“ACLSweep” refers to the network security practice of auditing, identifying, and removing stale Access Control List (ACL) entries or firewall rules that reference decommissioned resources, obsolete interfaces, or nonexistent objects. Often framed as a foundational “101” cleanup process, it prevents “zombie rules” from cluttering the security policy, dropping firewall performance, and inadvertently exposing the network to security risks. Why Access Rules Become “Orphaned”
Decommissioned Resources: Servers, subnets, or applications are retired, but the firewall rule allowing their traffic remains active.
Incomplete Migrations: Moving hosts to a shared VPC, cloud environment, or new hardware vendor leaves behind old port-based rules.
Failed Object Linkages: Deleting an interface or a Network Address Translation (NAT) rule fails to clean up its automatically generated companion firewall entries due to a software glitch or sudden reboot.
Forgotten Temporary Access: Rules opened for emergency troubleshooting or third-party vendor access are left open indefinitely after the project concludes. The Security & Operational Risks Problems Upgrading Gen 6 to Gen 7 Devices