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NAME
ipfilter - Introduction to IP packet filtering
DESCRIPTION
IP Filter is a TCP/IP packet filter, suitable for use in a firewall environment. To use, it can either be
used as a loadable kernel module or incorporated into your UNIX kernel; use as a loadable kernel module
where possible is highly recommended. Scripts are provided to install and patch system files, as
required.
FEATURES
The IP packet filter can:
explicitly deny/permit any packet from passing through
distinguish between various interfaces
filter by IP networks or hosts
selectively filter any IP protocol
selectively filter fragmented IP packets
selectively filter packets with IP options
send back an ICMP error/TCP reset for blocked packets
keep packet state information for TCP, UDP and ICMP packet flows
keep fragment state information for any IP packet, applying the same rule to all fragments.
act as a Network Address Translator (NAT)
use redirection to setup true transparent proxy connections
provide packet header details to a user program for authentication
in addition, supports temporary storage of pre-authenticated rules for passing packets through
Special provision is made for the three most common Internet protocols, TCP, UDP and ICMP. The IP Packet
filter allows filtering of:
Inverted host/net matchingTCP/UDP packets by port number or a port number range
ICMP packets by type/code
"established" TCP packets
On any arbitrary combination of TCP flags
"short" (fragmented) IP packets with incomplete headers can be filtered
any of the 19 IP options or 8 registered IP security classes TOS (Type of Service) field in
packets
To keep track of the performance of the IP packet filter, a logging device is used which supports logging
of:
the TCP/UDP/ICMP and IP packet headers
the first 128 bytes of the packet (including headers)
A packet can be logged when:
it is successfully passed through
it is blocked from passing through
it matches a rule setup to look for suspicious packets
IP Filter keeps its own set of statistics on:
packets blocked
packets (and bytes!) used for accounting
packets passed
packets logged
attempts to log which failed (buffer full)
and much more, for packets going both in and out.
Tools
The current implementation provides a small set of tools, which can easily be used and integrated with
regular unix shells and tools. A brief description of the tools provided:
ipf(8) reads in a set of rules, from either stdin or a file, and adds them to the kernels current list
(appending them). It can also be used to flush the current filter set or delete individual filter rules.
The file format is described in ipf(5).
ipfs(8) is a utility to temporarily lock the IP Filter kernel tables (state tables and NAT mappings) and
write them to disk. After that the system can be rebooted, and ipfs can be used to read these tables from
disk and restore them into the kernel. This way the system can be rebooted without the connections being
terminated.
ipfstat(8) interrogates the kernel for statistics on packet filtering, so far, and retrieves the list of
filters in operation for inbound and outbound packets.
ipftest(1) reads in a filter rule file and then applies sample IP packets to the rule file. This allows
for testing of filter list and examination of how a packet is passed along through it.
ipmon(8) reads buffered data from the logging device (default is /dev/ipl) for output to either:
screen (standard output)
file
syslog
ipsend(1) generates arbitary IP packets for ethernet connected machines.
ipresend(1) reads in a data file of saved IP packets (ie snoop/tcpdump/etherfind output) and sends it
back across the network.
iptest(1) contains a set of test "programs" which send out a series of IP packets, aimed at testing the
strength of the TCP/IP stack at which it is aimed at. WARNING: this may crash machine(s) targeted!
ipnat(8) reads in a set of rules, from either stdin or a file and adds them to the kernels current list
of active NAT rules. NAT rules can also be deleted using ipnat. The format of the configuration file to
be used with ipnat is described in ipnat(5).
For use in your own programs (e.g. for writing of transparent application proxies), the programming
interface and the associated ioctl's are documented in ipf(4).
Documentation on ioctl's and the format of data saved to the logging character device is provided in
ipl(4) so that you may develop your own applications to work with or in place of any of the above.
Similar, the interface to the NAT code is documented in ipnat(4).
PACKET PROCESSING FLOW
The following diagram illustrates the flow of TCP/IP packets through the various stages introduced by IP
Filter.
IN
|
V
+-------------------------+--------------------------+
| | |
| V |
| Network Address Translation |
| | |
| authenticated | |
| +-------<---------+ |
| | | |
| | V |
| V IP Accounting |
| | | |
| | V |
| | Fragment Cache Check--+ |
| | | | |
| V V V |
| | Packet State Check-->+ |
| | | | |
| | +->--+ | | |
| | | | V | |
| V groups IP Filtering V |
| | | | | | |
| | +--<-+ | | |
| | | | |
| +---------------->|<-----------+ |
| | |
| V |
| +---<----+ |
| | | |
| function | |
| | V |
| +--->----+ |
| | |
| V |
+--|---<--- fast-route ---<--+ |
| | | |
| | V |
| +-------------------------+--------------------------+
| |
| pass only
| |
| V
V [KERNEL TCP/IP Processing]
| |
| +-------------------------+--------------------------+
| | | |
| | V |
| | Fragment Cache Check--+ |
| | | | |
| | V V |
| | Packet State Check-->+ |
| | | | |
| | V | |
V | IP Filtering | |
| | | V |
| | |<-----------+ |
| | V |
| | IP Accounting |
| | | |
| | V |
| | Network Address Translation |
| | | |
| | V |
| +-------------------------+--------------------------+
| |
| pass only
V |
+--------------------------->|
V
OUT
MORE INFORMATION
More information (including pointers to the FAQ and the mailing list) can be obtained from the sofware's
official homepage: www.ipfilter.org
SEE ALSO
ipf(4), ipf(5), ipf(8), ipfilter(5), ipfs(8), ipfstat(8), ipftest(1), ipl(4), ipmon(8), ipnat(8),
ipnat(4),
IP FILTER(4)