Zia Audit Ssl Inspection Bypass

by zscaler809f68d6c921No licenseListed Oct 8, 2026Updated Oct 8, 2026

Audit ZIA SSL inspection rules to identify which applications, URL categories, users, or groups are subject to INSPECT, DO_NOT_INSPECT, or DO_NOT_DECRYPT actions. This skill focuses exclusively on SSL inspection rules and their configuration. Use when a security administrator asks: 'What SSL rules are in decryption mode?', 'What is bypassing SSL inspection?', 'Are there SSL bypass exceptions?', or 'Audit our SSL inspection policy.'

Instructions onlySecurity
AI-generated overview

Audits Zscaler Internet Access SSL inspection rules to find decrypted, bypassed, or blocked traffic.

What it does
This skill guides an agent through reviewing ZIA SSL inspection rules: it lists rules, categorizes them by action (INSPECT, DO_NOT_INSPECT, DO_NOT_DECRYPT, BLOCK), extracts scope details such as URL categories, cloud applications, users, groups, departments, locations and platforms, and resolves referenced IDs to names. For bypass audits it assigns CRITICAL to LOW risk levels to each exception and produces a structured report with recommendations. It is instructions only and ships no scripts.
When to use it
Use it when a security administrator asks which SSL rules are in decryption mode, what is bypassing SSL inspection, whether SSL bypass exceptions exist, or requests an audit of the SSL inspection policy. It is also intended for reviewing whether bypassed categories overlap with DLP or URL filtering coverage when the user explicitly asks for that cross-reference.
Requirements
Requires access to ZIA SSL inspection tooling, specifically zia_list_ssl_inspection_rules and zia_get_ssl_inspection_rule, plus supporting tools to resolve group, department and location IDs. Optional DLP and URL filtering tools are needed only for the cross-reference step. No scripts are included.

ZIA: Audit SSL Inspection Bypass

Keywords

ssl inspection, ssl bypass, do not inspect, do not decrypt, ssl exceptions, ssl audit, ssl security gap, bypass ssl, inspection exclusion, ssl policy review, certificate pinning, decryption mode

Overview

Audit ZIA SSL inspection rules to understand what traffic is being inspected, bypassed, or blocked at the SSL layer. This skill works exclusively with SSL inspection tools. It does NOT call URL filtering, DLP, or other unrelated tools unless the user explicitly asks for cross-referencing.

Use this skill when: A security administrator wants to review SSL inspection rules, understand what traffic is or is not being decrypted, or audit SSL inspection policy configuration.

Scope Boundaries

ONLY use these tools in this skill:

  • zia_list_ssl_inspection_rules() -- primary tool
  • zia_get_ssl_inspection_rule(rule_id) -- detail for a specific rule
  • get_zia_user_groups(search) -- resolve group IDs referenced in SSL rules
  • get_zia_user_departments(search) -- resolve department IDs referenced in SSL rules
  • zia_list_locations() -- resolve location IDs referenced in SSL rules

DO NOT call these tools unless the user explicitly asks:

  • zia_list_url_filtering_rules() -- not part of SSL inspection audit
  • zia_list_web_dlp_rules() / zia_list_web_dlp_rules_lite() -- not part of SSL inspection audit
  • zia_list_firewall_rules() -- not part of SSL inspection audit
  • Any other non-SSL tool

Workflow

Follow this 4-step process.

Step 1: Retrieve All SSL Inspection Rules

text
zia_list_ssl_inspection_rules()```text
Categorize each rule by its action:
- **INSPECT** (also called DECRYPT) -- traffic is fully decrypted and inspected- **DO_NOT_INSPECT** -- traffic is not decrypted or inspected (full bypass)- **DO_NOT_DECRYPT** -- traffic is not decrypted but metadata is still visible- **BLOCK** -- traffic is blocked at the SSL layer
If the user asks about a specific action (e.g., "which rules are in decryption mode"), filter the results to show only rules matching that action.
---
### Step 2: Analyze Rule Details
For each relevant rule, extract and present:
**What it covers:**
- `url_categories` -- URL categories affected- `cloud_applications` -- specific cloud apps affected- `zpa_app_segments` -- ZPA application segments affected
**Who it applies to:**
- `users` -- specific user IDs- `groups` -- user group IDs- `departments` -- department IDs- `locations` -- location IDs- `device_trust_levels` -- device trust level requirements
**Scope:**
- `platforms` -- OS platforms (iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux)- `user_agent_types` -- browser types- `enabled` -- whether the rule is active- `order` -- rule evaluation order
Resolve IDs to human-readable names only when needed:
```textget_zia_user_groups(search="<group_name>")get_zia_user_departments(search="<department_name>")zia_list_locations()```text
---
### Step 3: Risk Assessment (for bypass audits)
If the user is auditing bypasses (DO_NOT_INSPECT / DO_NOT_DECRYPT), classify each by risk level:
**CRITICAL Risk:**
- Broad categories bypassed (e.g., "Uncategorized", "Miscellaneous")- AI/ML applications bypassed- Bypass applies to ALL users (no scoping)- Categories with known data exfiltration risk (file sharing, webmail, social media)
**HIGH Risk:**
- Bypass for cloud applications that handle sensitive data- Large user groups or entire departments bypassed
**MEDIUM Risk:**
- Specific applications bypassed due to certificate pinning (legitimate technical reason)- Narrow scope -- specific users or small groups- Categories with low data sensitivity (e.g., government sites, health portals)
**LOW Risk:**
- Platform-specific bypasses (e.g., iOS system services)- Well-known applications with strong native encryption and no data loss risk- Bypasses scoped to high-trust devices only
---
### Step 4: Generate Report
Present findings organized by the user's question. Adapt the format:
**If the user asks "which rules are in decryption mode":**
```textSSL Inspection Rules -- DECRYPT (Active Inspection)=====================================================
Total SSL rules: XDECRYPT (active inspection): Y rulesDO_NOT_DECRYPT (bypass): Z rulesBLOCK: W rules
DECRYPT Rules:1. "<rule_name>" (order: N, enabled: yes/no)   - URL Categories: ...   - Cloud Apps: ...   - Applies To: <users/groups/departments>   - Platforms: ...
2. "<rule_name>" ...```text
**If the user asks "audit SSL bypass exceptions":**
```textSSL Inspection Bypass Audit============================
Total SSL rules: XBypass rules (DO_NOT_INSPECT/DO_NOT_DECRYPT): Y
CRITICAL RISK:- "<rule>": Bypasses <N> categories for All Users
HIGH RISK:- "<rule>": Bypasses <apps> for <department>
MEDIUM RISK:- "<rule>": Certificate-pinned app bypass for specific users
LOW RISK:- "<rule>": OS update bypass (expected)
Recommendations:1. Review and narrow critical/high-risk bypasses2. Consider per-user scoping instead of All Users```text
---
## Optional: Cross-Reference with DLP / URL Filtering
**Only perform this step if the user explicitly asks** for DLP impact, URL filtering overlap, or a comprehensive security gap analysis.
```textzia_list_web_dlp_rules()zia_list_url_filtering_rules()```text
Check if bypassed URL categories overlap with categories targeted by DLP or URL filtering rules. Flag any DLP rules that are rendered ineffective because their target categories are SSL-bypassed.
---
## Edge Cases
### No Bypass Rules Found
```textAudit Complete: No SSL inspection bypass rules found.
All SSL inspection rules use the INSPECT action. This means all HTTPStraffic is being decrypted and inspected.
Note: Verify this is intentional -- some applications with certificatepinning may break without DO_NOT_INSPECT exceptions.```text
### All Rules Disabled
```textWarning: All X bypass rules are currently DISABLED.
This means full SSL inspection is effectively enabled for all traffic.However, these disabled rules exist and could be re-enabled.
Recommendation: If no longer needed, delete them to prevent accidentalre-enablement.```text
### Predefined/Default Rules
```textNote: Rule "<name>" is a predefined/default rule (predefined=True).This rule cannot be modified or deleted. Factor it into the audit butflag that changes require a Zscaler support request.```text
---
## When NOT to Use This Skill
- Creating or modifying SSL rules -- use `zia_create_ssl_inspection_rule` or `zia_update_ssl_inspection_rule` directly- Investigating a specific URL category's full policy -- use the "investigate-url-category" skill- Checking user access -- use the "check-user-url-access" skill- Auditing DLP rules -- query DLP tools directly, not through this skill
---
## Quick Reference
**Primary workflow:** List SSL Rules → Analyze Details → Risk Assessment → Report
**Core tools (always use):**
- `zia_list_ssl_inspection_rules()` -- list all SSL inspection rules- `zia_get_ssl_inspection_rule(rule_id)` -- get details of a specific rule
**Supporting tools (use only to resolve IDs in SSL rules):**
- `get_zia_user_groups(search)` -- resolve group IDs to names- `get_zia_user_departments(search)` -- resolve department IDs to names- `zia_list_locations()` -- resolve location IDs to names
**DO NOT call unless explicitly asked:**
- `zia_list_web_dlp_rules()` -- only if user asks for DLP impact analysis- `zia_list_url_filtering_rules()` -- only if user asks for URL filtering overlap
**Risk classification:**
- CRITICAL: Broad categories, all users, high-risk apps- HIGH: Sensitive apps/categories, large user scope- MEDIUM: Certificate-pinning exceptions, narrow scope- LOW: OS updates, system services, no data sensitivity

Source and attribution

Source:zscaler/zscaler-mcp-serverinskills/zia/audit-ssl-inspection-bypassat commit809f68d

License: No license

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