Blocked MAC Address Redirect URL Not Working on pfSense 2.8.0 [Issue After Update]

LadiesMan217

Hi everyone,

I just upgraded my pfSense installation to the latest 2.8.0-RELEASE and noticed that the Blocked MAC address redirect URL feature is no longer working as expected.

Before the update, I had configured my captive portal to redirect any blocked MAC addresses to a custom URL (e.g., an informational page or payment portal). This was functioning perfectly on version 2.7.x.

After the 2.8.0 update, blocked devices simply get a timeout or blank response—no redirect happens, and no error logs are showing up that would indicate what’s going wrong.

Details:

Current version: pfSense 2.8.0-RELEASE
Setup: Captive Portal with MAC filtering
Expected behavior: Blocked MACs should be redirected to a specified URL
Actual behavior: No redirect or response; clients hang or display "Default Portal Showing," Not my specified block mac address redirect URL

What I’ve tried:

Rechecked the Captive Portal and MAC filtering settings (all intact after upgrade)
Flushed DNS and cleared browser cache on client side
Rebooted pfSense after update
Checked /var/log/system.log and /var/log/lighttpd.error.log for clues (nothing related)
Tried both HTTP and HTTPS redirect URLs

Anyone else running into this issue with 2.8.0?
Would appreciate any insights or workarounds while waiting on a possible patch.

Thanks in advance!

Gertjan

@LadiesMan217

For now : edit /etc/inc/captiveportal.inc - goto line 2410

Put a '//' before the break;

and you'll be fine, it will block again with the html page shown.

The algorithm that checks for 'mask' using mac addresses seems to be ... not doing what it is supposed to do

LadiesMan217

@Gertjan,

Thank you! That was exactly it. I've applied the edit to /etc/inc/captiveportal.inc by commenting out the break;, and I can confirm the redirect for blocked MAC addresses is now working as expected.

Thanks again for your expertise and for providing a solution so quickly

Gertjan

@LadiesMan217
@and those who do the same :

Be aware that commenting this 'break;' will break "mac mask" support.