Server Message Block (SMB), a common file-sharing application, is slow when passing through a Palo Alto Networks firewall. The Network Security Administrator created an application override policy, as

When an application override policy is configured, the firewall no longer performs full Layer 7 application identification and associated deep packet inspection (e.g., threat scanning, content inspection) for the traffic matching the override. This reduces the processing overhead and can alleviate performance bottlenecks for applications like SMB.

Application override policies do not disable Layer 4 processing; the firewall still needs to handle TCP/UDP sessions at Layer 4.

Zone protection is an interface-level feature that applies to all traffic entering or exiting a zone, and an application override policy does not inherently disable zone protection.

While an override simplifies application identification, the primary benefit for resolving slowness is bypassing computationally intensive Layer 7 processes, not merely more efficient security policy assignment.