another Windows Firewall Control?

The full acccess to everyone to that folder is set on installation because standard users can't access that folder because it is in Program Files. I guess the full aceess can be changed to full read. I don't think this is a security hole.

This is a bug which was present in version 3.8.0.0. and 3.8.0.2. It is now fixed and when the new version will be out, this feature will work again. Thank you for reporting this.

 

Hello alexandrud, are you planning on fixing the digital signature? It is still showing as invalid here. It's not a big deal though.

 

It should look like in the image below. Please try to uninstall and to reinstall a fresh copy of the latest version from scratch. The installation process will reinstall the certificate in the proper location.

 

I found the same certificate info as kupo, uninstalled and reinstalled latest and still have the invalid message. I did keep my current settings if that would make a difference.

 

@kupo and focus:
The reason that you get invalid security certificate is that the signing authority of the cert is Binisoft (i.e. self-signed cert), which is not recognized by Microsoft. Alexandrud sees the certificate as valid on his system since he produced his own signing authority and had his Cert Authority installed on his system. Nobody else will see this as valid though - for that Alexandrud needs to purchase a cert from a recognized authority.

Also, there is no need to install/reinstall the program in order to verify the cert authenticity- you can select the exe file, and from the context menu select "Properties" and the tab "Digital Signatures". Click on "Details" and you will verify the validity (or invalidity, as our case on hand) of the file.

 

Yes, you are 100% right. The certificate is self signed. Indeed, the certificate appears OK only on the machine where it was generated, in this case on my development PC. This is used to avoid that message about Unknown Publisher from UAC. In the future I will try to buy a real certificate. Until now, I used the donations to buy a new computer for development purposes. The digital certificate was not a priority.

 

@Kob
Thanks for the information.
@alexandrud
Digital Certificate is really not that important, it's just bothering me why I have the invalid cert, now I know.

 

How much does a certificate cost?
Maybe we could chip in and help by an extra donation...

 

Thawte is "offering" 2 years for $549

-http://www.thawte.com/code-signing/content-signing-certificates/microsoft-authenticode/index.html-

Symantec / Verisign

-http://www.symantec.com/popup.jsp?popupid=csc_ms_authenticode_buy&footer=0

 

275$ for a year is too much. I have found a digital certificate from Comodo through Tucows for one year at 75$. The next version will be finally digitally signed with a real certificate not with a self signed certificate. Also, the new version will suport localization and can be translated to any language very easy.

 

I know this is completely offtopic but what is then the difference between certificates for $275 per year or $60 ??

Ps: Alexandru, I will help translate to Dutch

 

Getting a crash when attempting to Manage Rules:

Code:

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:	CLR20r3
  Problem Signature 01:	wfc.exe
  Problem Signature 02:	3.8.0.4
  Problem Signature 03:	50d85967
  Problem Signature 04:	System.Drawing
  Problem Signature 05:	4.0.0.0
  Problem Signature 06:	4f928adb
  Problem Signature 07:	445
  Problem Signature 08:	97
  Problem Signature 09:	System.Windows.Markup.XamlParse
  OS Version:	6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
  Locale ID:	1033
  Additional Information 1:	30ee
  Additional Information 2:	30ee019537cf826909669cbb796d5ad1
  Additional Information 3:	4bc3
  Additional Information 4:	4bc31a89d05c83ef454375d046d0b8d5

Been a while since I've ventured into Manage Rules so can't say when the problem started?
In any case, after trying a few times unsuccessfully, I see that while wfc.exe died, wfcs.exe was still running.
Figuring I'd try from a "cleaner" start, so I killed wfcs.exe, then ran wfc.exe.
WFC ran, tray icon showed up, & WFC Control Panel opens & functions.
But attempting to Manage Rules, be it from Control Panel or right-click context menu, crashes.

 

1. Export your policy and then reset to the default policy. This will reset your rules. Then try again to see if Manage Rules opens.
2. Please verify on the installation folder if wfc.exe and wfcs.exe have the same version. If you used the updater, there may be a small chance that the service didn't get updated properly. In this case, I recommend an uninstall and a clean install of the latest version. Then you can import back your policy, so the rules are not lost.
3. Try to run wfc.exe with administrative privileges. This will attempt to restart Windows Firewall service and Windows Firewall Control Service, in case there may be a problem with the Windows Firewall service.

Please let me know if this was helpful.
Alexandru

 

> 1. Export ... reset ... Then try again to see if Manage Rules opens.

Crash.

> 2. verify on the installation folder if wfc.exe and wfcs.exe have the same version.

Both 3.8.0.4.

> If you used the updater

I had.

> 3. Try to run wfc.exe with administrative privileges.

Still crashes.

---

Uninstall, reinstall, still crashes.

Code:

Faulting application name: wfc.exe, version: 3.8.0.4, time stamp: 0x50d85967
Faulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 6.1.7601.17965, time stamp: 0x506dcae6
Exception code: 0xe0434352
Fault offset: 0x000000000000bccd
Faulting process id: 0xf30
Faulting application start time: 0x01cdeafaf676746b
Faulting application path: C:\DEV\FIREWALL\Windows Firewall Control\wfc.exe
Faulting module path: E:\Windows\system32\KERNELBASE.dll
Report Id: 3a43242a-56ee-11e2-bd8e-001966122912

Code:

Application: wfc.exe
Framework Version: v4.0.30319
Description: The process was terminated due to an unhandled exception.
Exception Info: System.Windows.Markup.XamlParseException
Stack:
   at System.Windows.FrameworkTemplate.LoadTemplateXaml(System.Xaml.XamlReader, System.Xaml.XamlObjectWriter)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkTemplate.LoadTemplateXaml(System.Xaml.XamlObjectWriter)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkTemplate.LoadOptimizedTemplateContent(System.Windows.DependencyObject, System.Windows.Markup.IComponentConnector, System.Windows.Markup.IStyleConnector, System.Collections.Generic.List`1<System.Windows.DependencyObject>, System.Windows.UncommonField`1<System.Collections.Hashtable>)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkTemplate.LoadContent(System.Windows.DependencyObject, System.Collections.Generic.List`1<System.Windows.DependencyObject>)
   at System.Windows.StyleHelper.ApplyTemplateContent(System.Windows.UncommonField`1<System.Collections.Specialized.HybridDictionary[]>, System.Windows.DependencyObject, System.Windows.FrameworkElementFactory, Int32, System.Collections.Specialized.HybridDictionary, System.Windows.FrameworkTemplate)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkTemplate.ApplyTemplateContent(System.Windows.UncommonField`1<System.Collections.Specialized.HybridDictionary[]>, System.Windows.FrameworkElement)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkElement.ApplyTemplate()
   at System.Windows.FrameworkElement.MeasureCore(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.Measure(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.Controls.DataGridCellsPanel.MeasureChild(System.Windows.UIElement, System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.Controls.DataGridCellsPanel.GenerateChild(System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.IItemContainerGenerator, System.Windows.Size, System.Windows.Controls.DataGridColumn, Int32 ByRef, System.Windows.Size ByRef)
   at System.Windows.Controls.DataGridCellsPanel.GenerateChildren(System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.IItemContainerGenerator, Int32, Int32, System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.Controls.DataGridCellsPanel.GenerateAndMeasureChildrenForRealizedColumns(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.Controls.DataGridCellsPanel.MeasureOverride(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkElement.MeasureCore(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.Measure(System.Windows.Size)
   at MS.Internal.Helper.MeasureElementWithSingleChild(System.Windows.UIElement, System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.Controls.ItemsPresenter.MeasureOverride(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkElement.MeasureCore(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.Measure(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.Controls.Control.MeasureOverride(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.DataGridCellsPresenter.MeasureOverride(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkElement.MeasureCore(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.Measure(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.Controls.Grid.MeasureCell(Int32, Boolean)
   at System.Windows.Controls.Grid.MeasureCellsGroup(Int32, System.Windows.Size, Boolean, Boolean)
   at System.Windows.Controls.Grid.MeasureOverride(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkElement.MeasureCore(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.Measure(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.Controls.Border.MeasureOverride(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkElement.MeasureCore(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.Measure(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.Controls.Control.MeasureOverride(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkElement.MeasureCore(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.Measure(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.Controls.VirtualizingStackPanel.MeasureOverride(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkElement.MeasureCore(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.Measure(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.ContextLayoutManager.UpdateLayout()
   at System.Windows.ContextLayoutManager.UpdateLayoutCallback(System.Object)
   at System.Windows.Media.MediaContext.FireInvokeOnRenderCallbacks()
   at System.Windows.Media.MediaContext.RenderMessageHandlerCore(System.Object)
   at System.Windows.Media.MediaContext.RenderMessageHandler(System.Object)
   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(System.Delegate, System.Object, Int32)
   at MS.Internal.Threading.ExceptionFilterHelper.TryCatchWhen(System.Object, System.Delegate, System.Object, Int32, System.Delegate)
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.WrappedInvoke(System.Delegate, System.Object, Int32, System.Delegate)
   at System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherOperation.InvokeImpl()
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.runTryCode(System.Object)
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.RuntimeHelpers.ExecuteCodeWithGuaranteedCleanup(TryCode, CleanupCode, System.Object)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object, Boolean)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object)
   at System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherOperation.Invoke()
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.ProcessQueue()
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.WndProcHook(IntPtr, Int32, IntPtr, IntPtr, Boolean ByRef)
   at MS.Win32.HwndWrapper.WndProc(IntPtr, Int32, IntPtr, IntPtr, Boolean ByRef)
   at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.DispatcherCallbackOperation(System.Object)
   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(System.Delegate, System.Object, Int32)
   at MS.Internal.Threading.ExceptionFilterHelper.TryCatchWhen(System.Object, System.Delegate, System.Object, Int32, System.Delegate)
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.WrappedInvoke(System.Delegate, System.Object, Int32, System.Delegate)
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.InvokeImpl(System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherPriority, System.TimeSpan, System.Delegate, System.Object, Int32)
   at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.SubclassWndProc(IntPtr, Int32, IntPtr, IntPtr)
   at MS.Win32.UnsafeNativeMethods.DispatchMessage(System.Windows.Interop.MSG ByRef)
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.PushFrameImpl(System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherFrame)
   at System.Windows.Application.RunInternal(System.Windows.Window)
   at System.Windows.Application.Run()
   at WindowsFirewallControl.App.Main()

(^LOL, CRY, take your pick)

---

I'll also note, that a week or so ago (12-26-2012 it was), at some point, anything that touched the "network" crashed immediately when attempting to run. Existing apps, browser, chat ... continued to function, but anything new, or new instances of existing apps crashed immediately.

Either I noted or was notified of some type of WFC error or the icon/control were greyed out or ...? In any case, I mostly paid it no mind.

Code:

The Windows Firewall Control service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 1 time(s).

At the time, I figured something to do with & the firewall. Decided I'd do nothing further, but shut the computer down, & come back to it with a fresher mind. Next day, LOL, I don't remember what I did? Perhaps it was just a restart that "cured" all? And thinking that I also at that time updated WFC?

Sample:

Code:

Faulting application name: FlashGot.exe, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x4f576f0c
Faulting module name: comctl32.dll, version: 6.10.7601.17514, time stamp: 0x4ce7b71c
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0003115f
Faulting process id: 0x9bc8
Faulting application start time: 0x01cde3c4da29c913
Faulting application path: C:\Mozilla\USER\therube\FlashGot.exe
Faulting module path: E:\Windows\WinSxS\x86_microsoft.windows.common-controls_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.7601.17514_none_41e6975e2bd6f2b2\comctl32.dll
Report Id: 18f82b8a-4fb8-11e2-95bf-001966102012

Code:

Fault bucket , type 0
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: FlashGot.exe
P2: 0.0.0.0
P3: 4f576f0c
P4: comctl32.dll
P5: 6.10.7601.17514
P6: 4ce7b71c
P7: c0000005
P8: 0003115f
P9: 
P10: 

Attached files:

These files may be available here:
E:\Users\RUBEN\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_FlashGot.exe_e48f34ca9c487912ae1afe2a3c826cdaedc83d3_9ce894a8

Analysis symbol: 
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 18f82b8a-4fb8-11e2-95bf-001966102012
Report Status: 0

 

does anybody have any issues with wfc and virtualbox?

I am not 10000% sure but I think that since I installed virtualbox if I have wfc set to block outgoing by default when booting the computer takes from 10 to 20 seconds from the login to have the network available (there is either a circle or a yellow triangle on the network icon at the bottom right, and then it becomes normal) while if I have it set to allow outgoing it's instantly on.

I have static IPs set on my main interface and the virtualbox interface, so it's not a DHCP issue, also it doesn't make a difference if I disable the virtualbox interface either (note I have reconfigured it with NDisDeviceType so it doesn't do the 'unknown' network thing)

Has anybody ever seen anything like this? Once the network is up it seems to stay up (this is a new PC, I am still installing/setting up stuff so I haven't used it as much) and wfc in general seems to work ok, it just is puzzling why there would be a delay on startup for the network to become available. As I was saying I noticed it around the same time I installed virtualbox, but it might've been there earlier too, it might be a red herring.

I researched windows firewall frontends for a while before settling on wfc, and it seems like a good program, but this issue has me stumped: I wouldn't want to have to register it to be able to debug things further (enabling notifications) but maybe it's the only way forward...

 

Hi karmadharma! I'm no expert on WFC, but I use it to manage Windows Firewall in Windows 8 Pro which I have running as a VM in Virtualbox 4.2.4
The only problems I ever had with WFC was with the GUI (and my ignorance) on an earlier version. What I know about WFC is that it's just a 'manager' of WF - it doesn't 'rule' it, if you know what I mean. Have you tried disabling WFC and seeing if the issue still happens? I only have a standalone computer and use NAT internet connection, so I don't know about your network setting. The WFC dev has been around this forum recently, so hopefully he might turn up and shed some light on your problem. I doubt WFC has anything to do with slow startup of anything except when a new program trying to connect to the net fires up! (eg, to create a new rule!)
Regarding Virtualbox - this brings it's own set of issues, and again, I doubt that this has anything to do with WFC. I have Windows 8 Pro and 2 Linux distros in Virtualbox - and they are notoriously slow to startup! You would need to go to the Virtualbox forum and search for (or post) your particular issues!

 

> Getting a crash when attempting to Manage Rules: ...

And the same occurs if I were to log in under a different User Account.
Haven't tried (yet) to see if the crash persists when there's only one User logged in?

 

I do not think it's WFC itself, but it could be related to either some rule it created when I installed it or to some allow rule needing to be there (it is quite restrictive in terms of what svchost is allowed to do)

In terms of vbox some people do seem to have hit issues with a slow network startup on their forums *but* in that case it was *always* slow, while in my case it's only when I set WFC to block outgoing, so it's probably not the same issue...

 

Firewall managers such as WFC only act as a 'go between' – eg, they intercept a program trying to connect to the net and give you the option of allow\block, etc. They don't actually 'create' rules by themselves (and certainly not on installation!) If you have a problem rule in Windows Firewall, then it must have been there in the first place – did you try adding or changing any rules before? As for svhost, you will find that most users complain that rules are not restrictive enough! – there are simply too many processes tied up with svhost and where it wants to go!

I really can't see WFC causing issues with vbox – you either have the rules in place to 'allow' or 'block' vbox - not some in between which slows a connection. I think you probably need to check out your vbox setup.

 

when you install WFC it gives you the option to create a bunch of default rules for svchost, which I did do.

vbox could be a red herring, as I was saying I am setting up this pc from scratch and I noticed this delay only once vbox was installed, but for all I know it could've been there before (although odds are it wasn't, I *think* I would've noticed it before otherwise).

And in terms of 'slows a connection' this could simply be that some process on bootup is trying to do a connection to the outside, it waits 20 seconds, finds it's blocked and then things continue: my wondering about vbox is because I can't imagine anything else impacting the generic windows networking startup, but there might be something (say in svchost or somewhere else) that is being blocked by the default rules and is causing this, hence my posting the question if anybody else has seen anything like this and/or if they have suggestions on how to debug it (as much as I have many years of firewall experience on unix/linux this is my first time setting up the windows one).

 

Well, from your description, 0xe0434352 is the exception code for all .Net exceptions so that don't say too much. It seems that a NET update failed to install properly on your system or another update (or a program that you installed) screwed the system files. I didn't saw this error with WFC until now, but from your description I have a vague idea that if you try WFC on another PC you won't have this problem anymore. Please try this and let me know if this problem persists.

WFC does not block any connection and does not even filter any network packet. It just uses the settings from the Windows Firewall and ofers an improved way to operate with Windows Firewall. WFC has nothing to do with this problem. To verify this, try to uninstall temporarily WFC and you will see the same behaviour. I also have an exclamation mark on my network icon from the system tray at system startup, but this is only until I launch my web browser. On ce the homepage is loaded, the exclamation point dissapear. I've never paid attention to that.

Try to leave WFC on Low Filtering profile. This the default profile of Windows Firewall and does not restrict svchost.exe at all. Try this and see if the same behaviour occurs.

 

sorry, I probably didn't explain myself correctly, when I said 'setting wfc to blocking' I meant setting it to high filtering (to have the windows firewall block outgoing connections that don't have an allow rule)

thanks, as I was saying if it's on low filtering this does not happen: on low filtering there is no triangle or circle within ~1 second of logging in, on medium filtering it takes ~20 seconds for the triangle/circle to disappear and the networking to come up, hence my wondering if *something* is being prevented from connecting out and delaying the 'network is up' operation.

It's not a huge deal, but I guess I will register wfc and see if via the notification window I can figure out what's going on...

 

interesting, your comment about you getting the triangle as well made me wonder: if I log in and let things sit it does seem to wait ~20 seconds with the spinning circle and/or the triangle before it goes away, *but* if I say, launch firefox right away, the triangle goes away immediately.

I guess possibly windows thinks the network is down until something accesses it (which would happen right away in the 'allow outgoing' case)? weird, but harmless I guess, thanks for replying to my post.

 

On High Filtering profile, all in and out connections are disabled, no matter what you have a rule or not. This profile is like you have unplugged the network cable, no network activity is allowed. For best results you must use Medium Filtering profile but you must create some rules. There may be a timeout of 20 seconds of some component which has no access to the network. This is why you must create a rule for it to avoid that 20 seconds delay (on Low FIltering you don't have that delay). I don't know which component is that. For this are the notifications, they can tell you who wants to connect. Otherwise you'll have to research by yourself and guess what programs needs access.

 

argh, I must've been tired yesterday as I mis-spoke again, yes, I have been using medium filtering (I think high filtering means absolutely no connections would be allowed regardless of rules) for now with just the standard rules WFC created on install, I will post again if I identify what is trying to connect and causing the delay.