35.13 (L1) Ensure 'Enable Private Network Firewall: Log File Path' is set to '%SystemRoot%\System32\logfiles\firewall\privatefw.log'

Information

Use this option to specify the path and name of the file in which Windows Firewall will write its log information.

The recommended state for this setting is: %SystemRoot%\System32\logfiles\firewall\privatefw.log

If Windows Firewall events are not recorded it may be difficult or impossible for Administrators to analyze system issues or unauthorized activities of malicious users.

Microsoft stores all firewall events as one file on the system ( pfirewall.log ). To improve logging, separate each firewall profile (domain, private, public) into its own distinct log file ( domainfw.log privatefw.log publicfw.log ) for better organization and identification of specific issues within each profile.

Solution

To establish the recommended configuration via configuration profiles, set the following Settings Catalog path to %SystemRoot%\System32\logfiles\firewall\privatefw.log :

Firewall\Enable Private Network Firewall: Log File Path

Impact:

The log file will be stored in the specified file.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/16853