UTM/NGFW packet flow: proxy-based inspection

If a FortiGate or VDOM is configured for proxy-based inspection then a mixture of flow-based and proxy-based inspection occurs. Packets initially encounter the IPS engine, which uses the same steps described in UTM/NGFW packet flow: flow-based inspection on page 1899 to apply single-pass IPS, Application Control and CASI if configured in the firewall policy accepting the traffic.

The packets are then sent to the FortiOS UTM/NGFW proxy for proxy-based inspection. The proxy first determines if the traffic is SSL traffic that should be decrypted for SSL inspection. SSL traffic to be inspected is decrypted by the proxy. SSL decryption is offloaded to and accelerated by CP8 or CP9 processors.

Proxy-based inspection extracts and caches content, such as files and web pages, from a content session and inspects the cached content for threats. Content inspection happens in the following order: VoIP inspection, DLP, AntiSpam, Web Filtering, Antivirus, and ICAP.

If no threat is found the proxy relays the content to its destination. If a threat is found the proxy can block the threat and replace it with a replacement message.

Decrypted SSL traffic is sent to the IPS engine (where IPS, Application Control, and CASI can be applied) before re-entering the proxy where actual proxy-based inspection is applied to the decrypted SSL traffic. Once decrypted SSL traffic has been inspected it is re-encrypted and forwarded to its destination. SSL encryption is offloaded to and accelerated by CP8 or CP9 processors. If a threat is found the proxy can block the threat and replace it with a replacement message.

The proxy can also block VoIP traffic that contains threats. VoIP inspection can also look inside VoIP packets and extract port and address information and open pinholes in the firewall to allow VoIP traffic through.

ICAP intercepts HTTP and HTTPS traffic and forwards it to an ICAP server. The FortiGate is the surrogate, or “middle-man”, and carries the ICAP responses from the ICAP server to the ICAP client; the ICAP client then responds back, and the FortiGate unit determines the action that should be taken with these ICAP responses and requests.

Comparison of inspection types

The tables in this section show how different security functions map to different inspection types.

 

Mapping security functions to inspection types

The table below lists FortiOS security functions and shows whether they are applied by the kernel, flow-based inspection or proxy-based inspection.

 

 

FortiOS security functions and inspection types

Security Function    Kernel

(Stateful inspection)

Flow–based inspection       Proxy-based inspection

Firewall                       yes

IPsec VPN                   yes

Traffic Shaping           yes

User Authentication    yes

Management Traffic yes

SSL VPN                     yes

IPS                                     yes

Antivirus              yes                                          yes

Application Control             yes

CASI                 yes

Web filtering          yes                                          yes

DLP                                                                        yes                                          yes

Email Filtering                                                                                                        yes

VoIP inspection                                                                                                      yes

ICAP                                                                                                                      yes

 

More information about inspection methods

The three inspection methods each have their own strengths and weaknesses. The following table looks at all three methods side-by-side.

 

Inspection methods comparison

Feature                             Stateful                             Flow                                 Proxy

Inspection unit per ses- sion

first packet                          selected packets, single pass architecture, sim- ultaneous application of configured inspection methods

complete content, con- figured inspection meth- ods applied in order

 

Feature                             Stateful                             Flow                                 Proxy

Memory, CPU required       low                                      medium                              high

Level of threat protection    good                                   better                                  best

Authentication                    yes

IPsec and SSL VPN            yes

Antivirus protection                                                         yes                                      yes

Web Filtering                                                                  yes                                      yes

Data Leak Protection (DLP)

yes                                      yes

Application control                                                          yes

IPS                                                                                 yes

Delay in traffic                    minor                                  no                                       small

Reconstruct entire con- tent

no                                       yes

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