Snow Leopard firewall problem?

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Level 1

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Snow Leopard firewall problem?

Hi

I installed Snow Leopard yesterday and have enabled the firewall stealth mode. However, when I go into 'system profiler', under firewall it says 'Stealth Mode: No' and 'Firewall Logging: No'. As I understand it, firewall logging isn't even offered in SL. Any other changes I make to the firewall are immediately updated in 'system profiler > firewall'.

Is this a problem with my firewall or with 'system profiler'? Anyone else have this issue?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6)

Posted on Aug 30, 2009 3:58 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 30, 2009 4:08 PM in response to nev7

Hello nev:

Welcome to Apple discussions.

I am nice (as are most people here)!

I have my firewall set to block all incoming connections. My system profiler looks just like yours.

However, I did a little rooting around. Open your log application (in utilities). Some way down the list you will see "appfirewall.log." Apparently logging is automatic - at least I see entries after my upgrade to OS X 10.6. The entries mean nothing to me as they are, to me, technobabble (chuckle).

Barry

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Answer 2

nev7 Author

Level 1

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Aug 30, 2009 4:52 PM in response to Barry Hemphill

Thanks for your reply. Is your firewall stealth mode enabled and does it show as not enabled in 'system profiler' like mine? Also, I've searched for "appfirewall.log" and it doesn't appear to be on my system. I edited my question before your answer, sorry!

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Answer 3

Aug 30, 2009 4:55 PM in response to nev7

Yes, Stealth Mode is enabled in System Preferences but it says "No" in System Profiler.

I'll have to do some noodling on that!

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Answer 4

Aug 30, 2009 4:57 PM in response to nev7

Try pinging yourself and see if you get a response. If you do, stealth mode doesn't work. If there is no respond or a timeout, than stealth mode is working.

You can do this in Terminal:
ping -c 5 127.0.0.1

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Answer 5

Aug 30, 2009 5:24 PM in response to Community User

No, it will not "ping" with Stealth turned on but will with it turned off.

So, the discrepancy is apparently with System Profiler.

Not really a problem I guess since it is in Stealth when it is supposed to be.

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Answer 6

Aug 30, 2009 5:26 PM in response to Rick Prather

I wouldn't worry about it than. System profiler is just reporting it wrong. It's working, which is the important part.

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Answer 7

Cindy

Level 2

240 points

Sep 4, 2009 6:26 PM in response to Community User

All my security has been turned off since I installed. I didn't realize when I upgraded I had to go in and turn everything back on...oh well. Hope I still am the only one with my identity.

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Answer 8

Sep 11, 2009 4:07 AM in response to Cindy

There is a Big Problem.. If I not allow input connections to an application, then app works regularly..

Sorry for my english.

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Answer 9

TresRoque

Level 1

103 points

Oct 31, 2009 6:51 AM in response to Barry Hemphill

I tried to follow your instructions here, but they don't make sense.

There's no "appfirewall.log" on the mac.

And no 'log' app in Utilities.

Can you explain further?

Cheers.

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Answer 10

lobitz

Level 1

35 points

Oct 31, 2009 10:36 AM in response to TresRoque

The log is found in "/var/log/appfirewall.log". If you enable stealth mode that log will take quite a hit due to DNS inquiries.

It can be turned off as documented in [this thread|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10253521#10253521] but it's a manual operation. Unfortunately, with firewall logging off and stealth mode enabled, now "/var/log/kernel.log" will take the hit.

All in all, stealth mode is not worth the effort and cost.

In any case, the System Profiler misreports status.

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Answer 11

Nov 10, 2009 7:48 PM in response to Rick Prather

Same here; behavior appears correct.

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