Mind the Log

TL;DR: UniFi Network Application 9.4.17 brings two welcome changes for CEF events in syslog: their syslog timestamp now follows the local time zone (matching other UniFi events), and a new field UNIFIutcTime provides a proper UTC timestamp with time zone information. UniFi Network Application 9.4.17 is now a release candidate . As usual, the release notes don't say much about syslog activity logging, but there are some very welcome improvements. In my earlier post, 🕰️ Inconsistent Time Zones in UniFi Logs , I showed that most UniFi events used the local time zone while CEF events used UTC . That mismatch could break event correlation in log management systems and SIEMs—if you weren't aware of it and didn't handle the difference. What has changed in 9.4.17 (for CEF events) Syslog timestamps now align with local time. CEF events' syslog timestamp uses the local time zone , matching other UniFi event types. This is good news for consistency,...

TL;DR: UniFi logs from different processes don't use a consistent time zone. CEF events are timestamped in UTC, while other logs use the local device time (which may include daylight savings). This inconsistency causes confusion and breaks correlation in SIEMs and log management systems. Ubiquiti should standardise on UTC for all events. Looking at the logs from my UniFi Dream Machine Pro, it's clear that many different processes are responsible for providing all the awesome functionality it offers. In my previous post, I pointed out that, in this day and age, timestamps should include time zone information . But at the very least, you'd expect that all processes on the same device use the same time zone, right? Nope. Take a look at this screenshot from my log management system: First, you see an ingesttimestamp —the time when the log management system received the event. Then you see the raw event as sent by the UniFi Dream Machine. Look at the highlighte...

TL;DR: UniFi's syslog output still uses an outdated timestamp format that lacks time zone information. That's a problem for SIEMs and log management systems where correlation and accurate timelines matter. Modern formats like the one defined in RFC 5424 include time zone data—UniFi should adopt this. The logs from UniFi devices have historically been somewhat underwhelming—especially when it comes to integration with SIEMs and log management systems. But with version 8.5.6 of the UniFi Network Application, released in October 2024 , there was a welcome change: "Export all or specific System Logs shown on the Network Application to SIEM Servers (remote Syslog) such as Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, IBM QRadar, and others." — Release notes for UniFi Network Application 8.5.6 I was genuinely excited to see this. At last, logs from UniFi devices were getting some SIEM love! 🕓 Time Stamps: The Basics Logs are chronological records of system activity. Ea...

TL;DR: UniFi Teleport VPN logs (in CEF format) are missing the client's remote IP address—the WireGuard endpoint—which is critical for threat detection, auditing, and correlation in SIEM tools. Although this IP is available in other events, it isn't included in the CEF event. Adding a field like UNIFIvpnClientRemoteIp would significantly improve log completeness and security monitoring value. When a Teleport VPN connection is made through a UniFi device, three IP addresses are involved: The remote IP of the Teleport client (the WireGuard endpoint) The WAN IP of the UniFi device The internal IP assigned to the Teleport client The CEF log that's generated captures a good deal of useful information, including the internal client IP, VPN type, and WAN interface. But one important piece is missing: the remote IP address of the Teleport client. Here's an example CEF event for a VPN connection: CEF:0|Ubiquiti|UniFi Network|9.3.45|522|Teleport Clie...