Contents

Introduction

Prerequisites

Requirements

Components Used

Related Products

Conventions

Background Information

Modular Policy Framework Overview

Regular Expression

Configure

Network Diagram

Configurations

ASA CLI Configuration

ASA Configuration 8.x with ASDM 6.x

Verify

Troubleshoot

Related Information

Introduction

This document describes how to configure the Cisco Security Appliances ASA/PIX 8.x that uses Regular Expressions with Modular Policy Framework (MPF) in order to block the certain websites (URLs).

Note: This configuration does not block all application downloads. For reliable file blocking, a dedicated appliance such as Ironport S Series or a module such as the CSC module for the ASA should be used.

Note: HTTPS filtering is not supported on ASA. ASA cannot do deep packet inspection or inspection based on regular expression for HTTPS traffic, because in HTTPS, content of packet is encrypted (SSL).

Prerequisites

Requirements

This document assumes that Cisco Security Appliance is configured and works properly.

Components Used

- Cisco 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) that runs the software version 8.0(x) and later

- Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) version 6.x for ASA 8.x

The information in this document was created from the devices in a specific lab environment. All of the devices used in this document started with a cleared (default) configuration. If your network is live, make sure that you understand the potential impact of any command.

Related Products

This configuration can also be used with the Cisco 500 Series PIX that runs the software version 8.0(x) and later.

Conventions

Refer to the Cisco Technical Tips Conventions for more information on document conventions.

Background Information

Modular Policy Framework Overview

MPF provides a consistent and flexible way to configure security appliance features. For example, you can use MPF to create a timeout configuration that is specific to a particular TCP application, as opposed to one that applies to all TCP applications.

MPF supports these features:

- TCP normalization, TCP and UDP connection limits and timeouts, and TCP sequence number randomization

- CSC

- Application inspection

- IPS

- QoS input policing

- QoS output policing

- QoS priority queue

The configuration of the MPF consists of four tasks:

1. Identify the Layer 3 and 4 traffic to which you want to apply actions. Refer to Identifying Traffic Using a Layer 3/4 Class Map for more information.

2. (Application inspection only) Define special actions for application inspection traffic. Refer to Configuring Special Actions for Application Inspections for more information.

3. Apply actions to the Layer 3 and 4 traffic. Refer to Defining Actions Using a Layer 3/4 Policy Map for more information.

4. Activate the actions on an interface. Refer to Applying a Layer 3/4 Policy to an Interface Using a Service Policy for more information.

Regular Expression

A regular expression matches text strings either literally as an exact string, or by the use of metacharacters so you can match multiple variants of a text string. You can use a regular expression to match the content of certain application traffic; for example, you can match a URL string inside an HTTP packet.

Note: Use Ctrl+V in order to escape all of the special characters in the CLI, such as question mark (?) or a tab. For example, type d[Ctrl+V]?g in order to enter d?g in the configuration.

For the creation of a regular expression, use the regex command, which can be used for various features that require text matching. For example, you can configure special actions for application inspection with the use of the Modular Policy Framework that uses an inspection policy map. Refer to the policy map type inspect command for more information. In the inspection policy map, you can identify the traffic you want to act upon if you create an inspection class map that contains one or more match commands or you can use match commands directly in the inspection policy map. Some match commands let you identify text in a packet using a regular expression; for example, you can match URL strings inside HTTP packets. You can group regular expressions in a regular expression class map. Refer to the class-map type regex command for more information.

This table lists the metacharacters that have special meanings.

Character

Description

Notes

.

Dot

Matches any single character. For example, d.g matches dog, dag, dtg, and any word that contains those characters, such as doggonnit.

(exp)

Subexpression

A subexpression segregates characters from surrounding characters, so that you can use other metacharacters on the subexpression. For example, d(o|a)g matches dog and dag, but do|ag matches do and ag. A subexpression can also be used with repeat quantifiers to differentiate the characters meant for repetition. For example, ab(xy){3}z matches abxyxyxyz.

|

Alternation

Matches either expression it separates. For example, dog|cat matches dog or cat.

?

Question mark

A quantifier that indicates that there are 0 or 1 of the previous expression. For example, lo?se matches lse or lose.
Note: You must enter Ctrl+V and then the question mark or else the help function is invoked.

*

Asterisk

A quantifier that indicates that there are 0, 1 or any number of the previous expression. For example, lo*se matches lse, lose, loose, and so forth.

{x}

Repeat quantifier

Repeat exactly x times. For example, ab(xy){3}z matches abxyxyxyz.

{x,}

Minimum repeat quantifier

Repeat at least x times. For example, ab(xy){2,}z matches abxyxyz, abxyxyxyz, and so forth.

[abc]

Character class

Matches any character in the brackets. For example, [abc] matches a, b, or c.

[^abc]

Negated character class

Matches a single character that is not contained within the brackets. For example, [^abc] matches any character other than a, b, or c. [^A-Z] matches any single character that is not an uppercase letter.

[a-c]

Character range class

Matches any character in the range. [a-z] matches any lowercase letter. You can mix characters and ranges: [abcq-z] matches a, b, c, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, and so does [a-cq-z]. The dash (-) character is literal only if it is the last or the first character within the brackets: [abc-] or [-abc].

""

Quotation marks

Preserves trailing or leading spaces in the string. For example, " test" preserves the leading space when it looks for a match.

^

Caret

Specifies the beginning of a line

\

Escape character

When used with a metacharacter, matches a literal character. For example, \[ matches the left square bracket.

char

Character

When character is not a metacharacter, matches the literal character.

\r

Carriage return

Matches a carriage return 0x0d

\n

Newline

Matches a new line 0x0a

\t

Tab

Matches a tab 0x09

\f

Formfeed

Matches a form feed 0x0c

\xNN

Escaped hexadecimal number

Matches an ASCII character that uses a hexadecimal that is exactly two digits

\NNN

Escaped octal number

Matches an ASCII character as octal that is exactly three digits. For example, the character 040 represents a space.

Configure

In this section, you are presented with the information to configure the features described in this document.

Note: Use the Command Lookup Tool (registered customers only) in order to obtain more information on the commands used in this section.

Network Diagram

This document uses this network setup:

Configurations

This document uses these configurations:

- ASA CLI Configuration

- ASA Configuration 8.x with ASDM 6.x

ASA CLI Configuration

ASA CLI Configuration

ciscoasa#show running-config

: Saved

:

ASA Version 8.0(2)

!

hostname ciscoasa

domain-name default.domain.invalid

enable password 8Ry2YjIyt7RRXU24 encrypted

names

!

interface Ethernet0/0

nameif inside

security-level 100

ip address 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.0

!

interface Ethernet0/1

nameif outside

security-level 0

ip address 192.168.1.5 255.255.255.0

!

interface Ethernet0/2

nameif DMZ

security-level 90

ip address 10.77.241.142 255.255.255.192

!

interface Ethernet0/3

shutdown

no nameif

no security-level

no ip address

!

interface Management0/0

shutdown

no nameif

no security-level

no ip address

!

passwd 2KFQnbNIdI.2KYOU encrypted

regex urllist1 ".*\.([Ee][Xx][Ee]|[Cc][Oo][Mm]|[Bb][Aa][Tt]) HTTP/1.[01]"

!--- Extensions such as .exe, .com, .bat to be captured and !--- provided the http version being used by web browser must be either 1.0 or 1.1

regex urllist2 ".*\.([Pp][Ii][Ff]|[Vv][Bb][Ss]|[Ww][Ss][Hh]) HTTP/1.[01]"

!--- Extensions such as .pif, .vbs, .wsh to be captured !--- and provided the http version being used by web browser must be either !--- 1.0 or 1.1

regex urllist3 ".*\.([Dd][Oo][Cc]|[Xx][Ll][Ss]|[Pp][Pp][Tt]) HTTP/1.[01]"

!--- Extensions such as .doc(word), .xls(ms-excel), .ppt to be captured and provided !--- the http version being used by web browser must be either 1.0 or 1.1

regex urllist4 ".*\.([Zz][Ii][Pp]|[Tt][Aa][Rr]|[Tt][Gg][Zz]) HTTP/1.[01]"

!--- Extensions such as .zip, .tar, .tgz to be captured and provided !--- the http version being used by web browser must be either 1.0 or 1.1

regex domainlist1 "\.yahoo\.com"

regex domainlist2 "\.myspace\.com"

regex domainlist3 "\.youtube\.com"

!--- Captures the URLs with domain name like yahoo.com, !--- youtube.com and myspace.com

regex contenttype "Content-Type"

regex applicationheader "application/.*"

!--- Captures the application header and type of !--- content in order for analysis

boot system disk0:/asa802-k8.bin

ftp mode passive

dns server-group DefaultDNS

domain-name default.domain.invalid

access-list inside_mpc extended permit tcp any any eq www

access-list inside_mpc extended permit tcp any any eq 8080

!--- Filters the http and port 8080 !--- traffic in order to block the specific traffic with regular !--- expressions

pager lines 24

mtu inside 1500

mtu outside 1500

mtu DMZ 1500

no failover

icmp unreachable rate-limit 1 burst-size 1

asdm image disk0:/asdm-602.bin

no asdm history enable

arp timeout 14400

route DMZ 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 10.77.241.129 1

timeout xlate 3:00:00

timeout conn 1:00:00 half-closed 0:10:00 udp 0:02:00 icmp 0:00:02

timeout sunrpc 0:10:00 h323 0:05:00 h225 1:00:00 mgcp 0:05:00 mgcp-pat 0:05:00

timeout sip 0:30:00 sip_media 0:02:00 sip-invite 0:03:00 sip-disconnect 0:02:00

timeout uauth 0:05:00 absolute

dynamic-access-policy-record DfltAccessPolicy

http server enable

http 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 DMZ

no snmp-server location

no snmp-server contact

snmp-server enable traps snmp authentication linkup linkdown coldstart

no crypto isakmp nat-traversal

telnet timeout 5

ssh timeout 5

console timeout 0

threat-detection basic-threat

threat-detection statistics access-list

!

class-map type regex match-any DomainBlockList

match regex domainlist1

match regex domainlist2

match regex domainlist3

!--- Class map created in order to match the domain names !--- to be blocked

class-map type inspect http match-all BlockDomainsClass

match request header host regex class DomainBlockList

!--- Inspect the identified traffic by class !--- "DomainBlockList".

class-map type regex match-any URLBlockList

match regex urllist1

match regex urllist2

match regex urllist3

match regex urllist4

!--- Class map created in order to match the URLs !--- to be blocked

class-map inspection_default

match default-inspection-traffic

class-map type inspect http match-all AppHeaderClass

match response header regex contenttype regex applicationheader

!--- Inspect the captured traffic by regular !--- expressions "content-type" and "applicationheader".

class-map httptraffic

match access-list inside_mpc

!--- Class map created in order to match the !--- filtered traffic by ACL

class-map type inspect http match-all BlockURLsClass

match request uri regex class URLBlockList

!

!--- Inspect the identified traffic by class !--- "URLBlockList".

!

policy-map type inspect dns preset_dns_map

parameters

message-length maximum 512

policy-map type inspect http http_inspection_policy

parameters

protocol-violation action drop-connection

class AppHeaderClass

drop-connection log

match request method connect

drop-connection log

class BlockDomainsClass

reset log

class BlockURLsClass

reset log

!--- Define the actions such as drop, reset or log !--- in the inspection policy map.

policy-map global_policy

class inspection_default

inspect dns preset_dns_map

inspect ftp

inspect h323 h225

inspect h323 ras

inspect netbios

inspect rsh

inspect rtsp

inspect skinny

inspect esmtp

inspect sqlnet

inspect sunrpc

inspect tftp

inspect sip

inspect xdmcp

policy-map inside-policy

class httptraffic

inspect http http_inspection_policy

!--- Map the inspection policy map to the class !--- "httptraffic" under the policy map created for the !--- inside network traffic.

!

service-policy global_policy global

service-policy inside-policy interface inside

!--- Apply the policy to the interface inside where the websites are blocked.

prompt hostname context

Cryptochecksum:e629251a7c37af205c289cf78629fc11

: end

ciscoasa#

ASA Configuration 8.x with ASDM 6.x

Complete these steps in order to configure the regular expressions and apply them into MPF to block the specific websites as shown.

1. Create Regular Expressions

Choose Configuration > Firewall> Objects > Regular Expressions and click Add under the tab Regular Expression in order to create regular expressions as shown.

1. Create a regular expression domainlist1 in order to capture the domain name yahoo.com. Click OK.

2. Create a regular expression domainlist2 in order to capture the domain name myspace.com. Click OK.

3. Create a regular expression domainlist3 in order to capture the domain name youtube.com. Click OK.

4. Create a regular expression urllist1 in order to capture the file extensions such as exe, com and bat provided that the http version being used by web browser must be either 1.0 or 1.1. Click OK.

5. Create a regular expression urllist2 in order to capture the file extensions such as pif, vbs and wsh provided that the http version being used by web browser must be either 1.0 or 1.1. Click OK.

6. Create a regular expression urllist3 in order to capture the file extensions such as doc, xls and ppt provided that the http version being used by web browser must be either 1.0 or 1.1. Click OK.

7. Create a regular expression urllist4 in order to capture the file extensions such as zip, tar and tgz provided that the http version being used by web browser must be either 1.0 or 1.1. Click OK.

8. Create a regular expression contenttype in order to capture the content type. Click OK.

9. Create a regular expression applicationheader in order to capture the various application header. Click OK.

Equivalent CLI Configuration

ASA CLI Configuration

ciscoasa#configure terminal

ciscoasa(config)#regex urllist1 ".*\.([Ee][Xx][Ee]|[Cc][Oo][Mm]|[Bb][Aa][Tt])$

ciscoasa(config)#regex urllist2 ".*\.([Pp][Ii][Ff]|[Vv][Bb][Ss]|[Ww][Ss][Hh])$

ciscoasa(config)#regex urllist3 ".*\.([Dd][Oo][Cc]|[Xx][Ll][Ss]|[Pp][Pp][Tt])$

ciscoasa(config)#regex urllist4 ".*\.([Zz][Ii][Pp]|[Tt][Aa][Rr]|[Tt][Gg][Zz])$

ciscoasa(config)#regex domainlist1 "\.yahoo\.com"

ciscoasa(config)#regex domainlist2 "\.myspace\.com"

ciscoasa(config)#regex domainlist3 "\.youtube\.com"

ciscoasa(config)#regex contenttype "Content-Type"

ciscoasa(config)#regex applicationheader "application/.*"

2. Create Regular Expression Classes

Choose Configuration > Firewall > Objects > Regular Expressions and click Add under the tab Regular Expression Classes in order to create the various classes as shown.

1. Create a regular expression class DomainBlockList in order to match any of the regular expressions domainlist1, domainlist2 and domainlist3. Click OK.

2. Create a regular expression class URLBlockList in order to match any of the regular expressions urllist1, urllist2, urllist3 and urllist4. Click OK.

Equivalent CLI Configuration

ASA CLI Configuration

ciscoasa#configure terminal

ciscoasa(config)#class-map type inspect http match-all BlockDomainsClass

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#match request header host regex class DomainBlockList

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#exit

ciscoasa(config)#class-map type regex match-any URLBlockList

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#match regex urllist1

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#match regex urllist2

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#match regex urllist3

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#match regex urllist4

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#exit

3. Inspect the identified traffic with Class maps

Choose Configuration > Firewall > Objects > Class Maps > HTTP > Add in order to create a class map to inspect the http traffic identified by various regular expressions as shown.

1. Create a class map AppHeaderClass in order to match the response header with regular expressions captures.

Click OK

2. Create a class map BlockDomainsClass in order to match the request header with regular expressions captures.

Click OK.

3. Create a class map BlockURLsClass in order to match the request uri with regular expressions captures.

Click OK.

Equivalent CLI Configuration

ASA CLI Configuration

ciscoasa#configure terminal

ciscoasa(config)#class-map type inspect http match-all AppHeaderClass

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#match response header regex contenttype regex applicationheader

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#exit

ciscoasa(config)#class-map type inspect http match-all BlockDomainsClass

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#match request header host regex class DomainBlockList

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#exit

ciscoasa(config)#class-map type inspect http match-all BlockURLsClass

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#match request uri regex class URLBlockList

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#exit

4. Set the actions for the matched traffic in the inspection policy

Choose Configuration > Firewall > Objects > Inspect Maps > HTTP in order to create a http_inspection_policy to set the action for the matched traffic as shown. Click OK.

1. Choose Configuration > Firewall > Objects > Inspect Maps > HTTP > http_inspection_policy (double click) and click Details > Add in order to set the actions for the various Classes created so far.

2. Set the action as Drop Connection and Enable the logging for the Criterion as Request Method and Value as connect.

Click OK

3. Set the action as Drop Connection and Enable the logging for the class AppHeaderClass .

Click OK.

4. Set the action as Reset and Enable the logging for the class BlockDomainsClass.

Click OK

5. Set the action as Reset and Enable the logging for the class BlockURLsClass.

Click OK.

Click Apply.

Equivalent CLI Configuration

ASA CLI Configuration

ciscoasa#configure terminal

ciscoasa(config)#policy-map type inspect http http_inspection_policy

ciscoasa(config-pmap)#parameters

ciscoasa(config-pmap-p)#match request method connect

ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)#drop-connection log

ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)#class AppHeaderClass

ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)#drop-connection log

ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)#class BlockDomainsClass

ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)#reset log

ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)#class BlockURLsClass

ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)#reset log

ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)#exit

ciscoasa(config-pmap)#exit

5. Apply the inspection http policy to the interface

Choose Configuration > Firewall > Service Policy Rules > Add > Add Service Policy Rule.

1. HTTP Traffic

1. Choose the Interface radio button with inside interface from the drop down menu and Policy Name as inside-policy. Click Next.

2. Create a class map httptraffic and check the Source and Destination IP Address (uses ACL). Click Next.

3. Choose the Source and Destination as any with service as tcp-udp/http. Click Next.

4. Check the HTTP radio button and click Configure.

5. Check the radio button Select a HTTP inspect map for the control over inspection as shown. Click OK.

6. Click Finish.

2. Port 8080 Traffic

1. Again, choose Add > Add Service Policy Rule.

2. Click Next.

3. Choose the radio button Add rule to existing traffic class and choose httptraffic from the drop down menu. Click Next.

4. Choose the Source and Destination as any with tcp/8080. Click Next.

5. Click Finish.

Click Apply.

Equivalent CLI Configuration

ASA CLI Configuration

ciscoasa#configure terminal

ciscoasa(config)#access-list inside_mpc extended permit tcp any any eq www

ciscoasa(config)#access-list inside_mpc extended permit tcp any any eq 8080

ciscoasa(config)#class-map httptraffic

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#match access-list inside_mpc

ciscoasa(config-cmap)#exit

ciscoasa(config)#policy-map inside-policy

ciscoasa(config-pmap)#class httptraffic

ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)#inspect http http_inspection_policy

ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)#exit

ciscoasa(config-pmap)#exit

ciscoasa(config)#service-policy inside-policy interface inside

Verify

Use this section in order to confirm that your configuration works properly.

The Output Interpreter Tool (registered customers only) (OIT) supports certain show commands. Use the OIT to view an analysis of show command output.

- show running-config regex—Shows the regular expressions that have been configured

ciscoasa#show running-config regex

regex urllist1 ".*\.([Ee][Xx][Ee]|[Cc][Oo][Mm]|[Bb][Aa][Tt]) HTTP/1.[01]"

regex urllist2 ".*\.([Pp][Ii][Ff]|[Vv][Bb][Ss]|[Ww][Ss][Hh]) HTTP/1.[01]"

regex urllist3 ".*\.([Dd][Oo][Cc]|[Xx][Ll][Ss]|[Pp][Pp][Tt]) HTTP/1.[01]"

regex urllist4 ".*\.([Zz][Ii][Pp]|[Tt][Aa][Rr]|[Tt][Gg][Zz]) HTTP/1.[01]"

regex domainlist1 "\.yahoo\.com"

regex domainlist2 "\.myspace\.com"

regex domainlist3 "\.youtube\.com"

regex contenttype "Content-Type"

regex applicationheader "application/.*"

ciscoasa#

- show running-config class-map—Shows the class maps that have been configured

ciscoasa#show running-config class-map

!

class-map type regex match-any DomainBlockList

match regex domainlist1

match regex domainlist2

match regex domainlist3

class-map type inspect http match-all BlockDomainsClass

match request header host regex class DomainBlockList

class-map type regex match-any URLBlockList

match regex urllist1

match regex urllist2

match regex urllist3

match regex urllist4

class-map inspection_default

match default-inspection-traffic

class-map type inspect http match-all AppHeaderClass

match response header regex contenttype regex applicationheader

class-map httptraffic

match access-list inside_mpc

class-map type inspect http match-all BlockURLsClass

match request uri regex class URLBlockList

!

ciscoasa#

- show running-config policy-map type inspect http—Shows the policy maps that inspects the http traffic that have been configured

ciscoasa#show running-config policy-map type inspect http

!

policy-map type inspect http http_inspection_policy

parameters

protocol-violation action drop-connection

class AppHeaderClass

drop-connection log

match request method connect

drop-connection log

class BlockDomainsClass

reset log

class BlockURLsClass

reset log

!

ciscoasa#

- show running-config policy-map—Displays all the policy-map configurations as well as the default policy-map configuration

ciscoasa#show running-config policy-map

!

policy-map type inspect dns preset_dns_map

parameters

message-length maximum 512

policy-map type inspect http http_inspection_policy

parameters

protocol-violation action drop-connection

class AppHeaderClass

drop-connection log

match request method connect

drop-connection log

class BlockDomainsClass

reset log

class BlockURLsClass

reset log

policy-map global_policy

class inspection_default

inspect dns preset_dns_map

inspect ftp

inspect h323 h225

inspect h323 ras

inspect netbios

inspect rsh

inspect rtsp

inspect skinny

inspect esmtp

inspect sqlnet

inspect sunrpc

inspect tftp

inspect sip

inspect xdmcp

policy-map inside-policy

class httptraffic

inspect http http_inspection_policy

!

ciscoasa#

- show running-config service-policy—Displays all currently running service policy configurations

ciscoasa#show running-config service-policy

service-policy global_policy global

service-policy inside-policy interface inside

- show running-config access-list—Displays the access-list configuration that runs on the security appliance

ciscoasa#show running-config access-list

access-list inside_mpc extended permit tcp any any eq www

access-list inside_mpc extended permit tcp any any eq 8080

ciscoasa#

Troubleshoot

This section provides information you can use to troubleshoot your configuration.

Note: Refer to Important Information on Debug Commands before you use debug commands.

- debug http—Shows the debug messages for HTTP traffic

Related Information

- Cisco ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances Support

- Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) Support

- Cisco PIX 500 Series Security Appliances Support

- Cisco PIX Firewall Software

- Cisco Secure PIX Firewall Command References

- Security Product Field Notices (including PIX)

- Requests for Comments (RFCs)

- Technical Support & Documentation - Cisco Systems