SonicOS 8 Rules and Policies for Classic Mode

About Stateful Packet Inspection Default Access Rules

By default, the SonicWall network security appliance’s stateful packet inspection allows all communication from the LAN to the Internet, and blocks all traffic to the LAN from the Internet. The following behaviors are defined by the default stateful inspection packet access rule enabled on the security appliance:

  • Allow all sessions originating from the LAN, WLAN to the WAN, or DMZ (except when the destination WAN IP address is the WAN interface of the firewall itself).
  • Allow all sessions originating from the DMZ to the WAN.
  • Deny all sessions originating from the WAN to the DMZ.
  • Deny all sessions originating from the WAN and DMZ to the LAN or WLAN.

Additional network access rules can be defined to extend or override the default access rules. For example, access rules can be created that allow access from the LAN zone to the WAN Primary IP address, or block certain types of traffic such as IRC from the LAN to the WAN, or allow certain types of traffic, such as Lotus Notes database synchronization, from specific hosts on the Internet to specific hosts on the LAN, or restrict use of certain protocols such as Telnet to authorized users on the LAN.

Custom access rules evaluate network traffic source IP addresses, destination IP addresses, IP protocol types, and compare the information to access rules created on the appliance. Network access rules take precedence, and can override the appliance’s stateful packet inspection. For example, an access rule that blocks IRC traffic takes precedence over the appliance default setting of allowing this type of traffic.

The ability to define network access rules is a very powerful tool. Using custom access rules can disable firewall protection or block all access to the Internet. Use caution when creating or deleting network access rules.

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