32. Reports » Tools » Firewall

The Firewall tab offers detailed information and statistics about the filtering rules (including the associated firewall rules) managed by Wanguard, and provides an easy way for Console users to create their own firewall rules.

A filtering rule in Wanguard Filter describes an attack pattern. Types of filtering rules are found in General Settings » Anomaly Mitigation. Ideally, each filtering rule translates into one or more firewall rules, but this depends on the firewall backend. Netfilter supports all rules; other firewalls may be more limited.

32.1. Active Firewall Rules

Displays a list of active firewall rules, either auto-generated by Filters or manually added by Console users.

Administrators and Operators can manually add firewall rules by clicking [Add Firewall Rule], then choosing from the available firewall backends in the dropdown. Firewalls not defined in Filter configurations remain hidden.

32.1.1. Netfilter Firewall

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Create Netfilter Firewall Rule window parameters:

Description – A short name for identifying the firewall rule
Filter(s) – Choose which Filter applies your rule, respecting that Filter’s interface/chain/table settings
DirectionInbound matches traffic entering the network (where the Filter interface is defined as inbound). Outbound matches outgoing traffic
IP Protocol(s) – One or more IP protocols (e.g., TCP, UDP, SCTP), or Any to match all
Source/Destination IP/mask – Match traffic by source/destination blocks. The CIDR mask is optional; without it, addresses default to /32 (IPv4) or /128 (IPv6)
Source/Destination Port(s) – Specify up to 15 ports or ranges (e.g., “53, 1024:65535”). Field is editable only for TCP, UDP, UDPLITE, DCCP, or SCTP
IP Packet Length – Matches the OSI Layer3 payload length (e.g., Layer4 packet). Use “:” for value ranges
IP TimeToLive – Matches the TTL field in the IP header. Precede the number with “>” or “<” for greater/less than checks
TCP Flags Set/Unset – Select which TCP flags must be set or unset. Flags not specified in either field are ignored
Payload Content – Searches for a string anywhere in the packet. Use cautiously, as it can be CPU-intensive
Country(ies) – Matches traffic by country of origin, requiring the xt_geoip Netfilter module on the server
Firewall Policy – Netfilter firewall action for matched packets:
Drop – Discard the packets
Reject – Discard packets and send an ICMP reply (port unavailable)
Accept – Permit packets to pass
Rate Limit – Allow a limited number of packets or bytes
Rate Limit – The allowed rate of packets per time unit. If suffixed with “b”, rate-limiting uses bytes instead of packets
Rate Limit Hashing – Decide whether to apply rate-limiting globally or per object (e.g., Src. IP, Dst. Port, etc.). For a connection-oriented approach, select all objects. To limit the rate per source IP, choose Src. IP
Rule Active UntilManually deleted keeps the rule indefinitely. Other options remove the rule once a predefined condition is met

32.1.2. Hardware Offload

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Create Hardware Offloading Rule window parameters:

Description – A short name identifying the firewall rule
Filter(s) – Choose which Filter applies your rule
IP Protocol(s) – Select one or more protocols (TCP, UDP, etc.) or Any to match all packets
IP Fragment – Matches only fragmented packets
Source/Destination IP/mask – Match traffic by source/destination blocks. The CIDR mask is optional; without it, addresses default to /32 (IPv4) or /128 (IPv6)
Source/Destination Port(s) – Only for TCP, UDP, UDPLITE, DCCP, SCTP. Matches a set of source or destination ports
Rule Active UntilManually deleted keeps the rule indefinitely. Other options remove the rule once a predefined condition is met

The matched counters are not available in call cases. Chelsio offers partial counters, while Mellanox does not offer any counter information.

32.1.3. Dataplane Firewall

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The Create Dataplane Firewall Rule window parameters:

Description – A short name identifying the firewall rule
Filter(s) – Choose which Filter applies your rule
IP Protocol(s) – Select one or more protocols (TCP, UDP, etc.) or Any to match all packets
IP Fragment – Matches only fragmented packets
Source/Destination IP/mask – Match traffic by source/destination blocks. The CIDR mask is optional; without it, addresses default to /32 (IPv4) or /128 (IPv6)
Source/Destination Port(s) – Only for TCP, UDP, UDPLITE, DCCP, SCTP. Matches a set of source or destination ports
IP Packet Length – Matches the OSI Layer3 payload length (e.g., Layer4 packet)
IP TimeToLive – Matches the TTL field in the IP header
TCP Flags Set/Unset – Select which TCP flags must be set or unset. Flags not specified in either field are ignored
Firewall Policy – Dataplane firewall action for matched packets:
Drop – Discard the packets
Accept – Permit packets to pass
Count – Only count the packets
Rule Active UntilManually deleted keeps the rule indefinitely. Other options remove the rule once a predefined condition is met

32.2. Filtering Rule Archive

Displays all filtering rules detected by the selected Filter(s) over the specified time interval. Several columns are explained in Reports » Tools » Anomalies.

32.3. Filtering Rule Distribution

Generates pie charts showing statistics on filtering rules.

32.4. Geo Distribution

Displays an interactive world map, highlighting several relevant metrics (such as the number of attackers) by country.