Configuring Murus Firewall for MacOS: Allowing Connections to Modem Dashboard
Murus is a powerful and user-friendly firewall management tool for MacOS, built on top of the native pf firewall. With Murus, you can easily configure your MacOS firewall to allow or block connections as needed. In this article, we will cover the steps to configure Murus to allow connections to a Modem Dashboard, which is a common use case for many users.
Approach: Block Everything, Allow Needed
The approach we will take is to block everything by default and then allow only the connections that are needed. This is a best practice for firewall configuration, as it helps to minimize the attack surface of your system.
Step 1: Setting the Default Policy
The first step is to set the default policy for incoming and outgoing connections. To do this, open Murus and go to the "Firewall" tab. In the "Default policy" section, select "Block" for both incoming and outgoing connections.
# Set default policy to block incoming and outgoing connections
block in
block out
Step 2: Allowing Connections to the Modem Dashboard
Next, we need to allow connections to the Modem Dashboard. This will typically be on a specific IP address and port number. To allow these connections, we will use the "pass" command in Murus. For example, if the Modem Dashboard is on IP address 192.168.1.1 and listening on port 80, we would use the following command:
# Allow connections to Modem Dashboard on IP address 192.168.1.1 and port 80
pass in on egress proto tcp from any to 192.168.1.1 port 80
Note: The "egress" interface is used for outgoing connections. If you are unsure which interface to use, you can check the output of the "ifconfig" command.
Step 3: Testing the Configuration
Once you have added the necessary rules to Murus, it's important to test the configuration to ensure that it is working as expected. You can do this by trying to connect to the Modem Dashboard and verifying that the connection is allowed. If the connection is blocked, double-check your Murus configuration to ensure that the rules are correct.
In this article, we have covered the steps to configure Murus Firewall for MacOS to allow connections to a Modem Dashboard. The approach we have taken is to block everything by default and then allow only the connections that are needed. By following these steps, you can help to ensure the security of your MacOS system.
References
- Murus Firewall: https://murusfirewall.com/
- pf Firewall: https://www.openbsd.org/faq/pf/
- MacOS Network Configuration: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202944