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    I have no idea whos causing this traffic....

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • johnpozJ
      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
      last edited by johnpoz

      @Gertjan said in I have no idea whos causing this traffic....:

      Second approach :
      Even more easier : disconnect physically all LAN devices,

      While that can work sure - I wouldn't call it easier ;) Seems like a lot of work to me - compared to just simple sniff.. hehehe Unless your goal is to get up out of your chair.. Which could be good thing ;)

      All valid methods of how to skin this specific cat ;)

      Other methods, firewall rule is option I didn't think of actually.. would show you where the traffic is going as well which could be insightful in figuring out what exactly the traffic is.

      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

      JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • JKnottJ
        JKnott @johnpoz
        last edited by

        @johnpoz said in I have no idea whos causing this traffic....:

        All valid methods of how to skin this specific cat ;)

        CAT 6? šŸ˜‰

        PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
        i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
        UniFi AC-Lite access point

        I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

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        • AKEGECA
          AKEGEC
          last edited by

          @Cool_Corona , Decoy network?

          Cool_CoronaC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Cool_CoronaC
            Cool_Corona @AKEGEC
            last edited by

            @AKEGEC said in I have no idea whos causing this traffic....:

            @Cool_Corona , Decoy network?

            Nope :)

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • DaddyGoD
              DaddyGo @Cool_Corona
              last edited by

              @Cool_Corona said in I have no idea whos causing this traffic....:

              Any ideas?

              L3 switch + mirror port and / or SPAN protocol is your good friend, if you want to get a detailed picture

              Cats bury it so they can't see it!
              (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • johnpozJ
                johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                last edited by

                While sure he could view the traffic via a span port.. There really is no need, just diagnostic menu packet capture will allow him to do a sniff and see the traffic flow through pfsense to figure out what IP is involved and where it going.

                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

                DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • DaddyGoD
                  DaddyGo @johnpoz
                  last edited by DaddyGo

                  @johnpoz said in I have no idea whos causing this traffic....:

                  just diagnostic menu packet capture

                  Sorry, I was thinking about Wireshark (it was missed), plus what was described above.
                  Personally, I like it better as packet capture in pfsense tool

                  +++edit:
                  much more configurable and detailed

                  Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                  (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

                  JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • johnpozJ
                    johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                    last edited by johnpoz

                    You understand you can just download whatever the packet capture captures into wireshark right? Just click the download button ;) And then open it up with wireshark or whatever your fav tool is..

                    A pcap is a pcap ;) While true the gui interface doesn't really show you a lot of detail on the capture. but if all he is really interested is the IP causing the traffic and what port its talking to - the gui would provide that info for sure. You can also always up the level displayed - but yeah I pretty much always download the pcap into wireshark when want to analyze some sniff.

                    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

                    DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • DaddyGoD
                      DaddyGo @johnpoz
                      last edited by

                      @johnpoz said in I have no idea whos causing this traffic....:

                      You understand you can just download whatever the packet capture captures into wireshark right?

                      I agree with you, I may just be used to clicking the Wireshark icon and the SPAN VLAN is connected anyway.
                      I handle multiple things on multiple networks and it’s that simple..

                      if don't need deep investigation the pfSense GUI is enough

                      Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                      (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

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                      • JKnottJ
                        JKnott @DaddyGo
                        last edited by

                        @DaddyGo said in I have no idea whos causing this traffic....:

                        Sorry, I was thinking about Wireshark (it was missed), plus what was described above.
                        Personally, I like it better as packet capture in pfsense tool

                        I mentioned Packet Capture. I also prefer Wireshark, but it won't run on pfsense, so either you run it on a computer that can see the traffic or use Packet Capture and download to Wireshark. If you have a managed switch, you can set up port mirroring to watch the desired connection, at least on the LAN side.

                        PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                        i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                        UniFi AC-Lite access point

                        I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

                        DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • PippinP
                          Pippin
                          last edited by

                          It's also possible to do remote capture.
                          Wireshark connects to pfSense over SSH in that case.

                          I gloomily came to the ironic conclusion that if you take a highly intelligent person and give them the best possible, elite education, then you will most likely wind up with an academic who is completely impervious to reality.
                          Halton Arp

                          JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • JKnottJ
                            JKnott @Pippin
                            last edited by

                            @Pippin

                            I used to do that, when I had a Linux firewall. However, it's not possible to run it on pfsense, IIRC.

                            PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                            i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                            UniFi AC-Lite access point

                            I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

                            bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • DaddyGoD
                              DaddyGo @JKnott
                              last edited by DaddyGo

                              @JKnott said in I have no idea whos causing this traffic....:

                              I also prefer Wireshark, but it won't run on pfsense, so either you run it on a computer that can see the traffic or use Packet Capture

                              I agree with you too šŸ˜‰

                              so I wrote the L3 switch (above) + mirror port
                              (even on a smaller network, it’s worth just keeping one in your desktop drawer for testing)

                              we use SPAN VLAN on the Cisco network and we are testing here with Wireshark
                              (I got used to it and simple method)

                              I don't like TP-Link, but for a mobile test device it fits a lot (we use it :-)) TL-SG105E, it knows the port mirroring and thats all

                              Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                              (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

                              JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • johnpozJ
                                johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                                last edited by johnpoz

                                My bet is someone streaming off plex ;) or something similar - there is another thread about graphs showing double - and the @Cool_Corona posted image looks exactly like how plex can stream data to a client..

                                Here is mine that I just used for image in that other thread.

                                plexpng.png

                                While someone streaming off my plex, lower data rates is all - he prob has higher bitrate movies on his ;)

                                Here is plex showing the data
                                plexdash.png

                                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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                                • JKnottJ
                                  JKnott @DaddyGo
                                  last edited by

                                  @DaddyGo said in I have no idea whos causing this traffic....:

                                  (even on a smaller network, it’s worth just keeping one in your desktop drawer for testing)

                                  See my post Creating a "data tap". I also use a TP-Link TL-SG105E switch. I carry it in my computer bag and have also used it as a plain switch on occasion. Since I use a port based VLAN on it, instead of tags, it works fine.

                                  PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                                  i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                                  UniFi AC-Lite access point

                                  I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

                                  DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • DaddyGoD
                                    DaddyGo @JKnott
                                    last edited by

                                    @JKnott said in I have no idea whos causing this traffic....:

                                    I also use a TP-Link TL-SG105E switch

                                    Well, then we think on the same way šŸ˜‰

                                    Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                                    (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

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                                    • M
                                      marvosa
                                      last edited by marvosa

                                      One crude option is watching the traffic graph live (Status -> Traffic Graph) and changing the interface to LAN. Depending on your network design, if you're not seeing any data, you may also have to change the filer to "Remote".

                                      Another option is to install the ntopng package. In the ntopng settings menu, make sure that all of your LAN interfaces are tagged. Once in the ntopng webgui, click on the "Flows" menu across the top and you will see details (protocol, source, destination, throughput, etc) about each connection. From there I would sort by the "Actual Thpt" column so the connections generating the most bandwidth are at the top of the list.

                                      Yet another option is installing the softflowd package and pointing it at a netflow collector like PRTG.

                                      I would use ntopng. You should be able to find the offending device in a few min.

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                                      • AKEGECA
                                        AKEGEC
                                        last edited by

                                        I think I saw similar forum thread from Belgian op not long ago. I am not sure if he already found the solution.

                                        Wireshark is a great tool but if I may suggest, use QRadar CE (FREE) to analyze your live Pfsense logs.

                                        alt text

                                        alt text

                                        Like today, I found a lot offensive IP addresses.

                                        DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • johnpozJ
                                          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                                          last edited by johnpoz

                                          @AKEGEC said in I have no idea whos causing this traffic....:

                                          QRadar CE

                                          Thanks for the mention - I found something to play with this weekend ;)

                                          But a SIEM is completely different animal than protocol analyzer like wireshark ;)

                                          Normally your SIEM doesn't even accept flows, so you can't really see say your top talkers or who is talking to who, unless you logging allowed rules, etc.. And just seeing something was allowed doesn't show you how much data they are moving, etc.

                                          But it does look interesting - so think will fire up the CE.. 50 events a second should be pretty reasonable.. for what your home setup would see.

                                          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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                                          • bingo600B
                                            bingo600 @JKnott
                                            last edited by bingo600

                                            @JKnott

                                            You can do remote tcpdump on pfSense , and ssh tunnel it to wireshark , using these steps.

                                            Assumptions:
                                            -----------------
                                            pfSense vers : 2.4.5-p1
                                            Username on both linux & pfSense : pfuser
                                            Firewall hostname : pf-fw-01
                                            Interface to sniff on : igb1.100  
                                            
                                            
                                            Install / Prepare Steps:
                                            ------------------------------
                                            As admin on pfSense
                                            install
                                            pkg install security/sudo
                                            
                                            
                                            
                                            As admin on pfSense  (syyshhh)
                                            -------------------------------
                                            1: visudo , add : %admins ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL
                                            2: vi /etc/groups , make sure your user is member of admins.
                                            
                                            
                                            As root on local linux (Wireshark display machine)
                                            ---------------------------------------------------
                                            3: ssh-keygen
                                            4: ssh-copy-id pfuser@pf-fw-01
                                            
                                            Use wireshark as frontend for pfSense tcpdump ... aka. Start a sniff
                                            ----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            As root on local linux machine (to begin wireshark "remote" snif and tunnel data via ssh) - 'not port 22' (don't match ssh, used for tunneling data) 
                                            
                                            ssh pfuser@pf-fw-01 sudo tcpdump -iigb1.100 -U -s0 -w - 'not port 22' | wireshark -k -i -
                                            
                                            

                                            These are some notes I took like 2 years back , on 2.4-RC

                                            I'm not sure if the "ssh keygen" steps (3-4) in the linux machine, makes sense to do as root. I might have done that as pfuser

                                            But i just tried a remote wireshark , and it still works in 2.4.5-p1
                                            if-name had to be changed from -iigb1_vlan100 to -iigb1.100

                                            Edit:
                                            Watch out .. This will load your ssh connection hard
                                            Don't sniff a loaded 1Gb if , via a remote 20Mb ssh
                                            Use a pfSense local pcap dump instead , or make a more specific tcp dump match on the pfSense
                                            /Bingo

                                            If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

                                            pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

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