Troubleshooting Authentication

Testing authentication servers is possible using the tool located at Diagnostics > Authentication.

See also

• Authentication Servers

• External User Authentication Examples

• Hangouts Archive to view the August 2015 Hangout on RADIUS and LDAP.

Testing Authentication

Testing user authentication is a simple process:

• Navigate to Diagnostics > Authentication

• Select an Authentication Server

• Enter a Username

• Enter a Password

• Click the Test button.

Note

This only performs a basic authentication test. Some special use cases, such as EAP, cannot be tested in this manner and may still fail when this test succeeds.

The firewall will attempt to authenticate the user against the chosen server, then it prints the results. The best practice is to try this at least once before attempting to use the server.

If the server returned a set of groups for the user, and the groups exist locally with the same name, the GUI prints the names of the groups in the test results.

If the firewall receives an error when testing authentication, double check the credentials and the server settings, then make any necessary adjustments and try again.

Debug Option

The Set debug flag option enables additional logging for authentication attempts made from this page. Currently this is only recognized by the LDAP authentication code path.

When debugging is enabled for LDAP authentication, the authentication process will write messages to the main system log with much more detail about the LDAP query and results. This can be a great help for dialing in authentication containers, group membership, and extended query contents. This is especially useful when communicating with an LDAP server over TLS, where a packet capture cannot see those details.

RADIUS Authentication Server Troubleshooting

Missing/Incomplete RADIUS Reply Attributes

There is a limit to the maximum number of attributes the RADIUS client on pfSense® software can receive.

The radius client library in pfSense software does not support RFC 7499. This restricts the RADIUS request and response payloads to an upper limit of 4096 bytes. Large lists of attributes, such as numerous ACL entries, will be truncated to this limit.

LDAP Authentication Server Troubleshooting

Tip

When troubleshooting LDAP authentication, be sure to check the Debug Option for increased LDAP query and response logging.

LDAP DN and Related Settings

For LDAP authentication servers, first ensure the base DN and similar settings match those configured on the LDAP server. Check the LDAP server for more information.

For Base DN, it’s common to use the root of the LDAP tree but in most cases Entire Subtree must also be selected for the Search Scope.

Authentication Containers vary by LDAP implementations and setup. On Windows, it is commonly CN=Users,DC=example,DC=com, but it may vary. Try using an LDAP browser or similar software to locate the correct container.

LDAP path components are not case sensitive, so CN=Administrator is equivalent to cn=administrator.

Bind Credentials

When using authenticated (Not anonymous) binds, the username can be the short name (e.g. DOMAIN\User for AD) or a full LDAP specification for a user (e.g. CN=administrator,CN=Users,DC=example,DC=com).

Tip

The full DN of a Windows AD bind user can be found by navigating to the user in ADSI Edit found under Administrative Tools on the Windows server.

For a production setup, an unprivileged user should be used for binding if possible, and not AD Administrator-level account. Such an unprivileged user may need sufficient permissions to attempt binding as other users and access the LDAP directory.

Another common mistake with group membership is not specifying Entire Subtree for the Search Scope Level.

Active Directory Group Membership

Depending on how the Active Directory groups were made, the way they are specified may be different for things like Authentication Containers and/or Extended Query. For example, a traditional user group in AD is exposed differently to LDAP than a separate Organizational Unit.

ADSI Edit found under Administrative Tools on the Windows server can locate the DN for a given group.

Extended Query

The most common mistake with Extended Query is that the given directive fails to include both the item to be searched as well as how, such as:

memberOf=CN=VPNUsers,CN=Users,DC=example,DC=com

Note that in the above example the DN of the group is given along with the restriction (memberOf=).

For users of RFC2307 groups, such as with OpenLDAP, an extended filter might look more like the following:

&(objectClass=posixGroup)(cn=VPNUsers)(memberUid=*)

Connection-Related Issues (non-SSL/TLS)

Make sure that the LDAP server is listening on the expected port, and that connectivity to the LDAP server network is functional.

Performing a packet capture filtered on the LDAP server IP address and port will help track down the problem. Tools such as Wireshark can interpret LDAP packets and help diagnose queries and failures. See Troubleshooting via Packet Captures.

Connection-Related Issues (SSL/TLS)

By far the most troublesome connection type is LDAP+SSL/TLS (ldaps) due to its strict security and validation standards.

Restart PHP and the GUI

When making configuration changes to LDAP server entries using SSL/TLS, in some cases PHP and the GUI must be restarted for it to fully utilize the changes. Therefore it’s best to perform this step before others to ensure tests have the best chance to succeed.

To accomplish this, either reboot the device or connect to the console or SSH and run menu options 16 then 11. After restarting PHP and the GUI, run the test again to see if it succeeds.

Hostname Required

When connecting to LDAP with SSL/TLS, the hostname given for the server is also used to verify the server certificate. The server certificate SAN entries and/or CN must include its hostname, and that hostname must resolve to the LDAP server IP address, e.g. CN=ldap.example.com, and ldap.example.com is 192.168.1.5.

If an IP address has been entered for the hostname of the LDAP server, it will not work unless that IP address happens to also be the CN or a SAN of the server certificate.

If this must be worked around, it is possible to create a DNS host override in the DNS forwarder for <common name of the cert>.<firewall domain name>. That assumes that the CN is in a format that could actually be a hostname, or that the hostname in question is present in a SAN entry on the server certificate.

Use the Correct Port

When using port 636 for SSL/TLS, the firewall uses an ldaps:// URL, not STARTTLS. Ensure that the LDAP server is listening on the correct port with the correct mode. For STARTTLS, use port 389.

Ensure CA Matches

The most important factor in making sure that it is possible to communicate with the LDAP server over SSL/TLS is that the correct CA certificate has been imported into the firewall, and is chosen on the LDAP settings. The key is not required, only the CA certificate.

Nested CAs

If the LDAP server certificate CA is part of a chain, or there is an intermediate CA, every CA certificate in the chain must imported into the Certificate Manager.

Other Cert/CA Issues

Confirm that the certificates are otherwise valid, for example they are not expired or set to be valid in the future.

Troubleshooting via Server Logs

Authentication failures are typically logged by the target server (FreeRADIUS, Windows Event Viewer, etc), assuming the request is making it all the way to the authentication host. Check the server logs for a detailed explanation why a request failed. The system log at Status > System Logs may also contain information that hints at a resolution.

Troubleshooting via Packet Captures

Packet captures (Packet Capturing) can be invaluable for diagnosing errors as well. If an unencrypted method (RADIUS, LDAP without SSL/TLS) is in use, the actual password being used may not be visible but enough of the protocol exchange can be seen to determine why a request is failing to complete. This is especially true when a capture is loaded in Wireshark, which can interpret the responses, as seen in Figure Sample LDAP Failure Capture.

Sample LDAP Failure Capture