Frequently Asked Questions

win2ban

  • How to handle large log files effectively? â–¼

    Try to append the option tail to the logpath parameter of your jail definition. Win2ban will then start to read from the end of the file instead of from the beginning. Visit Fail2ban man page https://www.systutorials.com/docs/linux/man/5-jail.conf and search for tail for more information.

  • How can I configure Win2ban for Windows Remote Desktop/Network logons? â–¼

    Protecting RDP/Network logins against brute force attacks is enabled as default.

    Start services win2ban_winlogbeat and win2ban_fail2ban

    Sample /var/log/fail2ban.log:

    2018-04-06 15:31:41,113 fail2ban.server         : INFO    Starting Fail2ban v0.10.2
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,193 fail2ban.database       : INFO    Connected to fail2ban persistent database '/var/lib/fail2ban/fail2ban.sqlite3'
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,197 fail2ban.jail           : INFO    Creating new jail 'copssh'
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,205 fail2ban.jail           : INFO    Jail 'copssh' uses poller {}
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,205 fail2ban.jail           : INFO    Initiated 'polling' backend
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,207 fail2ban.filter         : INFO      maxLines: 1
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,233 fail2ban.server         : INFO    Jail copssh is not a JournalFilter instance
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,235 fail2ban.filter         : INFO    Added logfile: '/winlogbeat/logs/eventlog' (pos = 36044, hash = 4bd8f42a7d4b980d2921fe03ed7ffaf1)
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,236 fail2ban.filter         : INFO      maxRetry: 2
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,236 fail2ban.filter         : INFO      encoding: UTF-8
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,237 fail2ban.actions        : INFO      banTime: 600
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,237 fail2ban.filter         : INFO      findtime: 600
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,239 fail2ban.jail           : INFO    Creating new jail 'win2ban-network-logon'
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,239 fail2ban.jail           : INFO    Jail 'win2ban-network-logon' uses poller {}
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,239 fail2ban.jail           : INFO    Initiated 'polling' backend
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,242 fail2ban.filter         : INFO    Added logfile: '/winlogbeat/logs/eventlog' (pos = 0, hash = 4bd8f42a7d4b980d2921fe03ed7ffaf1)
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,243 fail2ban.filter         : INFO      maxRetry: 2
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,243 fail2ban.filter         : INFO      encoding: UTF-8
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,243 fail2ban.actions        : INFO      banTime: 600
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,244 fail2ban.filter         : INFO      findtime: 600
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,246 fail2ban.jail           : INFO    Jail 'copssh' started
    2018-04-06 15:31:41,248 fail2ban.jail           : INFO    Jail 'win2ban-network-logon' started
    2018-04-06 15:32:32,709 fail2ban.filter         : INFO     Found 192.168.122.13 - 2018-04-06 15:32:29
    2018-04-06 15:32:39,423 fail2ban.filter         : INFO     Found 192.168.122.13 - 2018-04-06 15:32:36
    2018-04-06 15:32:40,189 fail2ban.actions        : NOTICE   Ban 192.168.122.13
    2018-04-06 15:42:37,563 fail2ban.actions        : NOTICE   Unban 192.1
  • How can I configure Win2ban for brute force attacks against Copssh? â–¼

    Protecting Copssh against brute force attacks is enabled as default.

    Start services win2ban_winlogbeat and win2ban_fail2ban

    Sample /var/log/fail2ban.log:

    2018-04-05 23:54:28,411 fail2ban.server         : INFO    --------------------------------------------------
    2018-04-05 23:54:28,411 fail2ban.server         : INFO    Starting Fail2ban v0.10.2
    2018-04-05 23:54:28,442 fail2ban.database       : INFO    Connected to fail2ban persistent database '/var/lib/fail2ban/fail2ban.sqlite3'
    2018-04-05 23:54:28,446 fail2ban.jail           : INFO    Creating new jail 'copssh'
    2018-04-05 23:54:28,447 fail2ban.jail           : INFO    Jail 'copssh' uses poller {}
    2018-04-05 23:54:28,447 fail2ban.jail           : INFO    Initiated 'polling' backend
    2018-04-05 23:54:28,448 fail2ban.filter         : INFO      maxLines: 1
    2018-04-05 23:54:28,467 fail2ban.server         : INFO    Jail copssh is not a JournalFilter instance
    2018-04-05 23:54:28,468 fail2ban.filter         : INFO    Added logfile: '/winlogbeat/logs/eventlog' (pos = 19020, hash = c54619552ccd10f356c0810faec6cdba)
    2018-04-05 23:54:28,468 fail2ban.filter         : INFO      maxRetry: 2
    2018-04-05 23:54:28,469 fail2ban.filter         : INFO      encoding: UTF-8
    2018-04-05 23:54:28,469 fail2ban.actions        : INFO      banTime: 600
    2018-04-05 23:54:28,470 fail2ban.filter         : INFO      findtime: 600
    2018-04-05 23:54:28,472 fail2ban.jail           : INFO    Jail 'copssh' started
    2018-04-05 23:55:20,525 fail2ban.filter         : INFO     Found 192.168.122.13 - 2018-04-05 23:55:19
    2018-04-05 23:55:23,787 fail2ban.filter         : INFO     Found 192.168.122.13 - 2018-04-05 23:55:22
    2018-04-05 23:55:23,953 fail2ban.actions        : NOTICE   Ban 192.168.122.13
    2018-04-05 23:58:22,875 fail2ban.actions        : NOTICE   Unban 192.168.122.13
    2018-04-06 00:54:57,531 fail2ban.server         : INFO    Shutdown in progress...
    2018-04-06 00:54:57,531 fail2ban.server         : INFO    Stopping all jails
    2018-04-06 00:54:57,532 fail2ban.filter         : INFO    Removed logfile: '/winlogbeat/logs/eventlog'
    2018-04-06 00:54:58,328 fail2ban.jail           : INFO    Jail 'copssh' stopped
    2018-04-06 00:54:58,332 fail2ban.database       : INFO    Connection to database closed.
    2018-04-06 00:54:58,333 fail2ban.server         : INFO    Exiting Fail
  • How can I unban IP address(es) manually? â–¼

    Initiate win2ban-shell at the root of the installation directory

    Command to unban specific addresses:

    fail2ban-client unban ip-address ip-address ...

    Command to unban all IP-addresses:

    fail2ban-client unban --all
  • How can I verify if a ban rule is in effect for a specific jail? â–¼

    Initiate win2ban-shell at the root of the installation directory and issue the command below (example jail win2ban-network-logon):

    $ fail2ban-client status win2ban-network-logon
    
    Status for the jail: win2ban-network-logon
    
    |- Filter
    
    |  |- Currently failed: 1
    
    |  |- Total failed:     5
    
    |  `- File list:        /winlogbeat/logs/eventlog
    
    `- Actions
    
       |- Currently banned: 1
    
       |- Total banned:     2
    
       `- Banned IP list:   192.168.100.22

    The related firewall rule(s) can be displayed by using the following PowerShell command:

    get-netfirewallrule -all | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "win2ban*"} | Format-Table
    
    Name                                   DisplayName                  DisplayGroup Enabled Profile Direction Action
    
    ----                                   -----------                  ------------ ------- ------- --------- ------ 
    
    {F9BAA4EB-D8A8-48C7-9205-D3246D70F990} win2ban - ban 192.168.100.22              True    Any     Inbound   Block