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Web Filter Overrides the Firewall rules

Sop2000 over 5 years ago

Hi,

I am new to the Sophos UTM. Have been using Untangle, but just migrated into Sophos UTM and i really like what i seen so far. The only issue i have is:

I installed and configured (as far as i can tell) the Sophos UTM, but when i enable Web Filter, any host/network in the allowed list in the web filter, bypasses the Firewall rules and has access to the internet.

Is this behavior expected? At the moment I can either use the firewall to block/allow based on IP/Port etc but NOT URL, or use the Web Filter and filter on URLs but no the firewall rules. This does not seem right to me?

In Untangle you can do both at the same time, but their firewall is bit basic for my liking.

Thank you in advance for any advise you can part to help me understand this.

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0 Ol Deda over 5 years ago

Firewall rules are the last in hierarcy
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0 Sop2000 over 5 years ago in reply to Ol Deda

thank you oldeda. i thought that would be the case, thank you for confirming, however, what confuses me is why the firewall rules is bypassed when i enable the web filter?

i know the firewall rules are correct, because if i disable the web filter they kick in and do as expected, but as soon as i enable the web filter, almost like the firewall side is turned off (although its still on)

i am using LACP with 4 NICs in a bundle and VLANs. i wonder if that has anything to do with it? a bug or something...
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0 DouglasFoster over 5 years ago in reply to Sop2000

The architecture is different than most firewslls.

Read the Wiki articles, as theycontain information that is not in the manuals.
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0 Sop2000 over 5 years ago in reply to DouglasFoster

Thank you DouglasFoster.

I read the https://community.sophos.com/products/unified-threat-management/w/utm-wiki/37/securing-and-configuring-web-filtering

but now i am now more confused:(

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This what the instructions reads:

In most firewall products, Access Control Entries are used to evaluate source and destination together. In UTM, any traffic handled by the proxies will bypass any firewall rules, so source-destination restrictions must be enforced in the proxy configuration.

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So it seems, if you enable the Web Filter, any traffic dealt by the web filter is not sent to the firewall rules but rather sent directly out (that my understanding). If my understanding is correct, then i am back to square one and more importantly how you supposed to use both at the same time since they both used for different things?
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0 BAlfson over 5 years ago in reply to Sop2000

Hi and welcome to the UTM Community!

You will want to internalize #2 in Rulz. Also see Doug Foster's take on some of this: READ ME FIRST: UTM Architecture.

Cheers - Bob

Sophos UTM Community Moderator
Sophos Certified Architect - UTM
Sophos Certified Engineer - XG
Gold Solution Partner since 2005

MediaSoft, Inc. USA
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0 DouglasFoster over 5 years ago in reply to Sop2000

Every new user endures this shock, unless they are configured and trained by an experienced consultant. I think the architecture should be in the manual, with lots of cross-references to be sure it is not missed. Since Sophos expects new installs to choose XG Firewall, the manual may not ever get rewritten.

Given the documentation gaps, I do not understand why the home use program is still offered.
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0 Sop2000 over 5 years ago in reply to BAlfson

Thank you BAlfson. I read both links, I must say i am surprised with the way Sophos designed their architecture, but i guess they have their reasons.
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0 Sop2000 over 5 years ago in reply to DouglasFoster

Thank you DouglasFoster, your comments combined with Balfson's shared links, I think its time to explore migrating into Sophos XG.

I Wish I knew this from the start so would not have spent days reading and configuring UTM version and migrated directly into the XG version.

Before I embark on this journey, do you think the XG has the same design limitations as UTM?

Thank you again
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0 DouglasFoster over 5 years ago in reply to Sop2000

XG has a traditional firewall architecture with security zones. Having learned to adapt to UTM's design, I have decided to continue using what I have.
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