INTUNE-016: Firewall policy configuration

Platform
Entra ID / M365
Category
Intune / Endpoint Management
Severity
High
Zero Trust pillar
Devices (weight 3)
Golden fixtures
3
Branch coverage
Observed: fixtures prove the verdicts they exercise
Provenance
baseline

What it checks

The Windows Defender Firewall provides host-based network protection that blocks unauthorized inbound and outbound connections. Without a centrally managed firewall policy through Intune, individual devices may have inconsistent or disabled firewall settings, leaving them vulnerable to network-based attacks. Centralized firewall management ensures consistent protection across all managed endpoints regardless of network location.

Recommended value

Windows Defender Firewall enabled for all profiles (Domain, Private, Public); block inbound connections by default; log dropped packets

Remediation

Deploy an Intune endpoint security firewall policy that enables Windows Defender Firewall for Domain, Private, and Public network profiles with inbound connections blocked by default. Configure firewall rules for any required application exceptions and enable logging for dropped and successful connections. Monitor the firewall policy deployment status and investigate any devices reporting policy application errors or firewall disabled states.

Fixture-proven verdicts

Every verdict below is proven by a golden fixture in the module's gating test suite. This table derives from the last green run; it cannot be edited by hand.

Verdict scenarios for INTUNE-016
ScenarioExpected verdict
cleanPASS
known-badWARN
throttledNot Assessed

Framework mappings

NIST SP 800-53
SC-7