top of page

FortiGate Session Helper SIP Break: diagnose sys session helper When Phones Register and Media Dies

  • 3 days ago
  • 2 min read
FortiGate network security troubleshooting lab
FortiGate · Techclick CLI troubleshooting lab
Phones register. One-way audio. Disabling SIP ALG on a consumer router is not an option — this is a FortiGate.

This is a live-ticket style lesson from Techclick Infosec. You will isolate the fault with CLI first, then prove the fix with one clean packet or log.

What you will be able to do

  • Name the first CLI command to run on FortiGate for this ticket

  • Separate the layer that is actually broken from the layer people blame

  • Apply one scoped fix instead of a global disable

  • Prove the ticket closed with a session, log, or counter

Quick answer

SIP session-helper or VoIP profile is rewriting SDP wrong, or RTP is not expected. Diagnose the helper and the VoIP profile before you NAT more ports.

Why this ticket shows up

SIP helpers open expected RTP ports from SDP. A broken helper or double-NAT leaves RTP on a port the firewall never opened.

Symptoms operators actually see

  • Register 200 OK, no audio

  • One-way audio to PSTN

  • SIP helper enabled plus a VoIP profile

  • Works on a SIP-ALG-free test path

CLI first — copy this block

Run these on the FortiGate device or console named in the ticket. Do not skip the first show command — it tells you which later command matters.

show system session-helper | grep -A2 sip
config system session-helper
diagnose sys session filter dport 5060
diagnose sys session list
diagnose debug application sip -1

How to read that output

If both the old session-helper and a VoIP profile are active, they can fight. Pick one inspection method. SDP inside the debug must show reachable RTP IPs.

Triage order

  1. See if session-helper 13 (SIP) is enabled

  2. See if the policy uses a VoIP profile

  3. Disable the overlapping method

  4. Confirm RTP ports in the session table

  5. Retest a call

Classic traps

What you see

Real cause

Fix

Open 10000-20000 to the world

Helper should open them dynamically

Fix SDP/NAT

Disable SIP entirely

You need one inspector

Choose helper or VoIP profile

Blame the carrier

On-net calls also one-way

It is the firewall

Proof the ticket is closed

  • Two-way audio

  • RTP sessions appear

  • Only one SIP inspector is on

Say this in an interview

One-way audio with a good REGISTER is SDP/RTP, not registration. I look at the SIP helper first.

Need the full vendor lab, mock interview, and production runbooks? Techclick trains Palo Alto, Zscaler, F5, FortiGate, Check Point, Cisco ISE, Azure and routing with live CLI — start at https://www.techclick.in/

Comments


bottom of page