IP zones

An IP zone enables admins to define network perimeters around a set of IP addresses. You can add IP addresses for both gateway servers and trusted proxy servers to IP zones.

You can add IP addresses to an IP zone using:

  • Individual IP addresses
  • IP ranges
  • Classless inter-domain routing (CIDR) notation

Trusted proxies are used for determining the request’s client IP address and aren't blocked by Okta ThreatInsight. If you add any untrusted proxies to an IP zone, add them as gateways.

IP zone evaluation

When determining whether a request is from inside or outside of an IP zone, consider the IP chain. The IP chain is the IPs of all the network hops between the originating request and Okta. The following table explains IP chain processing for one or multiple IPs in an IP chain.

IP Chain Type Description
IP chain contains one IP

The request is considered to be within a zone if the IP is contained within any of the defined gateways for that zone.

IP chain contains more than one IP

If the final IP in the chain, the one directly connecting to Okta, is within any of the defined gateways or proxies for the IP zone.

  • If it's a defined gateway, the request is from within that zone.
  • If the IP is a defined proxy, then the process repeats for the previous IP in the chain, the one directly connecting to the proxy.

To ensure that Okta considers traffic as coming from a trusted zone, the gateway IP and the proxy IP both need to be in the same zone. If these two IP addresses are in different zones, requests aren't considered as coming from a trusted zone.

IP chain processing repeats until:

  • A matching Gateway IP is found, in which case the request is from within the network zone or
  • Five IPs in the chain are checked, in which case the request isn't from within the IP zone.

IP zone example

IP Chain Gateway Proxy Is the Request From Inside the Zone?
1.1.1.1 1.1.1.1 Empty Y
1.1.1.1 1.1.1.1 2.2.2.2 Y
1.1.1.1 Empty Empty N
1.1.1.1 Empty 1.1.1.1 N
1.1.1.1, 2.2.2.2 2.2.2.2 Empty Y
1.1.1.1, 2.2.2.2 2.2.2.2 3.3.3.3 Y
1.1.1.1, 2.2.2.2 1.1.1.1 2.2.2.2 Y
1.1.1.1, 2.2.2.2 Empty Empty N
1.1.1.1, 2.2.2.2 Empty 1.1.1.1 N
1.1.1.1, 2.2.2.2 Empty 2.2.2.2 N
1.1.1.1, 2.2.2.2 2.2.2.2 1.1.1.1 Y

Related topics

Create zones for IP addresses

Dynamic zones