Multi Network Firewall

[tjacobson]

I am trying to setup the new firewall by mandrake. The Multi Network Firewall 8.2. I am using a cable internet connection with a dynamic IP address. I can't get it to work. I have turned on transparent proxy and yet I still have to input proxy information to get it to work. I tried using DHCP and it still isn't working transparently.

[tjacobson]

Nobody replies to me...makes me so sad :(
Whatever...I think i'm getting closer to figuring out this problem so I will keep this updated on my progress in case anybody else needs help with this new product by Mandrake. By default all the firewall rules are jacked up. Nothing at all is allowed in or out. You have to open stuff up. The problem is if you make a bad rule in the firewall you lose communication with it. I can't login as root for some reason. I think it might be a bug with MNF but it denies my password everytime. I even formatted and made sure I did the right password and it still denied it. Therefore if you put in a bad rule you have to start from scratch. Can't access anything without root permissions.

[bwkaz]

I'd have responded earlier if I had a clue how to fix your problem... ;)

Anyway, you're saying that the Mandrake firewall thing defaults to DROP on packets? That makes sense, I guess. You shouldn't be allowing everything through in any case; a whitelist is, in general, more secure than a blacklist.

But the root login thing has nothing to do with your firewall. That's been the case on higher security settings of Mandrake (the normal, download version at least) for quite some time. What you have to do is add a user other than root, and you'll be able to log on as that user. Then, use su - to change to root once you're logged in.

The thinking is, if someone figures out the root password, they still won't be able to do any damage, because root logins aren't allowed. They have to guess two passwords, which (assuming your usernames and passwords are at least marginally secure) is a decent bit harder. Most of the time, they'll just look for a way to log in as "root" with a predetermined list of passwords, and not bother trying anything else.

Anyway, I don't know how to fix it now if you don't have another user, but if you do, log in as them and "su -" to root.

Actually, you may be able to fix it if you can put the hard drive from the firewall into another computer that has a bootable system. Boot the other system, mount the firewall's root filesystem, open up /mnt/point/etc/login.defs, and look for a noncommented CONSOLE= line. If it references a file, edit that file and add tty1:tty2:tty3:tty4:tty5 to allow root logins on consoles 1 through 5. Season to taste, of course.

If there is no file listed in the noncommented CONSOLE line, then add the tty[1-5] to that line to enable root logins on those consoles.

Then umount the firewall's root partition, shut down, move the hard disk back into the firewall, and boot it up to see if it worked.

Actually, you may be able to do this with the recovery function of the Mandrake installation CD as well...