Nipper - Common Known Issues and Workarounds Guide

Go to https://www.titania.com/products/nipper/devices/ to see a list of supported brands and confirmed OS versions. Please note this is not a full list of all supported versions, merely confirmed samples. If your OS version is not listed please contact support@titania.com or your Account Manager for confirmation.

Nipper will allocate a device license to each device it detects. This can extend to virtual devices depending on the brand of network device.

Workaround:

Enable the license usage prompt. This will show any extra licenses which will be required for an audit. To do this:

• Select Tools -> Settings -> Maintenance -> Usage tab -> Set Ask for Confirmation to Always.

This is a combination of the saved file being substantially larger than other file types (such as HTML) and Nipper being a single-thread application (which can make it appear unresponsive while processing a request). The large PDF file size is also a native issue due to the complexity of embedded graphics and fonts in the file format.

Current Workarounds:

• Save the report to HTML. This is a much smaller file and retains all the formatting and hyperlinks.

• Switch Nipper to classic view (Tools -> Settings -> Saving -> HTML Settings -> CSS Theme -> Classic Theme CSS. This will drastically reduce the complexity, size and time to save the PDF.

• Generate your report as HTML then print this to PDF or use a PDF converter such as Adobe Pro to convert the file type.

• Allow Nipper longer to save the report. Nipper will usually complete the save to PDF but this could take an extended amount of time.

Currently we do not have a compatible Nipper installation package for Mac OS devices.

Workarounds:

• Install Nipper on Windows or Linux using our current supported packages found here: https://account.titania.com/downloads

• Use a Virtual Machine or Parallel running a supported OS.

Nipper ascertains the device OS version from the configuration file provided. Sometimes this may not be in the configuration file or is in an unexpected format.

Workaround:

• When adding the device in Nipper (Add File, Add Directory etc.) click on the edit pencil icon and manually override the OS version.

Report the potential false-positive to support@titania.com for investigation and confirmation.

Workaround:

• Add a Note. With the audit report open in Nipper select Report and Add Note. Using this option you can add a comment to a specific finding. The Add Note function can be used for all report types.

• Exclude the finding. Choose Report and select Exclude Security Issue or Exclude Vulnerability. The selected finding is removed from the audit and reindexed to avoid numerical gaps.

By default Nipper is set to save each table to a separate CSV.

Workaround:

• Set Nipper to save tables in one CSV file by: Selecting Tools -> Settings -> Saving -> Table to CSV settings -> Untick the Separate CSV Files for Each Table.

An update to the QTs used for our software requires up to date graphics drivers or settings. Depending on the environment you have Nipper installed on the fix is as follows:

On VM workstation

• Enable the 3D accelerator graphics.

• Make sure video memory allocation is at least 512mb

On physical machine (PC/laptop)

• Update the graphics drivers to the latest version.

• Check if your MS .Net framework needs updating. Net Framework 4.7.2 has been seen to also resolve this issue.

Nipper has detected an inconsistency in the stored license information.

On VM workstation

• On the account that runs the remote audit remove and re-add the license credentials.

Via Nipper CLI

• nipper --delete-license=<serial-number> where <serial-number> is the serial number of the license you wish to remove.

You can see the serial numbers of the installed licenses with the following command: nipper –-show-licenses

On physical machine (PC/laptop)

• Remove and re-add the license through License Manager (Ctrl & L or Tools -> Manage Licenses)

• If these steps do not resolve the issue contact support@titania.com for a license key removal code.

If the license serial number and activation code look correct and you are still getting this error make sure the date and time on the device you have installed Nipper on is correct.

This error is normally seen after an incomplete install or update of Nipper.

Solution:

• Follow our Frequently Asked Questions guide for the steps to cleanly reinstall Nipper.

This is usually a permissions or privilege error often seen when using the Add Network option to retrieve a device configuration remotely.

Solution:

• Device logon credentials need to have admin levels with write permissions. Although nothing is written to the device this usually guarantees a high enough privilege to retrieve a full configuration file.

Nipper has launched outside of the visible desktop view.

• Try amending the screen resolution to see if Nipper can be seen. Drag the application back to the centre then close and reopen Nipper.

• Select the program in the task bar. Hold the Windows Key while pressing Left Arrow or Right Arrow repeatedly to move the window back into view.

• Uninstall, backup and delete Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Titania\Nipper and reinstall.

Nipper is trying to authenticate a license with an out of date activation link or server.

• Make sure your Nipper version is up to date using Ctrl & U to check for updates.

• Alternatively go to https://account.titania.com/downloads for the current versions of our software.

Nipper has detected a Palo Alto Panorama device but a standalone Palo Alto Firewall device has been chosen on the device list.

• Selecting Panorama will launch the Panorama config retrieval tool and work as expected.

This error is normally attributed to a faulty installation of Nipper or an out of date version.

• Make sure your Nipper version is up to date using Ctrl and U to check for updates.

• Alternatively go to https://account.titania.com/downloads for the current versions of our software and follow the steps to cleanly reinstall Nipper in our Frequently Asked Questions guide.

This is often an issue native to the operating system environment.

• Try increasing windows page file size.

A change on the device has caused a host key mismatch.

• Navigate to C:\Users(current user)\.ssh on the machine you have Nipper installed on and open the known_hosts file as administrator.

• Remove the lines associated with devices mentioned in the error.

• Save and close the file.

• If you use the Audit Schedule feature then repeat the above steps for

C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.ssh

Evaluation licenses have an activation limit. Contact support@titania.com if the activation failed or you need to reactivate the license again.

As best practice, and standard convention within the Cisco community, Nipper will treat Enable as a superuser since it has the highest privilege access. If you wish to exclude or add a note to any Security Issues relating to Enable you may do so under the Report menu option.

Check that the VM is connected to the internet and can reach the license server (www.titania.com port 443 HTTPS). Then reboot the VM. If this still does not work contact support@titania.com for assistance with clearing the stored license.

The failed file being win32kfull.sys. Perform a Windows and drivers update.

If PostMan cannot resolve the IP of the device and you can use the same IP to connect to your SmartConsole. Then you will need to run the command “api status” then check the Management API port. Then you will need to use this port to get the configuration.

When attempting to run a report in Nipper, with Vulnerability Audit de-selected, with PCI on it will force the Vulnerability to run. To get around this, you will need to de-select the PCI DSS Audit then choose the audits you would like to run against your device(s).

When attempting to acquire the configuration, via the Manual Configuration Retrieval script found here: https://bitbucket.org/titanialtd/nipper_config_retrieval/src/master/Manual%20config%20retrieval/

The script may not be able to verify the certificate, to get around this you will need to add “--sslverify=off” into the command used. There is a full example below:

retrieve-config.exe --connection-script =”cisco-firepower-connection-script.
js” --sslverify=”off” --address=https://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx --username=”admin”
--password=”type password” --output=”configuration-file.json”

1. Human Error: Incorrect Serial number or Activation code entered. It is best to copy and paste the license details directly into Nipper to avoid mistakes.

2. Incorrect Nipper Version: Ensure the license is being activated on the correct version of Nipper. The email containing your license credentials will specify whether it is compatible with Nipper v2.x or v3.x or you can validate the same by logging into your account at account.titania.com. Note that licenses for Nipper v2.x cannot be used with Nipper v3.x, and vice versa.

3. Older Versions (v2.13.4 and below): Online license activation does not work with versions lower than v2.13.4. If you're using an older version and don't want to upgrade, you'll need to follow the offline activation process.

4. Internet Access: When attempting online license activation, ensure the machine has internet access. A proxy server within your organization could be restricting the connection between your Nipper and Titania's licensing server.

5. License Start Date: Verify that you are not trying to use the license before its start date. You can check the start date in the original email sent by Titania containing your license details or by logging into your account at account.titania.com.

6. Expired License: Ensure the license has not expired. You can verify this by logging into your account at account.titania.com or by checking the expiration date in the original email containing your license details.