How to Parse Firewall Configs with Nipper.

Who said analyzing firewalls and network devices was something tedious and cumbersome?
Well your problems are over: Introducing Nipper, the network device configuration
parser. I have found that nipper aids tremendously in helping audit and analyze network
devices during our assessments, reducing tremendously the time it takes to analyze
a network device configuration file. Nipper offers comprehensive and detailed reports
which anyone can understand. Nipper helps security administrators to check their network
devices for known vulnerabilities and configuration flaws, and attending the need
for industry standards and compliance controls such as PCI, HIPAA, ISO and BITS, and
the best part of using Nipper is the fact that this tool is absolutely free.

Supported
Devices

• Checkpoint
  VPN-1/Firewall-1
• Cisco
  Catalysts
• Cisco
  Content Services Switch.
• Cisco
  Routers
• Cisco
  Security Applicances (PIX, ASA and FWSM)
• Juniper
  NetScreens Firewalls
• Nokia
  IP Firewalls
• Notel
  Passports
• Sonicwall
  SonicOS Firewalls

How
to use Nipper

1. Download
   Nipper for free at : http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=722046
2. Unzip
   the file to a working directory ex: c:nipper
3. Open
   the command line ( start > run > cmd )
4. Create
   a folder inside the working directory called config ( c:nipperconfig )
5. Obtain
   a copy of your device’s config file.

Example
on how to get the config of a Cisco Router.

1. Log
   on to the device IOS or Console.
2. Authenticate
   with your credentials.
3. Type
   at the command line: show
   running config
4. Copy
   the contents displayed.
5. Open
   notepad (start
   -> run -> notepad)
6. Paste
   the contents onto notepad and save it as

. config

Command:

Nipper.exe –

–input=c:nipperconfigfile.config –output=report_

.html

List
of device type and Output:

Device Model	Syntax	Output
Cisco Catalyst (IOS)	–IOS-CATALSYT	HTML / XML / TXT
Cisco Catalyst (NMP/CatOS)	–CATOS	HTML / XML / TXT
Cisco CSS	–CSS	HTML / XML / TXT
Cisco Security Appliance(ASA / PIX / FWSM)	–PIX– ASA–FWSM	HTML / XML / TXT
Juniper NetScreen Firewall	–SCREENOS	HTML / XML / TXT
Nokia IP Firewall	–NOKIA	HTML / XML / TXT
Nortel Passport	–PASSPORT	HTML / XML / TXT
SONICWALL SonicOS Firewall	–SONICOS	HTML / XML / TXT
Cisco IOS	–IOS-ROUTER	HTML / XML / TXT

Example
of a Nipper report:

Below
is an example of a Nipper HTML Report.

Nipper
Functionalities and Benefits:

• Provides
  a series of recommendations to disable services that might lead to unauthorized access
  to the router or network.
• Checks
  device OS version for vulnerabilities linking them to known vulnerability Databases.
• Commands
  and recommendations to harden the network devices.
• Help
  configure logging and monitoring.
• Preform
  Security Audits.
• Password
  complexity check.