IP range based authentication

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of IP range based authentication

    IP range based authentication enables ServiceNow customers to secure their web-based instances by restricting access based on specific IP addresses or ranges. This helps block potentially malicious users by limiting instance access to trusted IPs.

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    The feature works alongside existing access control rules and acts as an additional layer of security. If a user's IP is restricted, they receive a 403 error and do not consume server resources.

    Key Features

    • Access control by IP: Define rules to allow or deny access from certain IP addresses or ranges.
    • Prevention of self-lockout: The system prevents users from accidentally locking themselves out by warning and refusing rules that block their current IP.
    • Allow rules override deny rules: If an IP matches both allow and deny rules, access is granted.
    • Compatibility considerations: Does not support asterisks or CIDR blocks and applies rules to each address in forwarded proxy chains.
    • Integration with Adaptive Authentication: For enhanced capabilities, use the Adaptive Authentication pre-authentication context policy.
    • Impact on update sets: When IP restrictions are enabled, add IP addresses of all application nodes as exceptions to avoid update set transfer issues.

    Practical Considerations

    • Corporate network IPs seen locally may differ externally due to proxies or NAT; coordinate with your network team for accurate IP ranges.
    • This IP-based restriction supplements but does not replace existing VPN or other access controls.
    • To locate your instance’s IP addresses, use the "My IP Information" service catalog item available via ServiceNow Support.
    • For advanced configuration, properties like com.snc.ipauthenticator and glide.ip.authenticate.strict can be used to enforce strict IP range restrictions, as detailed in the Instance Security Hardening Settings documentation.

    One way to secure a web-based application is to restrict access based on the IP address.

    You can block access to a specific address or range of addresses that you suspect belong to malicious individuals. The instance allows you to control access by IP address.

    Note:
    Use the Adaptive Authentication (AA) pre-authentication context policy to enforce IP based authentications and restrictions for additional capabilities. For more information, see Adaptive authentication.

    Notes and Limitations:

    • The system won't let you lock yourself out, so if you try to add a rule such that your current address would be locked out, the system warns you and refuses your insert.
    • If you're inside of a corporate intranet, be very careful about setting up your IP rules. The IP address you see on your own computer (like 10.10.10.25) generally bears no relationship to the IP address you will actually appear as out on the internet. Your company likely proxies and/or NATs your address into a predictable set of outbound addresses which you will likely need to ask your network team about.
    • A user whose access is restricted based on an access rule gets a 403 error on their browser.
    • Restricted users do not use transactions, semaphores, or count towards any server resource counts.
    • This feature does not supersede or override your existing access control rules if, for example, you're running a VPN to our data center. It's an additional check that must be met in addition to any access controls we may have set up on your PIX.
    • Allow rules always supersede deny rules. So if an address is both allowed (by one rule) and denied (by a second rule) it is, in fact, allowed.
    • Asterisks and CIDR blocks are not currently supported.
    • Regarding forwarded proxy addresses, the allow rules are applied to each address in the chain and then the deny rules are applied to each address in the chain if none of the allow rules matched.
    • IP range based authentication can effect the transfer of update sets. If IP address access control is enabled on the source instance, add the IP addresses of all application nodes supporting your instance as exceptions.
      Note:
      To find your instance IP information, Log in to ServiceNow - NOW Support, and Search for the My IP Information service catalog item.
    Note:
    To learn more about the com.snc.ipauthenticator and glide.ip.authenticate.strict properties, which restrict instance access to specific IP ranges, see the following topics in Instance Security Hardening Settings:

    Restrict access to specific IP ranges plugin