  last edited by michmoor

                  @skogs nice! good find. This seems like a case of turning on all rules and then turning on blocking.
                  For future reference, where did you go to search? I assume in the CLI

                  Firewall: NetGate,Palo Alto-VM,Juniper SRX
                  Routing: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                  Switching: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                  Wireless: Unifi, Aruba IAP
                  JNCIP,CCNP Enterprise

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                  • S
                    skogs @michmoor
                    last edited by

                    @michmoor Additionally I'd bet the default allow LAN to any rule was also disabled. Snort/Suricata will try to block both side of the conversation, but if the allow LAN rule is still on, that sus LAN machine will still be able to do everything else just fine. If that rule is disabled, then both sides really do get blocked, and it looks like the entire machine or LAN interface ate it when it really is functioning perfectly as designed.

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                      michmoor LAYER 8 Rebel Alliance @skogs
                      last edited by

                      @skogs I found it this way..But im assuming you had a better method on locating this rule?

                      /usr/local/etc/snort/rules: cat *.rules | grep ".cc TLD"
                      alert udp $HOME_NET any -> any 53 (msg:"ET DNS Query for .cc TLD"; content:"|01|"; offset:2; depth:1; content:"|00 01 00 00 00 00 00|"; distance:1; within:7; content:"|02|cc|00|"; distance:0; fast_pattern; classtype:bad-unknown; sid:2027758; rev:2; metadata:affected_product Any, attack_target Client_Endpoint, created_at 2019_07_26, deployment Perimeter, former_category DNS, signature_severity Minor, updated_at 2020_09_17;)
                      

                      Firewall: NetGate,Palo Alto-VM,Juniper SRX
                      Routing: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                      Switching: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                      Wireless: Unifi, Aruba IAP
                      JNCIP,CCNP Enterprise

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                      • P
                        pfsjap @skogs
                        last edited by

                        @skogs I have had 6100 for 14 months now and Snort has been running at least 12 months without trouble with IPS Policy Selection as Security and blocking enabled.

                        You are right, LAN to any rule is disabled. Remove Blocked Hosts Interval in Snort is set to 3 hours, so after that normal traffic should have continued.

                        Thank you for explaining what happened and also thanks for @michmoor. This has been very enlightening.

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                          pfsjap @skogs
                          last edited by

                          @skogs I have been wondering this still, because Snort has always been set to block both IPs and there has been many blocking incidents without any trouble accessing pfSense or internet from the PC.

                          Also, this interface has default pass list configured. This list includes 192.168.1.0/24, so the PC's access to pfSense should never get blocked by Snort.

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                          • S
                            skogs @pfsjap
                            last edited by

                            @pfsjap I got nothing on that. Perhaps you just run an exceptionally clean environment with zero packet anomalies.

                            for @michmoor pfsense does have an exceptionally good interface for managing snort rules. I used to hate it...but then have dealt with a few others...now I appreciate pfsense's setup.

                            I don't have a snort instance handy, but it exceptionally similar iirc.
                            Services - Suricata - Under interfaces click the pencil on an interface
                            WAN (or LAN) Rules sub tab
                            The 'available rule categories' section gives you the basic list...for this instance pick the emerging-dns rules list. Find all the rules and enable/disable individually with gui on each individual interface.

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                            • M
                              michmoor LAYER 8 Rebel Alliance @pfsjap
                              last edited by

                              @pfsjap said in LAN interface goes down randomly:

                              Also, this interface has default pass list configured. This list includes 192.168.1.0/24, so the PC's access to pfSense should never get blocked by Snort.

                              This is true for any Snort deployment. Traffic passing between HOMENETs wouldnt be subject to snort rules i believe.
                              There may be more in play here but without knowing how you are set up we are just guessing.
                              It seems you have blocking enabled. Legacy mode? If so you should be able to see Blocked Hosts. If not using Legacy mode, then individual packets will be dropped matching the rule but not the hosts from communicating.

                              Firewall: NetGate,Palo Alto-VM,Juniper SRX
                              Routing: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                              Switching: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                              Wireless: Unifi, Aruba IAP
                              JNCIP,CCNP Enterprise

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                              • P
                                pfsjap @michmoor
                                last edited by pfsjap

                                @michmoor Legacy mode, yes.

                                Today 2022-12-12 I set up access to pfSense for iPad in another LAN to be able to see what is going on. Snort had been shutdown since it was clear, that it was the cause.

                                Started Snot and sent browser to the problem URL and PC's IP came up right away in Snort blocked list. It is in the Home net and Pass list, so why was it blocked? It is also strange, that the dates in the screenshot are from last week, not from today.

                                Edit: There is also one from today.

                                45552eaa-cc5a-4057-a7b6-778860620bd8-blocked.png

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                                  pfsjap @michmoor
                                  last edited by

                                  @michmoor I would prefer inline mode, but have not applied it, because default action of the rules would have to be manually changed from ALERT to DROP.

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                                    michmoor LAYER 8 Rebel Alliance @pfsjap
                                    last edited by

                                    @pfsjap I think at this point you should set to Alert until you can get a handle on your rule set: you can also use SID MGMT if you want to change mass rules from alert to drop

                                    Firewall: NetGate,Palo Alto-VM,Juniper SRX
                                    Routing: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                                    Switching: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                                    Wireless: Unifi, Aruba IAP
                                    JNCIP,CCNP Enterprise

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                                      pfsjap @michmoor
                                      last edited by

                                      @michmoor Snort has a checkbox "Enable Packet Captures" to automatically capture packets, that create alerts. I thought I would have a look at the DNS query packet (i.postimg.cc) and enabled the checkbox & restarted Snort for the interface. When entered the "bad" URL into browser, to my surprise PC's IP was not blocked.

                                      I reverted the checkbox and restarted Snort and PC will still not get blocked. So seems like Snort behavior is back to normal for now. Strange.

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