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    PFSense accessible from internet! How to stop

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved NAT
    5 Posts 3 Posters 1.3k Views
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    • C
      Cq171d
      last edited by

      I just came to a horrible realization that my pfsense machine can be accessed by me external address….what is causing this!!!

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      • DerelictD
        Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
        last edited by

        Are you accessing it on the external address from the inside or the outside? If from the inside that is perfectly normal.

        What are your firewall rules on WAN?

        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)

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        • C
          Cq171d
          last edited by

          It was accessible from both externally and internally from my WAN IP but it appears it is no longer so.  In my worry I started messing around with things and eventually just broke something else so I restored from a later date and is appears it is no longer accessible from an external device (my phone).  I am able to access it from an internal device from its external IP so I am curious as to why that is, but at least now I cannot access it from my phone anymore.  The only thing I did was add a rule for port forwarding for port 8080 on my internal network.  Could that have created the issue?  Oddly, once I removed that rule it was still accessible until I eventually restored from a previous load.

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          • DerelictD
            Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
            last edited by

            Would have to see your port forwards and firewall rules when it is in the state of allowing access you don't think should happen.

            If you have pass any any on LAN, that will allow connections to your WAN ip address and explains why you can access it on the inside.

            You should probably read these:

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

            https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Firewall_Rule_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)

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            • B
              breakaway
              last edited by

              @Cq171d:

              Oddly, once I removed that rule it was still accessible until I eventually restored from a previous load.

              One thing a lot of people don't seem to quite grasp is removing a firewall or NAT rule will not yield instant results, especially with stateful connections (e.g. TCP). You will have to reset the states in Diagostics > States > Reset States which will kill all connections coming/going through the network and cause the system to re-evaluate each connection as if it were a new one against firewall rules.

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