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Any resolution on KB 46158: Firewalls not able to remember virtualized programs in exception list?

Updated: 29 Jul 2010 | 4 comments
alter_ego's picture
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I've already subscribed this article, but was wondering if this has been fixed:

article 46158: KNOWN ISSUE: Firewall blocking virtualized programs even though program listed in firewall''s exception list.
https://kb.altiris.com/display/1n/kb/article.asp?a...

Currently, I'm running Comodo Firewall and its associated "Defense" HIPS-like system and find that no matter what kind of exclusions I put in the SWV ProgramIgnoreList registry setting, it (Comodo) can't seem to exclude SWV-layer programs that trigger the protection prompts.  This problem is very similar to the article above as I have also observed previously that I can't get Windows Firewall to allow SWV-layer programs that trigger it.

The problem seems to be how SWV-layer programs present its path to the firewalls (In Comodo and Windows Firewall).  The firewalls seems to see the true exe paths when offering to save it for exclusion.  However, later on when the program runs, it triggers the prompts again, maybe because it is triggering it using the virtual path.

I hope that this problem can be resolved soon if it hasn't. Being able to run a firewall along with SWV should be an expected use-case scenario.

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Jordan's picture
04
Dec
2009
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yes and no. There are ways to

yes and no.

There are ways to work around it and it just depends on your software, but it's not something we've done within the product.  I think I've worked around this on comodo before.

The easiest way is to see if your firewall has a program exclude list and add our driver to that.

The next way to to add to the approved program list both the virtualized path (c:\program files\firefox\firefox.exe) and the redirect path (C:\fslrdr\#\[_B_]PROGRAMFILES[_E_]\Firefox\firefox.exe).

If a forum post solves your problem please flag is as the solution

alter_ego's picture
12
Jan
2010
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Do those methods work for Windows Firewall?

Dear Jordan,
Thank you for replying with a possible solution.  Unfortunately, for Comodo, and also Windows Firewall, there's no way to add the driver to the exclude list.  I have tried the 2nd method as well, by adding both the virtualized path and the redirect path to the approved program list, but it also didn't work.  For now, it would be great to be able to run SWV with at least some kind of firewall, even if it is the Windows built-in one.  Are there other methods that other members are using to have SWV and firewalls co-exist ?  Thanks in advance.

Jordan's picture
12
Jan
2010
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I've never had an issue with

I've never had an issue with Windows firewall, when on default settings, and SWV.

If a forum post solves your problem please flag is as the solution

alter_ego's picture
18
Jan
2010
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Test on Win XP SP3 fails

Dear Jordan,

Thank you for your feedback regarding the compatibility of SWV with Windows Firewall.  Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to get it to work as desired with server programs requiring Windows Firewall Exceptions that are virtualized under SWV.

To assist in troubleshooting and eliminate other variables, I created a test case using yet another virtualization method.  I had Win XP SP3 installed into a Virtual Machine created under VirtualBox (with bridged networking).  After that, I installed SWV into this VM and tried to simulate my use case.  For simplicity, I used an open-source webserver file-sharing application called HFS (www.rejetto.com/hfs).  This program is so small that it doesn't even come with an installer.  So to create a new SWV layer, i used SWV to start-up cmd.exe and had it copy the .exe into C:\program files.

 
Once I started up hfs.exe, Windows Firewall prompted me to unblock the program.  I clicked "Unblock" and it successfully started into my systray.  However, if I then try to access this hfs.exe's http port 80 service from an external machine, it wouldn't go through.  Upon inspection of the Windows Firewall "Exceptions" list, I could see that the hfs program was there with its checkbox *unchecked*.  Furthermore, it was pointing to the C:\FSLRDR\* location.  Checking the box to enable it and closing the Exceptions dialog box results in the box being unchecked again if the Exceptions settings dialog was opened again. Strangely at this point, if I closed the HFS program and started it up again, I would not be prompted again to unblock it.  
 
In trying out the method of adding the C:\Program Files\hfs.exe to the Exceptions list, I found that it actually causes both entries, C:\Program Files\* and C:\FSLRDR\* to disappear when the Exceptions dialog box is opened again later.  When this happens, starting hfs.exe would lead to Windows prompting if I wanted to Unblock it again.
 
Just to check that hfs.exe does work under SWV, I disabled Windows Firewall, and successfully connected to hfs.exe running on port 80 from an external PC.
 
I also tried this out with Synergy which is an open-source keyboard/mouse sharing program and similar behaviors occur.  Actually this is the original program that I was trying to run under SWV (back when it was known as SVS) when I first discovered this problem.  
 
So for the time being, it seems like I won't be able to run programs under SWV that require exceptions under Windows Firewall.  If I poked at port hole under Win Firewall by explicitly allowing their respective ports, the SWV virtualized programs work fine.  However, this may not be practical if the program to be virtualized requires constant changes to its incoming ports (or has a series of ports).
 
Hope the information helps in reproducing the problems and hope that a possible solution comes up eventually.  Thanks in advance.