For Self-Hosted Instance, Ensure only Trusted IP Addresses are Allowed to Connect to An Instance

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Ensure only Trusted IP Addresses are Allowed to Connect to An Instance

    This guide provides instructions for configuring inbound IP address access for self-hosted instances of ServiceNow. A self-hosted instance operates on your own infrastructure, and specific system properties are used to manage which IP addresses are permitted to connect.

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    Key Features

    • System Properties: Utilize glide.ip.authenticate.allow.selfhostedenabled and glide.ip.authenticate.allow.secured.selfhostedenabled to manage IP access.
    • Strict Mode: When enabled via glide.ip.authenticate.strict, the secured property overrides the inbound IP allow list.
    • IP Range Configuration: Specify trusted IP addresses using various formats, such as single IPs, hyphens for ranges, or CIDR notation.

    Key Outcomes

    By configuring these properties, you ensure that only trusted IP addresses can access your self-hosted instance, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized access. It is critical to set the properties to true and to populate the IP allow lists with only trusted ranges, protecting your instance from potential security threats.

    Note that these settings do not affect the IP Address Access Controls table, and there should be no functional impact on self-hosted instances. For non-self-hosted instances, these settings may disrupt functionality.

    Use system properties to control which inbound IP addresses can connect to self-hosted instances.

    A self-hosted instance is a customer-managed deployment of the ServiceNow platform, which runs on your own infrastructure instead of ServiceNow's cloud. A instance is classified as self-hosted if the property glide.installation.self_hosted is set to true.

    On these self-hosted instances, the glide.ip.authenticate.allow.self_hosted_enabled system property overrides the inbound IP allow list for an instance when set to true. The glide.ip.authenticate.allow.secured.self_hosted_enabled system property provides the same functionality in strict mode. Strict mode is enabled when the system property glide.ip.authenticate.strict property is set to true.

    In strict mode
    The glide.ip.authenticate.allow.secured.self_hosted_enabled property replaces the inbound IP allow list with the IP allow list defined in the property glide.ip.authenticate.allow.secured.self_hosted_list.
    Not in strict mode

    The glide.ip.authenticate.allow.self_hosted_enabled property replaces the inbound IP allow list with the IP allow list defined in the glide.ip.authenticate.allow.self_hosted_list property.

    All list properties mentioned are strings containing lists of IP ranges that are appended to the inbound IP allow list of an instance. The strings contain a comma separated range of IP addresses in IPv4 or IPv6 format. IP ranges can be specified using a hyphen (10.0.10.14-10.0.10.19), using CIDR notation (10.0.10.0/24), or consist of a single IP address (10.0.10.5).

    Note:
    Both of the list properties have a default value of 127.0.0.1 if not set. IP ranges of the property glide.custom.ip.authenticate.allow are always appended to the inbound IP allow list, and are not affected by the properties described here. The IP Address Access Controls [ip_access] table is not affected by these properties.

    If your instance is self-hosted:

    1. Set the glide.ip.authenticate.allow.self_hosted_enabled and glide.ip.authenticate.allow.secured.self_hosted_enabled properties to true.
    2. Ensure that the glide.ip.authenticate.allow.secured.self_hosted_list and glide.ip.authenticate.allow.self_hosted_list system properties are either not set, or contain a comma-separated value consisting of only trusted IP ranges that you want to allow access to your instance.

    More information

    Attribute Description
    Configuration name
    • glide.ip.authenticate.allow.self_hosted_enabled
    • glide.ip.authenticate.allow.secured.self_hosted_enabled
    • glide.ip.authenticate.allow.secured.self_hosted_list
    • glide.ip.authenticate.allow.self_hosted_list
    Configuration type System Properties (/sys_properties_list.do)
    Data type
    • Boolean
    • Boolean
    • String
    • String
    Recommended value
    For self-hosted instances
    • true
    • true
    • empty, or a comma-separated list of trusted IP ranges
    • empty, or a comma-separated list of trusted IP ranges
    For ServiceNow hosted instances
    • false
    • false
    • 127.0.0.1
    • 127.0.0.1
    Default value
    • false
    • false
    • 127.0.0.1
    • 127.0.0.1
    Fallback value
    • false
    • false
    • 127.0.0.1
    • 127.0.0.1
    Category Architecture, design, and threat modeling
    Security risk
    • Severity score: 4.3
    • CVSS score: Medium
    • Security risk details:

      The default IP allow list for instances is geared towards allowing ServiceNow personnel and infrastructure access to an instance. If an instance is self-hosted, the default IP allow list increases the risk of unauthorized or non-essential access to the instance from IPs that should otherwise be blocked on self-hosted instances as these instance are generally not on the ServiceNow network. Setting the properties glide.ip.authenticate.allow.self_hosted_enabled and glide.ip.authenticate.allow.secured.self_hosted_enabled to true ensures only those IP addresses the instance owner explicitly allows are able to access an instance.
    Functional impact If your instance is self-hosted, there should be no unexpected functional impact from any of these properties as the instance is not on the ServiceNow network, and therefore does not have access to those IP ranges on the default IP allow list. If the instance is not self-hosted, setting these properties may break functionality.
    Dependencies and prerequisites None