> Source: [sk183735](https://support.checkpoint.com/results/sk/sk183735)

# sk183735 - On Spark Firewall 1500 with the Identity Awareness blade enabled, the "sfwd" RSS and "pdp_sessions" values exceed their default limits

| Property | Value |
|----------|-------|
| Solution ID | sk183735 |
| Date Created | 2025-08-09 |
| Last Modified | 2025-09-08 |
| Technical Level | Advanced |
| Products | Spark Firewall (Locally Managed) |
| Versions | R81.10.X |
| Platform | 1570R |

## Symptoms

- * The sfwd RSS(Resident Set Size) value exceeds its limit (default is 230 MB).

* After manually raising the default limit, sfwd RSS continues to increase until it becomes too high, causing the process to restart automatically and generates a core dump.

* With the Identity Awareness blade enabled, running the command `"fw tab -t pdp_sessions -s"` shows values exceeding 750.

## Cause

On Quantum Spark appliances, the `sfwd` process runs the Identity Awareness blade instead of the `pdp` (see [sk97638](https://support.checkpoint.com/results/sk/sk97638) for more information).

High memory usage occurs when the `sfwd` process consumes a large Resident Set Size (RSS).

To verify memory usage and default limits:

* Check the `sfwd` RSS:

  `bash`

  `ps aux | awk 'NR==1 || /fw sfwd/' | grep -v awk`
* Check the default RSS limit:

  `bash`

  `fw ctl get int fw_sfwd_max_rss_mb`

On Quantum Spark appliances, the `pdp_sessions` count must be below 750.

The Policy Decision Point (PDP) evaluates requests against security policies and decides whether to allow or deny them.

## Solution

This solution requires authentication. Please log in to view the full solution.

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