Some of our customers have been contacting us with questions about an email message they have been receiving from WHM/cPanel mentioning ConfigServer CSF Firewall.

They have raised concerns such as,

• Is this a spam email?
• Does this mean my CSF Firewall is disabled?
• Has my server been hacked?
• Should I care?
• What is CSF?

The email notice will look something similar too,

A new app has been registered with AppConfig.

Name: csf
Service: whostmgr
ACLS required: software-ConfigServer-csf
System User: root
URL(s): /cgi/configserver/csf.cgi
Display Name: ConfigServer Security&Firewall
Entry URL: configserver/csf.cgi
You can view all current registered apps here: Apps Managed by AppConfig

To confirm there is NO need to be concerned about this notice.

The alert is caused by an automatic WHM/cPanel update to version 11.38.1. This alert requires no action, unless you do not recognize the application that is running. In this case CSF is a recognized application, so can be disregarded.

For those server owners who do not know what CSF is, it is a software based firewall application that is commonly installed on WHM/cPanel based servers, as it integrates with WHM/cPanel nicely.  See this blog post here for further information.

Our suggestion is to NOT flag these emails as spam or as junk, as while in this case the alert is not needed, it could in the future provide useful information. I would suggest you let these notices come into your inbox, or set a rule to move them a notices folder that you check semi-regularly.

In the most recent version of WHM/cPanel (11.38.1) changes were released in regards to the monitoring and supporting of addon software (like CSF). As a result this new feature will send alerts about third party applications that are running on your WHM/cPanel based install. This includes any of the other ConfigServer applications that also integrate with WHM/cPanel including CXS (Config Exploit Scanner).

It is basically a monitor and alert feature to make sure there are no unwanted or unknown dodgy applications installed via WHM/cPanel that you may not be aware of!

The release notes for the WHM/cPanel 11.38.1 release can be found here.

If you are after a bit more information about these AppConfig email notices, check out this forum thread in the cPanel forums.

If you see an alert that does mentioning an application or information that you are not aware of and your service with Crucial Cloud Hosting comes with Technical Support, then please feel free to contact our team via our Support Desk. They will be glad to investigate further for you.

We would love to get your comments on whether you found this blog post useful, or if you’ve seen other cases of these AppConfig email alerts.