Release of QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10 SFS (2021.6.10.20241008193358)

Release Notes

Abstract

This technical note contains installation instructions, and a list of new features and resolved issues for the IBM Security QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10 (2021.6.10.20241008193358) SFS. These instructions are intended for administrators who are upgrading to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10 by using an SFS file.

Content

What's New

For more information on new and changed features in QRadar 7.5.0, see What's new in 7.5.0.

Light and Dark UI theme

In QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10, you can change the IBM QRadar user interface (UI) theme to your preferred mode. To change the UI theme, go to the Theme drop-down in the User Preferences panel, and select the Light or Dark option.

QRadar Incident Forensics is updated to Dark theme

The QRadar Incident Forensics user interface (UI) is updated to a dark theme. The light mode option is no longer available. This update does not affect the functionality of the product.

Added support for ICMP ping echo-request

Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request messages are now supported by the QRadar host firewall. By default, the incoming ICMP echo requests are rate-limited to 100 per second. Ping requests can be sent for both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

Parallel patching

After you patch the QRadar Console, you can patch all other managed hosts in parallel. A new reporting service is introduced to capture and display the status of managed hosts on the Console.

Parallel patching for a detached or removed Console HA can increase the patch time based on the number of managed hosts that are attached to the deployment before the Console HA is removed. Use the legacy patch process to upgrade a detached or removed Console HA.

If a managed host fails to upgrade and you exit the parallel patching, a console reboot occurs. To continue the upgrade, complete the following steps:

Remount the SFS file and select Parallel patching.
Select Check patching status, and then select Parallel patching to start the patch.

WinCollectHealthCheck.sh support script
To use managed Wincollect after you upgrade to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10, complete the following steps to configure the iptables rules by using the updated WinCollectHealthCheck.sh support script.

Install or upgrade to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10.
Apply Auto Updates to pull the latest support tools.
Run the following script.
/opt/qradar/support/WinCollectHealthCheck.sh
Verify that the script has successfully configured the iptables rules that were previously not configured.

If an issue occurs when the iptables rules are configured, an error message with a manual workaround is displayed.

Disabled 24 Java ciphers
The following Java ciphers are disabled in QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10:

jdk.tls.disabledAlgorithms=SSLv3, TLSv1, TLSv1.1, RC4, DES, MD5withRSA, DH keySize < 1024, DESede, 3DES_EDE_CBC, anon, NULL, DES_CBC, SHA1, DHE, SSL_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256, SSL_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384, TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, SSL_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA, SSL_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA, SSL_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256, SSL_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256, EC keySize < 224, include jdk.disabled.namedCurves

If the disabled ciphers cause issues with customer deployments, you can add or remove ciphers from the configuration file.

Performance enhancements for event and flow searches

Improved event and flow search stability and performance for large deployments, high query concurrency, and complex datasets by managing memory more effectively.
Event and flow searches that interact with IPv6 addresses are up to 200 times faster.

Added new IPv6 capabilities for Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA)

Scanner integrations can now forward IPv6 addresses to the Asset Profiler.
Asset profiling is supported for IPv6 host addresses, and processing of link-local addresses is optional.
IPv6 addresses in syslog headers can now be parsed for Log Source IDs.
Updated several DSMs and scanner integrations to improve IPv6 parsing.
Validated Custom Rules Engine (CRE) rule tests with IPv6 address fields.
Added support for right-click filters on IPv6 address fields.
Network configuration is now completed for IPv6 during the installation process.
Revalidated several applications to work in pure IPv6 networks.
Verified remote nets and GeoData to work with IPv6 content.
Improved search performance on IPv6 address fields.

Known Issues

WinCollect 7.3.1-43 upgrade fails
The WinCollect RPM validation is out of date and causes the upgrade to fail. To resolve the issue, and for more information, see WinCollect 7.3.1-43 upgrade fails due to "[CRITICAL] Transaction failed.

Access to X-Force servers

You can not access X-Force servers directly from a QRadar IPv6 box. To use X-Force in queries or custom rules, configure a proxy server. To enable a proxy, and for more information, see QRadar: X-Force Frequently Asked Questions.

Upgrading to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 8 or later from QRadar version 7.2.x can fail due to insufficient disk space
In QRadar version 7.3.0 or earlier, appliances were built with smaller partition sizes that can cause issues when you upgrade to RHEL-8. Depending on the appliance type, you can save the SFS file in a different directory or rebuild the system at Update Package 8 or later, and then add it to the deployment.

Apps fail to restart after upgrade

After you upgrade some apps remain in an "error" state on deployments with 30+ apps. Restart the apps by using the qappmanager: /opt/qradar/support/qappmanager.

For more information, see About the qappmanager support utility.

Duplicate app entries on Traefik when QRadar console is powered off and on again
If you power off your QRadar console via VSphere and power it on again, duplicate entires of apps exist on the Traefik UI. To resolve this issue, restart the Traefik service.

Error messages appear during decapper startup in QRadar Network Insights

The following error messages on the terminal broadcast messages or decapper logs indicate an automatic fallback to a legacy decapper library on virtual hosts.

EAL: rte_mem_virt2phy(): cannot open /proc/self/pagemap: Permission denied

EAL: Cannot use IOVA as 'PA' since physical addresses are not available

This fallback is necessary when IOMMU and virtualization passthrough are not available and enabled in the virtual platform configuration. The decapper continues to function, possibly with lowered throughput.

Admin password does not set correctly on auto-install

In some instances of QRadar installations using the auto-install method, the Admin password is not being set properly. To resolve this issues, manually update the Admin password in the QRadar host CLI. For more information, see DT258627.

Autoupdates (AU) issue after upgrade to QRadar 7.5.0 or later
It is possible for autoupdates to revert to a previous version of autoupdates after you upgrade. Older versions of autoupdate might not update RPMs as expected.

After you upgrade to QRadar 7.5.0 or later, type the following command to check your autoupdate version:

/opt/qradar/bin/UpdateConfs.pl -v

For more information about the issue and the resolution for your auto update version, see technote 6515880.

Issue adding Data Nodes to a cluster

When you add a Data Node to a cluster, they must either all be encrypted, or all be unencrypted. You cannot add both encrypted and unencrypted Data Nodes to the same cluster.

Resolved Issues

For a list of Known Issues links of resolved issues in QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10, see Known Issues. The Known Issues search page allows users to search for Known Issues by version or status.

Some Known Issues links might take 24 hours to display properly after a software release is posted to IBM Fix Central.

The following is a list of Known Issues fixed in QRadar Incident Forensic 7.5.0 Update Package 10:

DT394105: Performance degradation in 7.5.0 UP9 IF1 when you transition events between ecs-ec and ecs-ep components.
DT393397: Log activity tab Add Filter button can display text highlights that are difficult to view in Dark Mode
DT390721: After you upgrade from QRadar 7.5.0 UP 7 to QRadar 7.5.0 UP 9, the Pulse App does not have the proper permissions to run.
DT389402: Geographic rule test fails location match when IP is present in Network Hierarchy.
DT387724: Logrotate can fail in QRadar 7.5.0 UP8 due to a configuration conflict.
DT389204: Event Collectors with encryption enabled that drop connections to the Event Processor might experience event loss.
DT389245: User Account Deleted event doesn't contain information about the user who performed the action.
DT387114: The Notes in the Offense Summary CSV export are not in the correct order.
DT386337: Offline forwarding events fail with TCP over TLS when the event processor has no direct Internet access.
DT386288: Imported LDAP users are unable to receive emails due to the empty email field in users.conf.
DT381632: Blank page when adding an Ariel filter condition in a custom rule if the value ends with a backslash "\".
DT382083: In Log Activity right click filters won't display if the Source Address is IPv6.
DT378758: XML Expressions are unable to extract properties containing data after "&".
DT365810: After changing the server time on the command line of a QRadar console, tomcat can get stuck on reading report templates and fail to fully start.
DT364304: QRadar HA secondary hosts can go into a failed state after deploying changes.
DT386044: Missing some fields for CRE Rule Modified SIM audit event.
DT269915: QRadar GUI can become unresponsive during a login attempt if the LDAP server is unresponsive.
DT270362: Custom AQL Queries are removed from Manage Search Results after a Full Deploy.
DT252121: Custom property deletion checker can incorrectly identify rule dependencies.
DT252137: Report summary displays the "Run this report when wizard is complete" option incorrectly on the report wizard.
DT208622: Deployments with multiple encrypted data nodes do not rebalance between each other as expected after an upgrade to QRadar 7.5.0 UP3.
DT121375: Changes made to the time series chat dashboard layout can fail to persist after logout.
DT145254: "AADSTS75011" error when you use Windows Hello by X509 without the auth context.
DT398172: QRadar: Correlation Rules and Building blocks owned by disabled users do not execute in UP9. No errors reported.
DT390627: Background deployment tasks triggered by LDAP user synchronization can block deploys initiated from the UI.

Upgrade information

QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10 resolves reported issues from users and administrators from previous QRadar versions. This cumulative software update fixes known software issues in your QRadar deployment. QRadar software updates are installed by using an SFS file, and update all appliances attached to the QRadar Console.

The 750-QRADAR-QRSIEM-2021.6.10.20241008193358 SFS file can upgrade the following QRadar versions to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10:

QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 8
QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 8 Interim Fix 01 to Interim Fix 03
QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9
QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 Interim Fix 01 to Interim Fix 03

This document does not cover all of the installation messages and requirements, such as changes to appliance memory requirements or browser requirements for QRadar. To review any additional requirements, see the QRadar Upgrade Guide.

See QRadar: Software update check list for administrators for a list of steps to review before you update your QRadar deployment.

Before you begin

Ensure that you take the following precautions:

Back up your data before you begin any software upgrade. For more information about backup and recovery, see the QRadar Administration Guide.
To avoid access errors in your log file, close all open QRadar sessions.
The QRadar software update cannot be installed on a managed host that is at a different software version from the Console. All appliances in the deployment must be at the same software revision to update the entire deployment.
Verify that all changes are deployed on your appliances. The update cannot install on appliances that have changes that are not deployed.
If this is a new installation, review the instructions in the QRadar Installation Guide.

Installing the QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10 Software Update

These instructions guide you through the process of upgrading an existing QRadar version to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10. To update appliances in parallel, see QRadar: How to Update Appliances in Parallel.

Procedure

Download the software update to install QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10 from the IBM Fix Central website:
https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/swg/quickorder?parent=IBM%20Security&product=ibm/Other+software/IBM+Security+QRadar+SIEM&release=7.5.0&platform=Linux&function=fixId&fixids=7.5.0-QRADAR-QRSIEM-20241008193358&includeSupersedes=0&source=fc
Use SSH to log in to your Console as the root user.
To verify you have enough space (10GB) in /store/tmp for the QRadar Console, type the following command:
```
  df -h /tmp /storetmp /store/transient | tee diskchecks.txt
```
- Best directory option: /storetmp
  It is available on all appliance types at all versions. In QRadar 7.5.0 versions /store/tmp is a symlink to the /storetmp partition.

If the disk check command fails, retype the quotation marks from your terminal, then rerun the command. This command returns the details to both the command window and to a file on the Console named diskchecks.txt. Review this file to ensure that all appliances have at minimum 10GB of space available in a directory to copy the SFS before attempting to move the file to a managed host. If required, free up disk space on any host that fails to have less that 10GB available.

Note: In QRadar 7.3.0 and later, an update to directory structure for STIG-compliant directories reduces the size of several partitions. This can impact moving large files to QRadar.

To create the /media/updates directory, type the following command:
```
  mkdir -p /media/updates
```
Use SCP to copy the files to the QRadar Console to the /storetmp directory or a location with 10GB of disk space.
Change to the directory where you copied the patch file. For example,
```
  cd /storetmp
```

To mount the patch file to the /media/updates directory, type the following command:

  mount -o loop -t squashfs /storetmp/750-QRADAR-QRSIEM-2021.6.10.20241008193358.sfs /media/updates

To run the patch installer, type the following command:
```
  /media/updates/installer 
```
Note: The first time that you run the software update, there might be a delay before the software update installation menu is displayed.
Using the patch installer, select all.
- The all option updates the software on all appliances in the following order:
  1. Console
  2. No order required for remaining appliances. All remaining appliances can be updated in any order that you require.
- If you do not select the all option, you must select your Console appliance.
  
  As of QRadar 7.2.6 Patch 4 and later, you are only provided the option to update all or update the Console appliance. Managed hosts are not displayed in the installation menu to ensure that the Console is patched first. After the Console is patched, a list of managed hosts that can be updated is displayed in the installation menu. This change was made starting with QRadar 7.2.6 Patch 4 to ensure that the Console appliance is always updated before managed hosts to prevent upgrade issues.
  
  If you want to patch systems in series, you can update the Console first, then copy the patch to all other appliances and run the patch installer individually on each managed host. The Console must be patched before you can run the installer on managed hosts. When updating in parallel, there is no order required in how you update appliances after the Console is updated.
  
  If your Secure Shell (SSH) session is disconnected while the upgrade is in progress, the upgrade continues. When you reopen your SSH session and rerun the installer, the patch installation resumes.

Installation wrap-up

After the system reboot is not initiated after the patch completes and you have exited the installer, type the following command:
```
  umount /media/updates
```
Clear your browser cache before you log in to the Console.
Delete the SFS file from all appliances.
For administrators with managed WinCollect 7 agents, upgrades to 7.5.0 Update Package 10 require WinCollect version 7.3.1-43. Depending on your upgrade path, you might be required to update your WinCollect agent version on the Console. For more information, see the WinCollect 7.3.1-43 release notes.
To run AQL queries that use geographic data or the flags on the Log Activity tab, update to the latest database from Maxmind after you upgrade to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 10.

Results

A summary of the software update installation advises you of any managed hosts that were not updated. If the software update fails to update a managed host, you can copy the software update to the host and run the installation locally.

After all hosts are updated, send an email to your team to inform them that they will need to clear their browser cache before they log in to the QRadar SIEM interface.

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