[SOLVED-BUG] FortiEMS/Forticlient - massive Webfilter issues for month (not yet solved by support)

[menatwork]

Hi folks,

this is no criticism to Fortinetsupport, but I am very interested whether you guys @the forum are having the same issues with Forticlient EMS and the webfilter.

I have a open ticket running since June 2022 and did numerous tests, debuglogs, new installs, adapt the installation etc.

Situation:

• Forticlient EMS at Server 2019
• Sitting in the DMZ
• Reachable via FQDN from the internet
• Reachable from internal LAN via FQDN
• The Forticlient correctly triggers Online-onfabric / Online-off-fabric rules (e.g. I can see that the webfilter is enabled when going off-fabric
• and here comes the problem:
  • No matter what I do, the webfilter itself is not working properly
  • If I go from onfabric to off-fabric, the webfilter is enabled, BUT
  • it is not filtering anything
  • Sometimes - if I stay off-fabric with the device (e.g with smartphone-hotspot) the webfilter does its job in blocking XXX  sites for example
  • As soon as I start switching networks (off-fabric / on-fabric / off-fabric) the webfilter stops blocking (but being still correctly activated). Sometimes it starts to work after about 10 minutes
  • I tried  it with browser add-ons and without them (Forticlient-addon)

So you absolutly cannot rely on this part of Forticlient, which makes it some kind of insecure!

Does no one of you have this troubles? I cannot believe that I am the only one with this situation. Does you Forticlient-Webfilter work (does it block sites when going from on- to off-fabric?)

Some feedback woud be great!

Thanks a lot!

[bwill]

@menatwork Thanks for circling back and sharing the update. This is very helpful and should speed up our upgrade timeline.

[menatwork]

@bwill  sorry for checking back here that late... I have checked 5 mins ago, whether the webfilter of the forticlient is working for us, as soon as the device goes online/offnet.

It is doing its job. (Blocking XXX sites for example)

Forticlient 7.2.4 FortiEMS 7.2.4