Palo alto PCNSA notes

Palo alto firewall

Palo alto is next gen firewall with user-id and app-id. Dynamic lists/feeds (EDL) for blocking malicious traffic and allowing trusted traffic like azure and CDNs etc.

It can do its inspections on north/south traffic and east/west traffic.

It has IPS, URL, wildfire (unknown threats).

DNS sinkhole (DNS protection)

Advanced logging with cortex datalake (take in multiple log sources and apply machine learning)

Platforms

• Virtual machines for public and private cloud (you control the VM)
• Prisma access (hosted cloud based firewall as a  service)
• Physical devices (physical boxes to install on site)

https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/hardware-firewall-innovations

SP3

Single pass simultaneous traffic inspection, classification and enforcement in one pass

Traffic 

Control plane

• config 
• logging 
• reporting 

Data plane

• Signature matching 
• security and network processing 

VMware remote console VMRC

 https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/368995/download-vmware-remote-console.html

Cisco RMA steps

open case 

request RMA

enter serial

chat now

Can I request RMA for this serial number : xxxxxxx

creates a RMA ticket

address needs to have customer name (your address / eircode)

or ship the RMA to the customer site

export user cert from windows cert store

Open MMC 

Add certs snap-in

user account and computer store

Check certificates > personal

exported the user cert from user store (use PKCS12 or DER base-64 encoded)

imported user cert into machine

switch aaa and radius authentication settings for duo etc

 aaa group server radius DUO-AUTH

aaa authentication login default group DUO-AUTH local

aaa authentication login CON-LOCAL local

aaa group server radius DUO-AUTH

 server name DUO-AUTH-PROXY

 ip radius source-interface Vlan2

radius server DUO-AUTH-PROXY

 address ipv4 192.168.1.1 auth-port 18122 acct-port 18122

 pac key 7 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

find what DH group an ikev1 S2S VPN is using in ASA

Move away from Groups 2, 5, 24. 

DH Groups 2, 5, 24 are considered insecure and are deprecated in FTD’s running 6.5/6.6 and will be removed in a later version.

check 6.7 and 7.1 release notes and search for group 5

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/security/secure-firewall/management-center/device-config/710/management-center-device-config-71/vpn-s2s.html? 

IKEv1

show vpn-sessiondb detail l2l filter ipaddress x.x.x.x

Look for "D/H Group" in IKEv1 section

sh crypto isakmp sa detail | i Grp:

sh crypto isakmp sa | i PFS Group 2,

Looking for groups 2 and 5

 sh crypto isakmp sa detail | i Grp:2,

 sh crypto isakmp sa detail | i Grp:5,

Can copy the full output of " sh crypto isakmp sa detail" to a text file and search

QoS palo alto

Make QoS policies

Policies > QoS

Assign policies to a profile:

Network > Network Profiles > QoS Profile

Assign a profile to interfaces

Network > QoS

why speed test results are usually lower than advertised speed

Overhead

• Your internet speed is measured in raw bits per second (bps), but real-world data transfer includes additional information like headers, acknowledgments, and error checking.

• TCP/IP, Ethernet, and other protocols add packet overhead, meaning some portion of the bandwidth is used for network management rather than your actual data.
• This overhead typically accounts for 5-15% of the total bandwidth, which explains why you rarely see a full 1 Gbps in speed tests.

Speed test client and server

The speed test server’s capacity can impact results. Some servers may be congested or unable to fully utilize your bandwidth.

The distance between you and the test server affects latency, which can slightly reduce speeds.

The speed test client needs to have a good NIC (intel if possible) and good spec (RAM and CPU) because it needs to make many connections to test the connection. For example if you test with a 100mbps NIC that is the max speed you can see. You need a 1gig NIC or better to test a 1gig connection.

ISP and firewall/network management and contention

• ISPs often use network shaping, congestion control, and peering agreements that affect speed.
• During peak times, ISPs may limit speeds slightly to ensure fair distribution of bandwidth among users.
• Your internal network/firewall may do the same
• Its best to test out of hours with just your test laptop plugged into the internet connection to give the best results

check a DNS TXT record

 

https://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx?action=txt%3a%40.dlrcoco.ie&run=toolpage#

nslookup -type=TXT mail._domainkey.domain.com

dig TXT domain.com +short

Powershell

Resolve-DnsName -Type TXT domain.com

Meraki monitoring pages

Organisation -> Alerts

Network-wide > clients

Network wide > Traffic

geoblock on palo alto

The FW needs to see the IP before geoblock can be applied 

under monitor > logs > GlobalProtect

( stage eq 'login' ) and ( status eq 'success' )

Also

Network > Gateways, click on the "Remote Users" link on the right

There is also the option to create the NAT for the GP IP only for the geo locations allowed

Have a general security rules with geoblock to/from any deny

Have a security rule to allow access to the GP IP only from the approved countries

Set the countries up in the GP config (portal / gateway)

Config the geoblock on any 2FA you might be using for 2FA as well as another line of defence

Enable the palo EDL blocks and dynamic threats etc, strict IPS

exclude IP's from nessus scan

Say we want to exclude 101 and 102 we can create targets like so:

192.168.1.1-192.168.1.100, 192.168.1.103-192.168.1.254

Reducing scan impact:

1. Exclude or Limit Scanning of Network Infrastructure Devices

• Exclude devices like:

  • Firewalls

  • Switches

  • Wireless access points

  • Routers

• These devices often:

  • React poorly to port scans and probes

  • Have limited CPU/RAM for handling scan traffic

  • Could throttle or interrupt user traffic when overwhelmed

✅ Yes, you should exclude these devices unless you have a clear need to scan them and have coordinated with the network team.

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✅ 2. Use Scan Throttling and Performance Settings

Adjust the performance settings in Nessus:

• Scan Configuration > Performance Settings:

  • Reduce the number of max simultaneous checks per host.

  • Lower the max simultaneous hosts scanned.

  • Increase the timeout to prevent retries.

  • Set network scan delay (e.g., 100–300 ms).

  • Use Safe Checks to avoid DoS-like behavior.

This reduces the burst load on the network and the devices.

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✅ 3. Use Targeted or Segmented Scans

• Break the scan into smaller IP ranges or subnets.

• Focus on servers, endpoints, or business-critical systems first.

• Scan different segments at different times or windows.

This distributes the load and avoids network congestion.

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✅ 4. Schedule Scans During Off-Hours

• Run scans during non-peak hours (e.g., late evening or weekends).

• Coordinate with the customer for a maintenance window.

This is often the simplest way to avoid affecting productivity.

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✅ 5. Enable Credentialed Scanning Where Possible

• Credentialed scans are less noisy on the network.

• They use authenticated access (e.g., SSH, SMB) to gather data from inside the system.

More accurate and less intrusive than aggressive remote scans.

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✅ 6. Use Passive or External Discovery Methods First

• Start with:

  • ARP sweep

  • DNS enumeration

  • SNMP discovery

  • Existing asset inventories

• Use these to map devices before a full vulnerability scan.

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✅ 7. Communicate and Test First

• Run a scan in a test VLAN or lab to profile the impact.

• Communicate with the network and system admins.

• Make sure there’s monitoring in place to see how scans affect performance.

Nessus HSTS check and redirects HTTP 3xx codes

 https://community.tenable.com/s/article/Verify-strict-transport-security-header-for-HSTS-Missing-From-HTTPS-Server?language=en_US

curl -sSI http://domain.com/

Palo alto and azure SAML auth

KBs:

https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA10g0000008U48CAE

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/saas-apps/palo-alto-networks-globalprotect-tutorial

Generate the the cert and make it active

Delete the old cert

Wait a few minutes for azure cloud to update 

Download the xml

delete old certs from palo

Import the xml into palo this will create cert and SAML IDP profile

Don't tick validate check box

Select the new IDP profile in your azure auth profile

NAT rules on palo alto

 Making a note because its a bit different to cisco ASA

NAT rule

OUTSIDE > OUTSIDE 

Public src > Public dst

FW rule 

OUTSIDE > INSIDE (counted as inside because of the NAT)

Public src > Public dst