Table Of Contents
Release Notes for the PIX Firewall Version 4.4(1)
New Features in Version 4.4(1)
Four-Port Ethernet Card Support
MD5 Authentication for the link Command
Telnet Access to PIX Firewall Console
Release Notes for the PIX Firewall Version 4.4(1)
June 1999
This document describes the changes for the 4.4(1) version of the PIX Firewall software.
Contents
In the sections that follow, if an item is associated with a bug fix or workaround, the customer service number follows the note in brackets; for example, [CSCdk00000]. Bugs are summarized in the section "Caveats." If you have a CCO login, you can view additional information about each bug fix at:
http://www.cisco.com/public/bugs/bugs.html
System Requirements
The information contained in these release notes applies to all PIX Firewall hardware models running software version 4.4 or later.
Version 4.4 requires at least 16 MB (an optional 128 MB upgrade is available). You can verify how much memory you have with the show version command.
Version 4.4 supports one of the following interface combinations:
•
One 4-port Ethernet card and one or two Ethernet or Token Ring cards, which can be intermixed such as a 4-port Ethernet card and two Token Ring cards
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Up to four single-port Ethernet or Token Ring cards, either separate or intermixed
•
Two FDDI cards
New and Changed Information
Version 4.4 includes the following features.
New Features in Version 4.4(1)
The sections that follow describe the features in version 4.4(1).
AAA Server Groups
PIX Firewall lets you define separate groups of TACACS+ or RADIUS servers for specifying different types of traffic; such as, a TACACS+ server for inbound traffic and another for outbound traffic. Another use is where all outbound HTTP traffic will be authenticated by a TACACS+ server, and all inbound traffic will use RADIUS.
AAA server groups are defined by a tag name that directs different types of traffic to each authentication server. If the first authentication server in the list fails, the AAA subsystem fails over to the next server in the tag group. You can have up to 16 tag groups and each group can have up to 16 AAA servers for a total of up to 256 AAA servers.
The aaa command references the tag group. The aaa-server command replaces the radius-server and tacacs-server commands.
Note
The previous server type option at the end of the aaa authentication and aaa accounting commands has been replaced in version 4.4 with the aaa-server group tag. Backward compatibility with previous versions is maintained by the inclusion of two default protocols for TACACS+ and RADIUS. Hence, you can use the default groups and your existing aaa commands will work in version 4.4 as they did in previous versions. When you install version 4.4, PIX Firewall will convert your previous use of the radius-server and tacacs-server command statements to the new aaa-server command.
Refer to the Configuration Guide for the PIX Firewall Version 4.4 for a description of the aaa and aaa-server commands.
ActiveX Blocking
ActiveX controls, formerly known as OLE or OCX controls, are components you can insert in a web page or other application. These controls include custom forms, calendars, or any of the extensive third-party forms for gathering or displaying information. These controls cause potential problems for the network clients such as, causing workstations to fail, introducing network security problems, or being used to attack servers.
This feature blocks HTML <object> tags and comments them out within the HTML web page. This functionality has been added to the filter command with the activex option.
Note
The <object> tag is also used for Java applets, image files, and multimedia objects, which will also be blocked out by the new command.
Note
If the <object> or </object> HTML tags split across network packets or if the code in the tags is longer than the number of bytes in the MTU, PIX Firewall cannot block the tag.
Note
ActiveX blocking does not occur when users access an IP address referenced by the alias command.
FDDI
PIX Firewall supports two FDDI network interfaces. These interfaces cannot be used with Ethernet or Token Ring interfaces.
The Cisco FDDI card complies with ANSI specification ASC X3T9.5, which is a peer to the Ethernet IEEE802.3 or Token Ring IEEE802.5 specifications. The FDDI driver supports failover. The show interface and show version commands indicate that a FDDI card is installed.
PIX 515
The new PIX 515 provides an entry into the low-cost firewall market and contains two Ethernet 10/100 interfaces on its motherboard, 16 MB Flash memory, and 32 MB of RAM. The basic model with 32 MB of RAM will accept up to 68,000 simultaneous connections.
Note
If you purchase optional feature licenses, you can upgrade the PIX 515 to add failover access, additional system memory to 64 MB or 128 MB, a Private Link VPN card, and additional Ethernet interfaces up to the version 4.4 maximum of 6 interfaces. Installing additional interface cards or upgrading the system memory requires opening the chassis. Without the feature licenses, additional boards, failover, or memory upgrades are ignored. The PIX 515 has two PCI slots available for Private Link and an Ethernet card, or for two Ethernet cards.
Images are downloaded via TFTP across the network from any interface.
Note
In version 4.4, the PIX 515 only accepts Ethernet interface cards.
Refer to the "PIX 515" section in the "Important Notes" section for more information.
Feature-Based License Key
For the PIX 515, there are two available license keys. The basic key allows the use of two Ethernet interfaces without failover support, while the unrestricted key enables use of failover and up to six Ethernet interfaces.
Four-Port Ethernet Card Support
PIX Firewall now supports an optional Cisco 4-port Ethernet interface card. This component provides four 10/100 Ethernet connections and has autosense capability. Connectors on the 4-port card are numbered top to bottom sequentially; however, the actual device number depends on the slot in which the 4-port card is installed. shows how the top connector is numbered
.
Note
With the 4-port card, having a card in slot 3 makes the number of interfaces greater than six; while the card in slot 3 cannot be accessed, its presence does not cause problems with the PIX Firewall.
Six Interfaces
With the inclusion of a 4-port Ethernet card and two single port Ethernet or Token Ring interface cards, the PIX Firewall can support up to 6 interfaces.
TCP Half-Close Timeout
TCP half-close connections can now be separately managed with the new half-closed option to the timeout command. Also, half-close connections now do not add to the maximum connection count that you can set with the nat and static commands.
Telnet Authentication Prompts
The auth-prompt command can now display separate authentication prompts for user authentication via Telnet depending on whether the login is accepted or rejected.
TFTP Image Download
Because the PIX 515 does not have a diskette drive, you need to send a binary image to the PIX 515 using the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP). The PIX 515 has a special mode called monitor mode that lets you retrieve the binary image over the network. When you power on or reboot the PIX 515, it waits 10-seconds during which you can send a BREAK character or press the Escape key to activate monitor mode. While in monitor mode, you can enter commands that let you specify the location of the binary image, download it, and reboot the PIX 515 from the new image. If you do not activate monitor mode, the PIX 515 boots normally from Flash memory.
Refer to the monitor command page in Chapter 5, "Command Reference" in the Configuration Guide for the PIX Firewall Version 4.4 for more information on this feature.
New Commands
The following are new commands in version 4.4(1):
•
aaa-server—lets you specify AAA server groups. Refer to "AAA Server Groups" for more information.
•
clear blocks—keeps the maximum count to whatever number is allocated in the system and equates the low count to the current count.
•
clear conduit—removes all conduit command statements from your configuration.
•
clear establish—removes all establish command statements from your configuration.
•
clear fixup—removes fixup commands from the configuration that you added. Does not remove the default fixup protocol commands.
•
clear interface—resets all of the statistics for FDDI, Token Ring, and Ethernet interface cards except those that count normal traffic.
Changed Commands
lists command changes in version 4.4.
Removed Components
The following commands have been removed in version 4.4:
•
radius-server—replaced by the aaa-server command.
•
tacacs-server—replaced by the aaa-server command.
In addition, the PIX Firewall Setup Wizard and the PIX Firewall Manager products have been dropped from the PIX Firewall product line.
Note
PIX Firewall Manager version 4.3(2)b now works with version 4.4 but does not support the new features in version 4.4. The PIX Firewall Manager Release Notes Version 4.3(2)b are only available online in CCO (Cisco Connection Online).
Installation Notes
PIX Firewall only supports configuration upgrades from version 4.2(x) and later. With versions previous to 4.2(x), save your configuration to an ASCII text file using your terminal configuration program before upgrading, and write down your activation key. lists the upgrade path to use to get to the current version.
•
Before upgrading, copy your configuration to diskette with the write floppy command and write down your license activation key. You must have a copy of your activation key to restore a previous version from diskette.
•
If you are installing a 4-port Ethernet card, the card appears to have a slot connector longer than a PCI slot. The card does work in the PCI slot with overhang at the rear of the connector. Do not try to insert it in one of the larger ISA slots.
Limitations and Restrictions
This section contains critically important information.
•
For Ethernet, PIX Firewall only supports the Intel 10/100, Cisco 4-port, and 3Com 3c590 and 3c595 cards. All other Ethernet cards generate an error message and the card is ignored. [CSCdm05900]
•
The PIX Firewall Manager (PFM) will be replaced by another GUI management tool later this year, and PFM will not be upgraded with version 4.4 changes. PFM version 4.2(3)b has been issued, which works with PIX Firewall version 4.3 and 4.4.
Important Notes
The following sections contain usage information not included in other documentation or requiring special emphasis.
Interface Names
The maximum length of an interface name is 48 characters, not 255 as stated in the previous Configuration Guide for the PIX Firewall Version 4.3, or 49 as stated in the error message in the software.
Interface Types
The startup messages and the show interface and show version commands now list the Ethernet card type correctly. Formerly, all Ethernet cards were listed as i82557.
Maximum Configuration Size
The maximum size of a configuration is 1 MB. This is true for both the PIX 515 with its 16 MB Flash memory card, the PIX 520 with its 2 MB Flash memory card, and any previous PIX Firewall models with the 2 MB Flash memory card.
MD5 Authentication for the link Command
The md5 option to the link command does not work as described in the online help for the link command and will cause spurious results if used as described. [CSCdm42633]
To use the md5 option:
Step 1
Create a link with the associated key.
Step 2
Specify the md5 option.
For example:
link (inside) 192.150.49.133 1 123abclink (inside) 192.150.49.133 md5The first link command statement creates an encrypted path from the current Private Link-equipped PIX Firewall to the remote PIX Firewall at 192.150.49.133. The encryption key is in the first (of 7) key group and has the value 123abc. The second link command statement specifies that MD5 authentication will be required for this link.
PAT
One Port Address Translation (PAT) global statement is permitted per interface, but not two or more for a specific interface. This feature has been available since version 4.2(4) but was not documented.
PFSS
•
The PIX Firewall Syslog Server (PFSS) now puts the disk empty watch and disk full watch settings in the pfss.log file. In version 4.3, viewing these settings required use of the Windows regedit command. [CSCdk90988]
•
Also in version 4.4, when the PFSS detects a full disk, it causes the Windows NT system to repeatedly beep. PFSS also causes the Windows NT system to beep each time the duration of the disk_full_watch_timer completes. (The disk_full_watch_timer duration is set with -f parameter from the Start>Settings>Control Panel>Services menu on the Windows NT system.)
PIX 515
•
In version 4.4, the inside and outside interfaces are those attached to the motherboard. The two additional slots must be used for perimeter interfaces.
•
When using the monitor command (available in boot mode) to download a TFTP image, only one line can be pasted into the monitor command buffer from your terminal at a time. If more than one line is pasted, the first line is accepted, the second line is truncated, and the other lines are ignored.
Telnet Access to PIX Firewall Console
Telnet access to the PIX Firewall's console is available from all internal interfaces, but not the outside interface. [CSCdk91375]
Caveats
Refer to the previous versions of the PIX Firewall release notes for information on bugs in previous releases. On the Web, you can view previous versions of the PIX Firewall release notes at:
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/iaabu/pix/
If you have CCO access, you can view additional information about each open or resolved caveat at:
http://www.cisco.com/public/bugs/bugs.html
Open Caveats
The open caveats for version 4.4(1) are:
•
CSCdm42633—There is a dependency when using the link command that is not mentioned in the online help. If Private Link is incompletely configured with just the md5 option specified (as link (if_name) ip_address key-id md5), then an incomplete entry appears in the link table (viewable with the show link command). In addition, the message "Unable to find key" appears on the PIX Firewall command line for every interval specified by the age command until you either complete the Private Link configuration or reboot the PIX Firewall.
•
CSCdm41218—If you use the nat 0 or static command to give outbound access to a host on the inside, the PIX Firewall changes the destination address on the echo-request. The problem only manifested itself when trying to access a perimeter interface. Using a combination of nat and global command statements solves the problem.
•
CSCdm40856—The no aaa authentication telnet command reboots the PIX Firewall. You must specify at least the no aaa authentication telnet console command to successfully use this command. Cisco recommends saving your configuration to Flash memory when changing the configuration.
•
CSCdm36005—The logging on command does not propagate from the Active unit to the Standby unit when the units are synchronized. The workaround is to enter the logging on command on the Active unit after the Standby unit is online.
•
CSCdm35429—The maximum configuration size is 1 MB. This is true for both the 2 MB Flash memory units on the PIX 520 and earlier models, as well as the 16 MB unit on the PIX 515.
•
CSCdk91107—Setting the MTU on an interface to greater than or equal to the physical MTU causes Private Link to fail.
Also, open caveats in version 4.3(2) still apply to this product with the exception of those fixed in version 4.4(1). The version 4.3(2) open caveats can be viewed online at:
/en/US/docs/security/pix/pix43/release/notes/pixrn43.html#xtocid778260
Resolved Caveats
lists resolved DDTS bug reports that need clarification or those reports that change the command interface.
If you have CCO access, you can view additional information about each open or resolved caveat at:
http://www.cisco.com/public/bugs/bugs.html
Related Documentation
Use this document in conjunction with the following PIX Firewall documents:
•
Configuration Guide for the PIX Firewall Version 4.4
•
Installation Guide for the PIX Firewall
•
Regulatory Compliance and Safety Information for the PIX Firewall Version 4.4
•
System Log Messages for the PIX Firewall Version 4.4
•
Release Notes for the PIX Firewall Manager Version 4.3(2)b—applies to both versions 4.3 and 4.4.
All of these documents, including these release notes, apply to all PIX Firewall hardware versions, including the PIX Firewall, PIX10000, PIX 510, PIX 515, and PIX 520 models.
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Cisco Connection Online (CCO) is Cisco Systems' primary, real-time support channel. Maintenance customers and partners can self-register on CCO to obtain additional information and services.
Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, CCO provides a wealth of standard and value-added services to Cisco's customers and business partners. CCO services include product information, product documentation, software updates, release notes, technical tips, the Bug Navigator, configuration notes, brochures, descriptions of service offerings, and download access to public and authorized files.
CCO serves a wide variety of users through two interfaces that are updated and enhanced simultaneously: a character-based version and a multimedia version that resides on the World Wide Web (WWW). The character-based CCO supports Zmodem, Kermit, Xmodem, FTP, and Internet e-mail, and it is excellent for quick access to information over lower bandwidths. The WWW version of CCO provides richly formatted documents with photographs, figures, graphics, and video, as well as hyperlinks to related information.
You can access CCO in the following ways:
•
WWW: http://www.cisco.com
•
WWW: http://www-europe.cisco.com
•
WWW: http://www-china.cisco.com
•
Telnet: cco.cisco.com
•
Modem: From North America, 408 526-8070; from Europe, 33 1 64 46 40 82. Use the following terminal settings: VT100 emulation; databits: 8; parity: none; stop bits: 1; and connection rates up to 28.8 kbps.
For a copy of CCO's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), contact cco-help@cisco.com. For additional information, contact cco-team@cisco.com.
Note
If you are a network administrator and need personal technical assistance with a Cisco product that is under warranty or covered by a maintenance contract, contact Cisco's Technical Assistance Center (TAC) at 800 553-2447, 408 526-7209, or tac@cisco.com. To obtain general information about Cisco Systems, Cisco products, or upgrades, contact 800 553-6387, 408 526-7208, or cs-rep@cisco.com.
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