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    All Port Forwards Fail. No Changes. Has Been Working.

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved NAT
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    • DerelictD
      Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
      last edited by

      Something changed. No, port forwards don't just stop working.

      Look at the firewall states in Diagnostics > States. Attempt a connection from the outside and filter on that outside source address.

      You will see two states. One on WAN with the NAT translation and one on the inside interface for reply traffic without it.

      WAN tcp 192.0.134.218:33888 -> 192.168.224.17:443 (198.51.81.11:443) ESTABLISHED:ESTABLISHED 6 / 5 743 B / 3 KiB
      DMZ tcp 192.0.134.218:33888 -> 192.168.224.17:443 ESTABLISHED:ESTABLISHED 6 / 5 743 B / 3 KiB

      Original Destination Address
      Translated Destination Address
      Source Address

      https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Port_Forward_Troubleshooting

      Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
      A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
      DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
      Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • B
        b4d65387
        last edited by

        @Derelict:

        Something changed. No, port forwards don't just stop working.

        Look at the firewall states in Diagnostics > States. Attempt a connection from the outside and filter on that outside source address.

        You will see two states. One on WAN with the NAT translation and one on the inside interface for reply traffic without it.

        WAN tcp 192.0.134.218:33888 -> 192.168.224.17:443 (198.51.81.11:443) ESTABLISHED:ESTABLISHED 6 / 5 743 B / 3 KiB
        DMZ tcp 192.0.134.218:33888 -> 192.168.224.17:443 ESTABLISHED:ESTABLISHED 6 / 5 743 B / 3 KiB

        Original Destination Address
        Translated Destination Address
        Source Address

        https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Port_Forward_Troubleshooting

        Thanks for your reply. The states screen shows the SYN sent; but then the connection is closed. Packet captures only show SYNs and no ACK, RST, FIN in return.

        ![pfsense port issue states.PNG_thumb](/public/imported_attachments/1/pfsense port issue states.PNG_thumb)
        ![pfsense port issue states.PNG](/public/imported_attachments/1/pfsense port issue states.PNG)

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        • B
          b4d65387
          last edited by

          @johnpoz:

          So you state you see the traffic hitting your pfsense wan.. But your saying your not seeing it sent out the interface your forwarding on?  Do a sniff there as well.

          Post your rules and your sniffs showing this.. And what exact version are you running.  Are you running a 2.4 beta or do mean you just now updated to 2.3.3p1 ?

          Here is a screen cap of the LAN capture interface it is forwarding on. Also, I am on version 2.3.3-RELEASE-p1; upgraded yesterday from the minor version just prior to that one.

          Thank you all for your replies!

          ![pfsense port issue LAN capture.PNG_thumb](/public/imported_attachments/1/pfsense port issue LAN capture.PNG_thumb)
          ![pfsense port issue LAN capture.PNG](/public/imported_attachments/1/pfsense port issue LAN capture.PNG)

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          • johnpozJ
            johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
            last edited by

            Well if pfsense is sending on the SYN.. Then your issue is with 192.168.1.67 –- why would you hide the port??

            It could have stopped listening on that port?  It could have a firewall that is blocking it.  It could be using a different gateway and sending its ack back a different way?  It might not even be the same box as before. etc..

            But pfsense is clearly send on the forward.. So the problem is not with pfsense but something else on your network so that syn is not getting to the box, or the box itself.

            An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
            If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
            Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
            SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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            • DerelictD
              Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
              last edited by

              192.168.1.67 is not responding, or its response is going someplace besides back to pfSense.

              Your problem is not pfSense.

              List of things to check here. Really check them. Don't just read the list and think, "I have already done all that." Really look again because the fault is 99.99% going to be listed there.

              https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Port_Forward_Troubleshooting

              Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
              A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
              DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
              Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • B
                b4d65387
                last edited by

                @johnpoz:

                Well if pfsense is sending on the SYN.. Then your issue is with 192.168.1.67 –- why would you hide the port??

                It could have stopped listening on that port?  It could have a firewall that is blocking it.  It could be using a different gateway and sending its ack back a different way?  It might not even be the same box as before. etc..

                But pfsense is clearly send on the forward.. So the problem is not with pfsense but something else on your network so that syn is not getting to the box, or the box itself.

                I am in InfoSec and always try to keep as much about my network private as I can for business reasons (obscurity may not be excellent security; but it is one layer among many). The issue is not with x.x.1.67 because this is happening with numerous services running on multiple machines behind the firewall. None of the end machines receive the SYN when sniffing. This is why I thought it may have been the pfsense box. Thank you for your response.

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                • johnpozJ
                  johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                  last edited by

                  "None of the end machines receive the SYN when sniffing. "

                  But clearly pfsense is sending them.. So its elsewhere else that is for sure.

                  You work in infosec and thought that hiding the port would hide some sort of info??  Dude really???  Come on!!  If you said your new to networking and didn't know any better - ok then.  But that you work in field.. Someones tinfoil hat seems a bit too tight..

                  An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                  If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                  Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                  SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                  • B
                    b4d65387
                    last edited by

                    @johnpoz:

                    "None of the end machines receive the SYN when sniffing. "

                    But clearly pfsense is sending them.. So its elsewhere else that is for sure.

                    You work in infosec and thought that hiding the port would hide some sort of info??  Dude really???  Come on!!  If you said your new to networking and didn't know any better - ok then.  But that you work in field.. Someones tinfoil hat seems a bit too tight..

                    Yeah, cant argue with the tinfoil hat comment. Funny thing is that when trying to scan my wan ip from outside i wasn't seeing any of my ports open. That's what confirmed for me it was a pfsense issue…well I thought anyway. There was a host networking problem and all the virtual infrastructure was being impacted. Got that resolved and now I'm back up and running. Thanks everyone! Still not sure why I had no listening ports from the external scan.

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                    • johnpozJ
                      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                      last edited by

                      well they wouldn't be open on the external scan if the device it was being forwarded to didn't answer.. Port is only "open" if something answers with the ack..  Be blocked or forwarded is no different really if machine doesn't answer ;)

                      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                      • B
                        b4d65387
                        last edited by

                        @johnpoz:

                        well they wouldn't be open on the external scan if the device it was being forwarded to didn't answer.. Port is only "open" if something answers with the ack..  Be blocked or forwarded is no different really if machine doesn't answer ;)

                        Good point. Sorry, my brain is fried. Got new littles ones and haven't slept more than a couple hours a night in over a month. Thanks so much for your help. You both have been a great help in a time when I desperately need it! :)

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                        • johnpozJ
                          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                          last edited by

                          What we are here for ;)  Glad you got it sorted.. The actual exchange of info is normally the hard part.. Always a piece of the puzzle missing it seems..  To be honest I don't recall an issue with port forwarding that was not actually pebkac..

                          Not saying there hasn't been any.. But I have been around these forums for a bit, lots of versions of pfsense - lots of posts.. And do not recall a port forwarding issue that was not peback related.. Common issue is traffic isn't even getting to pfsense wan - so how and the F could it forward anything ;)  The hard part is getting the info needed to figure out what the user is missing..

                          An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                          If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                          Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                          SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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