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    Snort stops by itself

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    • BBcan177B
      BBcan177 Moderator
      last edited by

      Try setting the memory setting to  "AC-BNFA-NQ" on all interfaces.

      Do you see anything in the error logs?

      "Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it."

      Website: http://pfBlockerNG.com
      Twitter: @BBcan177  #pfBlockerNG
      Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pfBlockerNG/new/

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      • I
        Ip Man
        last edited by

        @BBcan177:

        Try setting the memory setting to  "AC-BNFA-NQ" on all interfaces.

        Do you see anything in the error logs?

        I'm not sure how to read more than the last 50 system log entries. I use the "Status" menu and "System Logs".

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        • BBcan177B
          BBcan177 Moderator
          last edited by

          In Status:System Logs:Settings:

          There is an option "GUI Log Entries to Display"

          You can also scroll down at the bottom of the "System Logs" and type "snort" into the filter box.

          "Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it."

          Website: http://pfBlockerNG.com
          Twitter: @BBcan177  #pfBlockerNG
          Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pfBlockerNG/new/

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          • I
            Ip Man
            last edited by

            @BBcan177:

            In Status:System Logs:Settings:

            There is an option "GUI Log Entries to Display"

            You can also scroll down at the bottom of the "System Logs" and type "snort" into the filter box.

            Thanks for the tip.  I can't find any "error" messages in the logs. There are logs about updates. One entry says "Snort has restarted with your new set of rules…". But Snort was not running on the WAN interface, only on WLAN, LAN and DMZ. I had to manually start Snort on my WAN interface.

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            • BBcan177B
              BBcan177 Moderator
              last edited by

              @Ip:

              @BBcan177:

              In Status:System Logs:Settings:

              There is an option "GUI Log Entries to Display"

              You can also scroll down at the bottom of the "System Logs" and type "snort" into the filter box.

              Thanks for the tip.  I can't find any "error" messages in the logs. There are logs about updates. One entry says "Snort has restarted with your new set of rules…". But Snort was not running on the WAN interface, only on WLAN, LAN and DMZ. I had to manually start Snort on my WAN interface.

              Search the logs for    "snort exited on signal 11"

              Maybe Bill might offer some more help?

              "Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it."

              Website: http://pfBlockerNG.com
              Twitter: @BBcan177  #pfBlockerNG
              Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pfBlockerNG/new/

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              • I
                Ip Man
                last edited by

                @BBcan177:

                Try setting the memory setting to  "AC-BNFA-NQ" on all interfaces.

                Do you see anything in the error logs?

                Snort just stopped on my WAN interface. In the logs I read: "kernel: pid 86892 (snort), uid: exited on signal 11"

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                • BBcan177B
                  BBcan177 Moderator
                  last edited by

                  From the shell try this command

                  ps aux | grep snort

                  And see if you have any duplicate pids. There should only be one per running interface.

                  Did you make any recent changes?

                  "Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it."

                  Website: http://pfBlockerNG.com
                  Twitter: @BBcan177  #pfBlockerNG
                  Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pfBlockerNG/new/

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                  • bmeeksB
                    bmeeks
                    last edited by

                    @Ip:

                    @BBcan177:

                    Try setting the memory setting to  "AC-BNFA-NQ" on all interfaces.

                    Do you see anything in the error logs?

                    Snort just stopped on my WAN interface. In the logs I read: "kernel: pid 86892 (snort), uid: exited on signal 11"

                    I'm puzzled by this.  I believe you guys when you say you have the problem, but I have thus far not seen it manifest itself in any of my test VMs nor on my production firewall.  Unfortunately "signal 11" means the process tried to use memory outside of its assigned address space (a SEGFAULT error).  When this happens the offending process will just be croaked and never even gets a chance to log an error.

                    It's weird that it seems to happen during rules updates, though.  Are you changing any of the default rules in the categories you are using?  By that I mean are you forcing some default "disabled" rules to the "enabled" state?  I don't, and have not seen the problem, so just investigating any potential connection there.

                    Bill

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                    • I
                      Ip Man
                      last edited by

                      @BBcan177:

                      From the shell try this command

                      ps aux | grep snort

                      And see if you have any duplicate pids. There should only be one per running interface.

                      Did you make any recent changes?

                      The command "ps aux | grep snort" gives me a list with 4 lines ending "/usr/pbi/snort-a" and I run Snort on four interfaces (WAN, LAN, WLAN and DMZ).

                      I have always been using "Snort VRT Oinkmaster Configuration". The only recent changes I can think of are upgrades. I run package version 2.9.6.0 pkg v3.0.9 (the most recent one).

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                      • I
                        Ip Man
                        last edited by

                        @bmeeks:

                        @Ip:

                        @BBcan177:

                        Try setting the memory setting to  "AC-BNFA-NQ" on all interfaces.

                        Do you see anything in the error logs?

                        Snort just stopped on my WAN interface. In the logs I read: "kernel: pid 86892 (snort), uid: exited on signal 11"

                        I'm puzzled by this.  I believe you guys when you say you have the problem, but I have thus far not seen it manifest itself in any of my test VMs nor on my production firewall.  Unfortunately "signal 11" means the process tried to use memory outside of its assigned address space (a SEGFAULT error).  When this happens the offending process will just be croaked and never even gets a chance to log an error.

                        It's weird that it seems to happen during rules updates, though.  Are you changing any of the default rules in the categories you are using?  By that I mean are you forcing some default "disabled" rules to the "enabled" state?  I don't, and have not seen the problem, so just investigating any potential connection there.

                        Bill

                        The last time it happened was not during rules update. I was writing a reply and looking at the Snort menu screen.

                        As far as I can remember the only changes I have made are disableing rules, not enable. I have changed search method from default AC-BNFA to AC on the WAN interface. Now I run AC-BNFA-NQ on all four interfaces.

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                        • I
                          Ip Man
                          last edited by

                          Ok, from the responses here I understand that this is a well known and very serious problem with Snort and pfSense. A IDS that turns off randomly is obviously a very serious problem. This bug has to be corrected before pfSense can be trusted and used with confidence.

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                          • F
                            fearnothing
                            last edited by

                            I had a similar issue, but it was solved by using the AC-BNFA or AC-BNFA-NQ memory setting. It was a result of snort rules updates causing the process to attempt to allocate more memory than was available.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • panzP
                              panz
                              last edited by

                              Sometimes Snort stops on the LAN interface. Never on the WAN.

                              pfSense 2.3.2-RELEASE-p1 (amd64)
                              motherboard: MSI C847MS-E33 Micro ATX (with Intel Celeron CPU 847 @ 1.10 GHz) ~ PSU: Corsair VS350 ~ RAM: Kingston KVR1333D3E9S 4096 MB 240-pin DIMM DDR3 SDRAM 1.5 volt ~ NIC: Intel EXPI9301CTBLK (LAN) ~ NIC: D-Link DFE-528TX (CAM) ~ Hard Disk: Western Digital WD10JFCX Red ~ Case: Cooler Master HAF XB ~ power consumption: 21 Watts.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • F
                                Fmstrat
                                last edited by

                                I have had this happen quite regularly. I've narrowed it down to the fact that I have a constant connection on a VPN. When the VPN connection goes down and reconnects, snort is restarted, even though it is not tied to the VPN interface. I'm guessing it's because of the check_reload_status process.

                                Edit
                                To be more specific, an OpenVPN client is on PFSense, connected to an external OpenVPN server.

                                Edit 2
                                It could also be due to the reloading of rules depending on how you have updates set. Here's some log snippets showing what I believe to be the above issue, though:

                                Jun 17 17:18:47	kernel: ue0: promiscuous mode enabled
Jun 17 17:16:11	SnortStartup[96556]: Snort START for WAN(34137_ue0)...
Jun 17 17:16:07	SnortStartup[94480]: Snort STOP for WAN(34137_ue0)...
Jun 17 17:16:05	check_reload_status: Syncing firewall
Jun 17 17:16:04	check_reload_status: Syncing firewall
Jun 17 17:16:02	check_reload_status: Reloading filter
Jun 17 17:16:02	check_reload_status: Restarting OpenVPN tunnels/interfaces
Jun 17 17:16:02	check_reload_status: Restarting ipsec tunnels
Jun 17 17:16:02	check_reload_status: updating dyndns VPNI
Jun 17 17:16:00	kernel: ue0: promiscuous mode disabled
Jun 17 17:16:00	kernel: pid 18641 (snort), uid 0: exited on signal 11
Jun 17 17:15:57	php: rc.start_packages: No pfBlocker action during boot process.
Jun 17 17:15:57	php: rc.start_packages: No pfBlocker action during boot process.
Jun 17 17:15:57	php: rc.start_packages: No pfBlocker action during boot process.
Jun 17 17:15:57	php: rc.start_packages: No pfBlocker action during boot process.
Jun 17 17:15:55	php: rc.start_packages: The command '/usr/local/etc/rc.d/cron.sh stop' returned exit code '1', the output was ''
Jun 17 17:15:51	php: rc.start_packages: Restarting/Starting all packages.
Jun 17 17:15:49	check_reload_status: Reloading filter
Jun 17 17:15:49	check_reload_status: Starting packages
Jun 17 17:15:49	php: rc.newwanip: pfSense package system has detected an ip change 0.0.0.0 -> 10.159.1.10 ... Restarting packages.
Jun 17 17:15:47	php: rc.newwanip: Creating rrd update script
Jun 17 17:15:42	php: rc.newwanip: rc.newwanip: on (IP address: 10.15.4.10) (interface: VPNI[opt1]) (real interface: ovpnc2).
Jun 17 17:15:42	php: rc.newwanip: rc.newwanip: Informational is starting ovpnc2.
Jun 17 17:15:40	check_reload_status: rc.newwanip starting ovpnc2
Jun 17 17:15:40	kernel: ovpnc2: link state changed to UP
Jun 17 17:15:39	check_reload_status: Reloading filter
Jun 17 17:15:39	kernel: ovpnc2: link state changed to DOWN
Jun 17 17:11:19	kernel: ue0: promiscuous mode enabled
Jun 17 17:08:44	SnortStartup[12975]: Snort START for WAN(34137_ue0)...
                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • I
                                  Ip Man
                                  last edited by

                                  @fearnothing:

                                  I had a similar issue, but it was solved by using the AC-BNFA or AC-BNFA-NQ memory setting. It was a result of snort rules updates causing the process to attempt to allocate more memory than was available.

                                  Now I use AC-BNFA-NQ on all interfaces and Snort has not stopped yet.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • BBcan177B
                                    BBcan177 Moderator
                                    last edited by

                                    @Ip:

                                    @fearnothing:

                                    I had a similar issue, but it was solved by using the AC-BNFA or AC-BNFA-NQ memory setting. It was a result of snort rules updates causing the process to attempt to allocate more memory than was available.

                                    Now I use AC-BNFA-NQ on all interfaces and Snort has not stopped yet.

                                    Dont tell  jflsakfja ,that he was right! Please.  :) Glad that its solved now.

                                    "Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it."

                                    Website: http://pfBlockerNG.com
                                    Twitter: @BBcan177  #pfBlockerNG
                                    Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pfBlockerNG/new/

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • I
                                      Ip Man
                                      last edited by

                                      @Fmstrat:

                                      I have had this happen quite regularly. I've narrowed it down to the fact that I have a constant connection on a VPN. When the VPN connection goes down and reconnects, snort is restarted, even though it is not tied to the VPN interface. I'm guessing it's because of the check_reload_status process.

                                      Edit
                                      To be more specific, an OpenVPN client is on PFSense, connected to an external OpenVPN server.

                                      Edit 2
                                      It could also be due to the reloading of rules depending on how you have updates set. Here's some log snippets showing what I believe to be the above issue, though:

                                      Jun 17 17:18:47	kernel: ue0: promiscuous mode enabled
Jun 17 17:16:11	SnortStartup[96556]: Snort START for WAN(34137_ue0)...
Jun 17 17:16:07	SnortStartup[94480]: Snort STOP for WAN(34137_ue0)...
Jun 17 17:16:05	check_reload_status: Syncing firewall
Jun 17 17:16:04	check_reload_status: Syncing firewall
Jun 17 17:16:02	check_reload_status: Reloading filter
Jun 17 17:16:02	check_reload_status: Restarting OpenVPN tunnels/interfaces
Jun 17 17:16:02	check_reload_status: Restarting ipsec tunnels
Jun 17 17:16:02	check_reload_status: updating dyndns VPNI
Jun 17 17:16:00	kernel: ue0: promiscuous mode disabled
Jun 17 17:16:00	kernel: pid 18641 (snort), uid 0: exited on signal 11
Jun 17 17:15:57	php: rc.start_packages: No pfBlocker action during boot process.
Jun 17 17:15:57	php: rc.start_packages: No pfBlocker action during boot process.
Jun 17 17:15:57	php: rc.start_packages: No pfBlocker action during boot process.
Jun 17 17:15:57	php: rc.start_packages: No pfBlocker action during boot process.
Jun 17 17:15:55	php: rc.start_packages: The command '/usr/local/etc/rc.d/cron.sh stop' returned exit code '1', the output was ''
Jun 17 17:15:51	php: rc.start_packages: Restarting/Starting all packages.
Jun 17 17:15:49	check_reload_status: Reloading filter
Jun 17 17:15:49	check_reload_status: Starting packages
Jun 17 17:15:49	php: rc.newwanip: pfSense package system has detected an ip change 0.0.0.0 -> 10.159.1.10 ... Restarting packages.
Jun 17 17:15:47	php: rc.newwanip: Creating rrd update script
Jun 17 17:15:42	php: rc.newwanip: rc.newwanip: on (IP address: 10.15.4.10) (interface: VPNI[opt1]) (real interface: ovpnc2).
Jun 17 17:15:42	php: rc.newwanip: rc.newwanip: Informational is starting ovpnc2.
Jun 17 17:15:40	check_reload_status: rc.newwanip starting ovpnc2
Jun 17 17:15:40	kernel: ovpnc2: link state changed to UP
Jun 17 17:15:39	check_reload_status: Reloading filter
Jun 17 17:15:39	kernel: ovpnc2: link state changed to DOWN
Jun 17 17:11:19	kernel: ue0: promiscuous mode enabled
Jun 17 17:08:44	SnortStartup[12975]: Snort START for WAN(34137_ue0)...

                                      Thank you for the information. I don't have a VPN but Snort will stop anyway. I will try AC-BNFA-NQ from now on. So far no problem.

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                                      • I
                                        Ip Man
                                        last edited by

                                        @BBcan177:

                                        @Ip:

                                        @fearnothing:

                                        I had a similar issue, but it was solved by using the AC-BNFA or AC-BNFA-NQ memory setting. It was a result of snort rules updates causing the process to attempt to allocate more memory than was available.

                                        Now I use AC-BNFA-NQ on all interfaces and Snort has not stopped yet.

                                        Dont tell  jflsakfja ,that he was right! Please.  :) Glad that its solved now.

                                        It will be our little secret :-X I really hope that it works in the long run ;)

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • F
                                          Fmstrat
                                          last edited by

                                          @fearnothing:

                                          I had a similar issue, but it was solved by using the AC-BNFA or AC-BNFA-NQ memory setting. It was a result of snort rules updates causing the process to attempt to allocate more memory than was available.

                                          Interesting that this seems to be working for people. I will try switching as well, but even with AC I still have gigs of RAM free, so can't imagine its a memory allocation issue unless it's related to a bug.

                                          Thanks,
                                          Ben

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • M
                                            manhattanboy
                                            last edited by

                                            @Ip:

                                            @fearnothing:

                                            I had a similar issue, but it was solved by using the AC-BNFA or AC-BNFA-NQ memory setting. It was a result of snort rules updates causing the process to attempt to allocate more memory than was available.

                                            Now I use AC-BNFA-NQ on all interfaces and Snort has not stopped yet.

                                            I was having this problem as well, so thank you for the fix.  :D
                                            Plenty of memory and CPU power in the pf box (8 gigs and 8 cores), nonetheless SNORT does seem happier with this setting change, but it is strange that random stops are occurring with other settings.

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