Fortinet FortiGate Firewall STIG Version Comparison

There are 2 differences between versions v1 r1 (Jan. 28, 2021) (the "left" version) and v1 r3 (Oct. 26, 2022) (the "right" version).

Check FNFG-FW-000045 was changed between these two versions. Green, underlined text was added, red, struck-out text was removed.

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Title

In the event that communication with the central audit server is lost, the FortiGate firewall must continue to queue traffic log records locally.

Check Content

Log in Verify at least to two logging options are configured. It can be any combination of local and/or remote logging. Via the GUI: Login via the FortiGate GUI with Super-Admin super-admin privilege. 1. privileges. - Click Navigate to Log and Report. 2. Report. - Click Navigate to Log Settings. 3. Settings. - Verify the FortiGate Local Log is set to log to Disk disk settings. - Verify the Remote and Archiving settings. or Via the CLI: Open log to two central audit server (FortiAnalyzer or syslog). or Open a CLI console, console via SSH or available from the GUI. 1. Run "CLI Console" button in the GUI. Run the following command: commands # to verify which logging settings are enabled: # show full-configuration log disk setting | grep -i 'status\|diskfull' 'status\|diskfull' - # The output should indicate enabled. # show full-configuration log fortianalyzer setting | grep -i 'status\|server' # server # show full-configuration log fortianalyzer2 setting | grep -i 'status\|server' # server # show full-configuration log fortianalyzer3 setting | grep -i 'status\|server' # server # show full-configuration log syslogd setting | grep -i 'status\|server' # server # show full-configuration log syslogd2 setting | grep -i 'status\|server' # server # show full-configuration log syslogd3 setting | grep -i 'status\|server' # server # show full-configuration log syslogd4 setting | grep server If -i 'status\|server' - The output should indicate enabled and an IP address. If the FortiGate is not logging to disk and at least two central audit servers, locations (local and remote OR remote(x2) only), this is a finding.

Discussion

It is critical that when the network element is at risk of failing to process traffic logs as required, it takes action to mitigate the failure. Audit processing failures include software/hardware errors, failures in the audit capturing mechanisms, and audit storage capacity being reached or exceeded. Responses to audit failure depend on the nature of the failure mode. In accordance with DoD policy, the traffic log must be sent to a central audit server. When logging functions are lost, system processing cannot be shut down because firewall availability is an overriding concern given the role of the firewall in the enterprise. The system should either be configured to log events to an alternative server or queue log records locally. Upon restoration of the connection to the central audit server, action should be taken to synchronize the local log data with the central audit server. If the central audit server uses User Datagram Protocol (UDP) communications instead of a connection-oriented protocol such as TCP, a method for detecting a lost connection must be implemented.

Fix

For audit log resilience, it is recommended required to log to the local FortiGate disk, disk and a central audit server, or two central audit servers. To do this, log in to the FortiGate GUI with Super-Admin privilege. 1. Click Log and Report. 2. Click Log Settings. 3. For Local Log setting options, toggle the Disk setting to right. To add a FortiAnalyzer: 4. For Remote Logging and Archiving, toggle the Send logs to the FortiAnalyzer/FortiManager setting and enter the appropriate IP address. To add a syslog server: 5. For Remote Logging and Archiving, toggle the Send logs to syslog setting and enter the appropriate IP address. 6. Click Apply to save the settings. or 1. Open a CLI console, via SSH or available from the GUI. 2. Run the following command: # config log disk setting # set status enable # set diskfull overwrite # end # config log fortianalyzer setting # set status enable # set server {IP Address} # set upload-option realtime # end # config log syslogd setting # set status enable # set server {IP Address} # set mode reliable # end end Note: The central audit server can be a FortiAnalyzer, a syslog server, or one of each.