The Palo Alto Networks security platform must drop malicious code upon detection.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-228848	SRG-NET-000249-ALG-000134	PANW-AG-000062	SV-228848r559740_rule	2025-03-12	3

Description
Malicious code is designed to compromise information systems; therefore, it must be prevented from being transferred to uninfected hosts. The Palo Alto Networks security platform allows customized profiles to be used to perform antivirus inspection for traffic between zones. Antivirus, anti-spyware, and vulnerability protection features require a specific license. There is a default Antivirus Profile; the profile inspects all of the listed protocol decoders for viruses, and generates alerts for SMTP, IMAP, and POP3 protocols while dropping for FTP, HTTP, and SMB protocols. However, these default actions cannot be edited and the values for the FTP, HTTP, and SMB protocols do not meet the requirement, so customized profiles must be used.

Description

Malicious code is designed to compromise information systems; therefore, it must be prevented from being transferred to uninfected hosts. The Palo Alto Networks security platform allows customized profiles to be used to perform antivirus inspection for traffic between zones. Antivirus, anti-spyware, and vulnerability protection features require a specific license. There is a default Antivirus Profile; the profile inspects all of the listed protocol decoders for viruses, and generates alerts for SMTP, IMAP, and POP3 protocols while dropping for FTP, HTTP, and SMB protocols. However, these default actions cannot be edited and the values for the FTP, HTTP, and SMB protocols do not meet the requirement, so customized profiles must be used.

ℹ️ Check
Go to Objects >> Security Profiles >> Antivirus If there are no Antivirus Profiles configured other than the default, this is a finding. View the configured Antivirus Profiles; for each protocol decoder (SMTP, IMAP, POP3, FTP, HTTP, SMB) if the "Action" is anything other than “drop” or "reset-both", this is a finding. Go to Policies >> Security. Review each of the configured security policies in turn. For any Security Policy that allows traffic between Zones (interzone), view the "Profile" column. If the "Profile" column does not display the "Antivirus Profile" symbol, this is a finding.

ℹ️ Check

Go to Objects >> Security Profiles >> Antivirus If there are no Antivirus Profiles configured other than the default, this is a finding. View the configured Antivirus Profiles; for each protocol decoder (SMTP, IMAP, POP3, FTP, HTTP, SMB) if the "Action" is anything other than “drop” or "reset-both", this is a finding. Go to Policies >> Security. Review each of the configured security policies in turn. For any Security Policy that allows traffic between Zones (interzone), view the "Profile" column. If the "Profile" column does not display the "Antivirus Profile" symbol, this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
To create an Antivirus Profile: Go to Objects >> Security Profiles >> Antivirus. Select "Add". In the "Antivirus Profile" window, complete the required fields. Complete the "Name" and "Description" fields. In the "Antivirus" tab, for all Decoders (SMTP, IMAP, POP3, FTP, HTTP, SMB protocols) set the "Action" to “drop” or "reset-both". Select "OK". Use the Antivirus Profile in a Security Policy: Go to Policies >> Security. Select an existing policy rule or select "Add" to create a new one. In the "Actions" tab in the "Profile Setting" section; in the "Profile Type" field, select "Profiles". The window will change to display the different categories of Profiles. In the "Actions" tab in the "Profile Setting" section; in the "Antivirus" field, select the configured Antivirus Profile. Select "OK". Commit changes by selecting "Commit" in the upper-right corner of the screen. Select "OK" when the confirmation dialog appears.

✔️ Fix

To create an Antivirus Profile: Go to Objects >> Security Profiles >> Antivirus. Select "Add". In the "Antivirus Profile" window, complete the required fields. Complete the "Name" and "Description" fields. In the "Antivirus" tab, for all Decoders (SMTP, IMAP, POP3, FTP, HTTP, SMB protocols) set the "Action" to “drop” or "reset-both". Select "OK". Use the Antivirus Profile in a Security Policy: Go to Policies >> Security. Select an existing policy rule or select "Add" to create a new one. In the "Actions" tab in the "Profile Setting" section; in the "Profile Type" field, select "Profiles". The window will change to display the different categories of Profiles. In the "Actions" tab in the "Profile Setting" section; in the "Antivirus" field, select the configured Antivirus Profile. Select "OK". Commit changes by selecting "Commit" in the upper-right corner of the screen. Select "OK" when the confirmation dialog appears.