Firewall & Configuration Review
A focused review of your firewall and infrastructure configuration against real attack paths and CIS benchmarks — the overly permissive rules and segmentation gaps that undermine everything else.
What is Firewall & Configuration Review?
Firewalls fail quietly through rule sprawl. We review your rule base and infrastructure configuration against real attack paths and CIS benchmarks, finding the overly permissive rules and segmentation gaps that undermine every other control.
Firewalls rarely fail because of a flaw in the product — they fail because their rule base grew for years and nobody pruned it. A temporary rule that became permanent, an any-any left after a migration, a management interface reachable from the wrong zone: individually forgettable, collectively they reopen the exact paths segmentation was meant to close. We review the rules and configuration against real attack paths and CIS benchmarks.
A configuration review also creates something most teams lack: an independent, documented baseline of what the firewall is actually enforcing. That baseline is invaluable for audits, for onboarding new staff, and for catching the slow drift that turns a well-designed rule set into an accidental any-any over a few years of changes.
Firewall & Configuration Review is a manual, exploit-driven assessment: real people attacking your target the way an adversary would, then proving each finding with a working proof of concept. It is not an automated scan with a logo on it — the point is to find and demonstrate the issues that actually put you at risk, and hand your team a clear plan to fix them.
Why it matters
Your infrastructure is probed continuously by automated adversaries. One exposed service or reused credential is often all it takes to gain a foothold — and from there, without testing, you don't know how far an attacker gets.
A firewall & configuration review engagement replaces guesswork with evidence. Instead of hoping your controls hold, you get a ranked, reproducible picture of where they don’t — before someone hostile finds the same gaps.
Industries & use cases
Configuration review suits organisations with complex, long-lived firewall estates, regulated environments needing segmentation evidence, and anyone consolidating infrastructure after growth or acquisition.
What we test
Manual, exploit-driven coverage focused on real impact — not scanner noise.
- Overly permissive and stale rules
- Segmentation and zoning gaps
- Management-plane exposure
- Logging and monitoring coverage
- Hardening vs CIS benchmarks
- Insecure defaults and services
Signs you should run a firewall & configuration review
If any of these apply, testing is overdue.
- Your rule base has grown for years without a cleanup
- You need segmentation evidence for an audit
- You've merged environments or migrated firewalls
- You're unsure what some existing rules are for
- You want an independent baseline of allowed traffic
Common vulnerabilities we find
The issues that show up again and again in firewall & configuration review — and the ones that actually get exploited.
Overly permissive rules
Any-any or broad rules that defeat the purpose of the firewall.
Segmentation gaps
Zones that should be isolated can reach one another.
Exposed management plane
Admin access to the device reachable from untrusted networks.
Reachable management plane
Device administration exposed to user or untrusted networks.
Missing logging and change control
No visibility into what the firewall allows or how rules change over time.
Shadowed and redundant rules
Conflicting or dead rules hiding what traffic is really allowed.
Weak or default management credentials
Administrative access protected by shared or default logins.
Insecure services on the device
Unnecessary management protocols and services exposed.
Example attack chain
Real impact rarely comes from one bug — it comes from chaining several. A representative example:
Why choose webhook.press
Attacker mindset
We’re offensive security people who also build the free tools bug-bounty hunters use daily. We test the way real adversaries do — and prove it.
No scanner theatre
You get findings a human exploited and verified, ranked by real business risk — not an unfiltered tool dump padded to look thorough.
Fixed price, free retest
A clear quote after scoping, a report your team and auditors can use, and a free retest to confirm the fixes hold.
Our methodology
A structured, transparent process aligned to OWASP and PTES — with a named point of contact throughout.
Scoping & rules of engagement
We agree the exact targets, depth, timing and constraints for your firewall & configuration review, and set clear rules of engagement so testing is safe and predictable.
Reconnaissance & mapping
We enumerate the full attack surface — endpoints, roles, technologies and trust boundaries — and threat-model where an attacker would focus.
Manual testing & exploitation
We attack by hand, verifying and chaining weaknesses into real impact. Automated tooling supports coverage; humans find the logic and authorization bugs it can’t.
Analysis & risk rating
Each finding is validated, rated by real business risk rather than raw scanner severity, and de-duplicated so you get signal, not noise.
Reporting
You receive an executive summary for leadership and a technical section with reproducible PoCs, evidence and concrete, stack-specific remediation.
Free retest
After you remediate, we re-test the closed findings to confirm they are actually fixed — at no extra cost.
What you get
Reproducible PoCs
Every finding ships with a working proof and step-by-step reproduction your engineers can replay and verify.
Risk-ranked findings
Prioritised by real business impact, so you fix what matters first instead of drowning in low-severity noise.
Actionable remediation
Concrete, stack-specific fixes and guidance — not generic “apply best practice” filler.
Free retest
We re-check the closed findings after remediation and confirm they’re resolved.
The report is written for two audiences at once: an executive summary that a non-technical stakeholder can act on, and a detailed technical section — findings, evidence, CVSS and reproduction — that your developers and auditors can use directly.
Manual testing, not just a scan
Automated scanners are fast and useful for coverage, but they only find patterns they already know, and they flood you with false positives. They cannot understand your business logic, chain several small issues into a breach, or tell you which alert actually matters. Our firewall & configuration review is led by experienced testers who exploit findings by hand and rank them by the damage they’d really do — the difference between a 300-page tool dump and a short list of things worth fixing.
Standards & compliance
Our firewall & configuration review reports are written to support the frameworks your auditors and customers care about — including SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, and the EU’s NIS2 and DORA. Each engagement produces clear, independent evidence of testing with scope, methodology and findings documented the way assessors expect, so the same test both hardens your systems and helps satisfy your obligations.
Frameworks we follow
Recognised methodologies, adapted to your target — never a rigid checklist.
- OWASP — Web Security Testing Guide, ASVS and the API Security Top 10
- PTES — the Penetration Testing Execution Standard
- NIST SP 800-115 — technical guide to security testing
- OSSTMM — Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual
- MITRE ATT&CK — to frame real-world adversary techniques
FAQ
Config review or active testing?
This is a configuration and rule-base review; we pair it with active network testing when you want both.
Which vendors?
Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco, Check Point, pfSense and cloud security groups.
Which vendors do you review?
Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco, Check Point, pfSense and cloud security groups.
Do you also test the network actively?
We can pair the review with active internal/external testing to validate that the rules hold in practice.
Do you provide a hardened rule-set recommendation?
Yes — prioritised changes to tighten the rule base and close the segmentation gaps we find.
Can you review cloud firewalls too?
Yes — security groups, NACLs and cloud firewall policies alongside traditional appliances.
How long does a firewall & configuration review take?
Most focused engagements run one to two weeks depending on scope; we agree the exact timeline during scoping.
Is a retest included?
Yes — after you remediate, we re-check the closed findings to confirm they’re fixed, at no extra cost.
How do you price it?
Per engagement, based on scope and depth — you get a fixed quote after a short scoping call. No cookie-cutter packages.
Why teams trust our firewall & configuration review
Aligned to recognised standards
Testing follows OWASP, PTES, NIST SP 800-115 and MITRE ATT&CK, and reports support SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, NIS2 and DORA.
Every engagement includes
Reproducible PoCs, risk-ranked findings, concrete remediation, a named point of contact, a free retest, and a summary letter of attestation.
Confidential by default
Work is covered by an NDA, scoped with clear rules of engagement, and data is handled with care throughout — including residency requirements.
Sample report available on request — see our reporting format and depth before you commit. Ask for a sample →
Get a quote for Firewall & Configuration Review
Tell us about the target — we’ll come back with scope and a fixed price. Manual, exploit-driven testing with reproducible proof and a free retest.