6 # ferm, a firewall setup program that makes firewall rules easy!
8 # Copyright (C) 2001-2010 Max Kellermann, Auke Kok
10 # Comments, questions, greetings and additions to this program
11 # may be sent to <ferm@foo-projects.org>
15 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
16 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
17 # the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
18 # (at your option) any later version.
20 # This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
21 # but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
22 # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
23 # GNU General Public License for more details.
25 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
26 # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
27 # Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
32 B<ferm> - a firewall rule parser for linux
36 B<ferm> I<options> I<inputfile>
40 B<ferm> is a frontend for B<iptables>. It reads the rules from a
41 structured configuration file and calls iptables(8) to insert them
42 into the running kernel.
44 B<ferm>'s goal is to make firewall rules easy to write and easy to
45 read. It tries to reduce the tedious task of writing down rules, thus
46 enabling the firewall administrator to spend more time on developing
47 good rules than the proper implementation of the rule.
49 To achieve this, B<ferm> uses a simple but powerful configuration
50 language, which allows variables, functions, arrays, blocks. It also
51 allows you to include other files, allowing you to create libraries of
52 commonly used structures and functions.
54 B<ferm>, pronounced "firm", stands for "For Easy Rule Making".
59 This manual page does I<not> indend to teach you how firewalling works
60 and how to write good rules. There is already enough documentation on
66 Let's start with a simple example:
72 This will add a rule to the predefined input chain, matching and
73 accepting all tcp packets. Ok, let's make it more complicated:
75 chain (INPUT OUTPUT) {
76 proto (udp tcp) ACCEPT;
79 This will insert 4 rules, namely 2 in chain input, and 2 in chain
80 output, matching and accepting both udp and tcp packets. Normally you
83 iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -j ACCEPT
84 iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp -j ACCEPT
85 iptables -A INPUT -p udp -j ACCEPT
86 iptables -A OUTPUT -p udp -j ACCEPT
88 Note how much less typing we need to do? :-)
90 Basically, this is all there is to it, although you can make it quite
91 more complex. Something to look at:
95 daddr 10.0.0.0/8 proto tcp dport ! ftp jump mychain sport :1023 TOS 4 settos 8 mark 2;
96 daddr 10.0.0.0/8 proto tcp dport ftp REJECT;
99 My point here is, that *you* need to make nice rules, keep
100 them readable to you and others, and not make it into a mess.
102 It would aid the reader if the resulting firewall rules were placed
103 here for reference. Also, you could include the nested version with
106 Try using comments to show what you are doing:
108 # this line enables transparent http-proxying for the internal network:
109 proto tcp if eth0 daddr ! 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0
110 dport http REDIRECT to-ports 3128;
112 You will be thankful for it later!
116 interface (eth0 ppp0) {
117 # deny access to notorius hackers, return here if no match
118 # was found to resume normal firewalling
121 protocol tcp jump fw_tcp;
122 protocol udp jump fw_udp;
126 The more you nest, the better it looks. Make sure the order you
127 specify is correct, you would not want to do this:
131 proto tcp dport ftp ACCEPT;
134 because the second rule will never match. Best way is to specify
135 first everyting that is allowed, and then deny everything else.
136 Look at the examples for more good snapshots. Most people do
143 dport 1024:65535 ! syn ACCEPT;
147 =head1 STRUCTURE OF A FIREWALL FILE
149 The structure of a proper firewall file looks like simplified
150 C-code. Only a few syntactic characters are used in ferm-
151 configuration files. Besides these special caracters, ferm
152 uses 'keys' and 'values', think of them as options and
153 parameters, or as variables and values, whatever.
155 With these words, you define the characteristics of your firewall.
156 Every firewall consists of two things: First, look if network
157 traffic matches certain conditions, and second, what to do
160 You may specify conditions that are valid for the kernel
161 interface program you are using, probably iptables(8). For
162 instance, in iptables, when you are trying to match tcp
163 packets, you would say:
165 iptables --protocol tcp
167 In ferm, this will become:
171 Just typing this in ferm doesn't do anything, you need to tell
172 ferm (actually, you need to tell iptables(8) and the kernel) what
173 to do with any traffic that matches this condition:
175 iptables --protocol tcp -j ACCEPT
177 Or, translated to B<ferm>:
181 The B<;> character is at the end of every ferm rule. Ferm ignores line
182 breaks, meaning the above example is identical to the following:
187 Here's a list of the special characters:
193 This character finalizes a rule.
195 Separated by semicolons, you may write multiple rules in one line,
196 although this decreases readability:
198 protocol tcp ACCEPT; protocol udp DROP;
202 The nesting symbol defines a 'block' of rules.
204 The curly brackets contain any number of nested rules. All matches
205 before the block are carried forward to these.
207 The closing curly bracket finalizes the rule set. You should not write
208 a ';' after that, because that would be an empty rule.
212 chain INPUT proto icmp {
213 icmp-type echo-request ACCEPT;
217 This block shows two rules inside a block, which will both be merged
218 with anything in front of it, so you will get two rules:
220 iptables -A INPUT -p icmp --icmp-type echo-request -j ACCEPT
221 iptables -A INPUT -p icmp -j DROP
223 There can be multiple nesting levels:
227 icmp-type echo-request ACCEPT;
230 daddr 172.16.0.0/12 REJECT;
233 Note that the 'REJECT' rule is not affected by 'proto icmp', although
234 there is no ';' after the closing curly brace. Translated to iptables:
236 iptables -A INPUT -p icmp --icmp-type echo-request -j ACCEPT
237 iptables -A INPUT -p icmp -j DROP
238 iptables -A INPUT -d 172.16.0.0/12 -j REJECT
242 Variable expansion. Replaces '$FOO' by the value of the variable. See
243 the section I<VARIABLES> for details.
247 Function call. See the section I<FUNCTIONS> for details.
251 The array symbol. Using the parentheses, you can define
252 a 'list' of values that should be applied for the key to the
257 protocol ( tcp udp icmp )
259 this will result in three rules:
265 Only values can be 'listed', so you cannot do something like this:
267 proto tcp ( ACCEPT LOG );
271 chain (INPUT OUTPUT FORWARD) proto (icmp udp tcp) DROP;
273 (which will result in nine rules!)
275 Values are separated by spaces. The array symbol is both left- and
276 right-associative, in contrast with the nesting block, which is
277 left-associative only.
281 The comment symbol. Anything that follows this symbol up to
282 the end of line is ignored.
286 Execute the command in a shell, and insert the process output. See the
287 section I<backticks> for details.
291 Quote a string which may contain whitespaces, the dollar sign etc.
293 LOG log-prefix ' hey, this is my log prefix!';
297 Quote a string (see above), but variable references with a dollar sign
300 DNAT to "$myhost:$myport";
307 In the previous section, we already introduced some basic keywords
308 like "chain", "protocol" and "ACCEPT". Let's explore their nature.
310 There are three kinds of keywords:
316 B<location> keywords define where a rule will be created. Example:
321 B<match> keywords perform a test on all passing packets. The current
322 rule is without effect if one (or more) of the matches does not
323 pass. Example: "proto", "daddr".
325 Most matches are followed by a parameter: "proto tcp", "daddr
330 B<target> keywords state what to do with a packet. Example: "ACCEPT",
333 Some targets define more keywords to specify details: "REJECT
334 reject-with icmp-net-unreachable".
338 Every rule consists of a B<location> and a B<target>, plus any number
341 table filter # location
342 proto tcp dport (http https) # match
345 Strictly speaking, there is a fourth kind: B<ferm> keywords (which
346 control ferm's internal behaviour), but they will be explained later.
351 Many keywords take parameters. These can be specified as literals,
352 variable references or lists (arrays):
355 saddr %TRUSTED_HOSTS;
356 proto tcp dport (http https ssh);
357 LOG log-prefix "funky wardriver alert: ";
359 Some of them can be negated (lists cannot be negated):
362 proto udp dport !domain;
364 Keywords which take no parameters are negated by a prefixed '!':
368 Read iptables(8) to see where the B<!> can be used.
371 =head1 BASIC KEYWORDS
374 =head2 Location keywords
378 =item B<domain [ip|ip6]>
380 Set the domain. "ip" is default and means "IPv4" (iptables). "ip6" is
381 for IPv6 support, using "ip6tables".
383 =item B<table [filter|nat|mangle]>
385 Specifies which netfilter table this rule will be inserted to:
386 "filter" (default), "nat" or "mangle".
388 =item B<chain [chain-name]>
390 Specifies the netfilter chain (within the current table) this rule
391 will be inserted to. Common predefined chain names are "INPUT",
392 "OUTPUT", "FORWARD", "PREROUTING", "POSTROUTING", depending on the
393 table. See the netfilter documentation for details.
395 If you specify a non-existing chain here, ferm will add the rule to a
396 custom chain with that name.
398 =item B<policy [ACCEPT|DROP|..]>
400 Specifies the default policy for the current chain (built-in
401 only). Can be one of the built-in targets (ACCEPT, DROP, REJECT,
402 ...). A packet that matches no rules in a chain will be treated as
403 specified by the policy.
405 To avoid ambiguity, always specify the policies of all predefined
408 =item B<@subchain ["CHAIN-NAME"] { ... }>
410 Works like the normal block operators (i.e. without the I<@subchain>
411 keyword), except that B<ferm> moves rules within the curly braces into
412 a new custom chain. The name for this chain is chosen automatically by
415 In many cases, this is faster than just a block, because the kernel
416 may skip a huge block of rules when a precondition is false. Imagine
417 the following example:
419 table filter chain INPUT {
420 saddr (1.2.3.4 2.3.4.5 3.4.5.6 4.5.6.7 5.6.7.8) {
421 proto tcp dport (http https ssh) ACCEPT;
422 proto udp dport domain ACCEPT;
426 This generates 20 rules. When a packet arrives which does not pass the
427 B<saddr> match, it nonetheless checks all 20 rules. With B<@subchain>,
428 this check is done once, resulting in faster network filtering and
431 table filter chain INPUT {
432 saddr (1.2.3.4 2.3.4.5 3.4.5.6 4.5.6.7 5.6.7.8) @subchain {
433 proto tcp dport (http https ssh) ACCEPT;
434 proto udp dport domain ACCEPT;
438 Optionally, you may define the name of the sub chain:
440 saddr (1.2.3.4 2.3.4.5 3.4.5.6) @subchain "foobar" {
441 proto tcp dport (http https ssh) ACCEPT;
442 proto udp dport domain ACCEPT;
445 You can achieve the same by explicitly declaring a custom chain, but
446 you may feel that using B<@subchain> requires less typing.
452 =head2 Basic iptables match keywords
456 =item B<interface [interface-name]>
458 Define the interface name, your outside network card, like eth0,
459 or dialup like ppp1, or whatever device you want to match for
460 passing packets. It is equivalent to the C<-i> switch in
463 =item B<outerface [interface-name]>
465 Same as interface, only for matching the outgoing interface
466 for a packet, as in iptables(8).
468 =item B<protocol [protocol-name|protocol-number]>
470 Currently supported by the kernel are tcp, udp and icmp, or
471 their respective numbers.
473 =item B<saddr|daddr [address-spec]>
475 Matches on packets originating from the specified address (saddr) or
476 targeted at the address (daddr).
480 saddr 192.168/8 ACCEPT; # (identical to the next one:)
481 saddr 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 ACCEPT;
482 daddr my.domain.com ACCEPT;
486 Specify that only fragmented IP packets should be matched.
487 When packets are larger that the maximum packet size your
488 system can handle (called Maximum Transmission Unit or MTU)
489 they will be chopped into bits and sent one by one as single
490 packets. See ifconfig(8) if you want to find the MTU for
491 your system (the default is usually 1500 bytes).
493 Fragments are frequently used in DOS attacks, because there
494 is no way of finding out the origin of a fragment packet.
496 =item B<sport|dport [port-spec]>
498 Matches on packets on the specified TCP or UDP port. "sport" matches
499 the source port, and dport matches the destination port.
501 This match can be used only after you specified "protocol tcp" or
502 "protocol udp", because only these two protocols actually have ports.
504 And some examples of valid ports/ranges:
508 dport ssh:http ACCEPT;
509 dport 0:1023 ACCEPT; # equivalent to :1023
510 dport 1023:65535 ACCEPT;
514 Specify that the SYN flag in a tcp package should be matched,
515 which are used to build new tcp connections. You can identify
516 incoming connections with this, and decide wether you want
517 to allow it or not. Packets that do not have this flag are
518 probably from an already established connection, so it's
519 considered reasonably safe to let these through.
521 =item B<module [module-name]>
523 Load an iptables module. Most modules provide more match
524 keywords. We'll get to that later.
529 =head2 Basic target keywords
533 =item B<jump [custom-chain-name]>
535 Jumps to a custom chain. If no rule in the custom chain matched,
536 netfilter returns to the next rule in the previous chain.
538 =item B<realgoto [custom-chain-name]>
540 Go to a custom chain. Unlike the B<jump> option, B<RETURN> will not
541 continue processing in this chain but instead in the chain that called
544 The keyword B<realgoto> was chosen during the transition period,
545 because B<goto> (already deprecated) used to be an alias for B<jump>.
549 Accepts matching packets.
553 Drop matching packets without further notice.
557 Rejects matching packets, i.e. send an ICMP packet to the sender,
558 which is port-unreachable by default. You may specify another ICMP
561 REJECT; # default to icmp-port-unreachable
562 REJECT reject-with icmp-net-unreachable;
564 Type "iptables -j REJECT -h" for details.
568 Finish the current chain and return to the calling chain (if "jump
569 [custom-chain-name]" was used).
578 =head1 ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS
580 Netfilter is modular. Modules may provide additional targets and match
581 keywords. The list of netfilter modules is constantly growing, and
582 ferm tries to keep up with supporting them all. This chapter describes
583 modules which are currently supported.
586 =head2 iptables match modules
592 Account traffic for all hosts in defined network/netmask. This is one
593 of the match modules which behave like a target, i.e. you will mostly
594 have to use the B<NOP> target.
596 mod account aname mynetwork aaddr 192.168.1.0/24 ashort NOP;
600 Check the address type; either source address or destination address.
602 mod addrtype src-type BROADCAST;
603 mod addrtype dst-type LOCAL;
605 Type "iptables -m addrtype -h" for details.
609 Checks the SPI header in an AH packet.
612 mod ah ahspi ! 0x200:0x2ff;
614 Additional arguments for IPv6:
616 mod ah ahlen 32 ACCEPT;
617 mod ah ahlen !32 ACCEPT;
622 Adds a comment of up to 256 characters to a rule, without an effect.
623 Note that unlike ferm comments ('#'), this one will show up in
626 mod comment comment "This is my comment." ACCEPT;
630 Matches if a value in /proc/net/ipt_condition/NAME is 1 (path is
631 /proc/net/ip6t_condition/NAME for the ip6 domain).
633 mod condition condition (abc def) ACCEPT;
634 mod condition condition !foo ACCEPT;
638 Match by how many bytes or packets a connection (or one of the two
639 flows constituting the connection) have tranferred so far, or by
640 average bytes per packet.
642 mod connbytes connbytes 65536: connbytes-dir both connbytes-mode bytes ACCEPT;
643 mod connbytes connbytes !1024:2048 connbytes-dir reply connbytes-mode packets ACCEPT;
645 Valid values for I<connbytes-dir>: I<original>, I<reply>, I<both>; for
646 I<connbytes-mode>: I<packets>, I<bytes>, I<avgpkt>.
650 Allows you to restrict the number of parallel TCP connections to a
651 server per client IP address (or address block).
653 mod connlimit connlimit-above 4 REJECT;
654 mod connlimit connlimit-above !4 ACCEPT;
655 mod connlimit connlimit-above 4 connlimit-mask 24 REJECT;
659 Check the mark field associated with the connection, set by the
662 mod connmark mark 64;
663 mod connmark mark 6/7;
667 Check connection tracking information.
669 mod conntrack ctstate (ESTABLISHED RELATED);
670 mod conntrack ctproto tcp;
671 mod conntrack ctorigsrc 192.168.0.2;
672 mod conntrack ctorigdst 1.2.3.0/24;
673 mod conntrack ctreplsrc 2.3.4.5;
674 mod conntrack ctrepldst ! 3.4.5.6;
675 mod conntrack ctstatus ASSURED;
676 mod conntrack ctexpire 60;
677 mod conntrack ctexpire 180:240;
679 Type "iptables -m conntrack -h" for details.
683 Check DCCP (Datagram Congestion Control Protocol) specific attributes.
684 This module is automatically loaded when you use "protocol dccp".
686 proto dccp sport 1234 dport 2345 ACCEPT;
687 proto dccp dccp-types (SYNCACK ACK) ACCEPT;
688 proto dccp dccp-types !REQUEST DROP;
689 proto dccp dccp-option 2 ACCEPT;
693 Match the 6 bit DSCP field within the TOS field.
696 mod dscp dscp-class AF41;
700 Match the ECN bits of an IPv4 TCP header.
704 mod ecn ecn-ip-ect 2;
706 Type "iptables -m ecn -h" for details.
710 Checks the SPI header in an ESP packet.
712 mod esp espspi 0x101;
713 mod esp espspi ! 0x200:0x2ff;
717 "This module matches the EUI-64 part of a stateless autoconfigured
718 IPv6 address. It compares the EUI-64 derived from the source MAC
719 address in Ehternet frame with the lower 64 bits of the IPv6 source
720 address. But "Universal/Local" bit is not compared. This module
721 doesn't match other link layer frame, and is only valid in the
722 PREROUTING, INPUT and FORWARD chains."
728 "This module matches a rate limit based on a fuzzy logic controller [FLC]."
730 mod fuzzy lower-limit 10 upper-limit 20 ACCEPT;
734 Matches the Hop-by-Hop Options header (ip6).
736 mod hbh hbh-len 8 ACCEPT;
737 mod hbh hbh-len !8 ACCEPT;
738 mod hbh hbh-opts (1:4 2:8) ACCEPT;
742 Matches the Hop Limit field (ip6).
744 mod hl hl-eq (8 10) ACCEPT;
745 mod hl hl-eq !5 ACCEPT;
746 mod hl hl-gt 15 ACCEPT;
747 mod hl hl-lt 2 ACCEPT;
751 Checks which conntrack helper module tracks this connection. The port
752 may be specified with "-portnr".
754 mod helper helper irc ACCEPT;
755 mod helper helper ftp-21 ACCEPT;
759 Check ICMP specific attributes. This module is automatically loaded
760 when you use "protocol icmp".
762 proto icmp icmp-type echo-request ACCEPT;
764 This option can also be used in be I<ip6> domain, although this is
765 called B<icmpv6> in F<ip6tables>.
767 Use "iptables -p icmp C<-h>" to obtain a list of valid ICMP types.
771 Match a range of IPv4 addresses.
773 mod iprange src-range 192.168.2.0-192.168.3.255;
774 mod iprange dst-range ! 192.168.6.0-192.168.6.255;
778 Match on IPv4 header options like source routing, record route,
779 timestamp and router-alert.
781 mod ipv4options ssrr ACCEPT;
782 mod ipv4options lsrr ACCEPT;
783 mod ipv4options no-srr ACCEPT;
784 mod ipv4options !rr ACCEPT;
785 mod ipv4options !ts ACCEPT;
786 mod ipv4options !ra ACCEPT;
787 mod ipv4options !any-opt ACCEPT;
791 Matches the IPv6 extension header (ip6).
793 mod ipv6header header !(hop frag) ACCEPT;
794 mod ipv6header header (auth dst) ACCEPT;
798 Similar to 'mod limit', but adds the ability to add per-destination or
799 per-port limits managed in a hash table.
801 mod hashlimit hashlimit 10/minute hashlimit-burst 30/minute
802 hashlimit-mode dstip hashlimit-name foobar ACCEPT;
804 Possible values for hashlimit-mode: dstip dstport srcip srcport.
806 There are more possible settings, type "iptables -m hashlimit -h" for
811 Check the package length.
813 mod length length 128; # exactly 128 bytes
814 mod length length 512:768; # range
815 mod length length ! 256; # negated
819 Limits the packet rate.
821 mod limit limit 1/second;
822 mod limit limit 15/minute limit-burst 10;
824 Type "iptables -m limit -h" for details.
828 Match the source MAC address.
830 mod mac mac-source 01:23:45:67:89;
834 Matches packets based on their netfilter mark field. This may be a 32
835 bit integer between 0 and 4294967295.
841 Matches the mobility header (domain I<ip6>).
843 proto mh mh-type binding-update ACCEPT;
847 Match a set of source or destination ports (UDP and TCP only).
849 mod multiport source-ports (https ftp);
850 mod multiport destination-ports (mysql domain);
852 This rule has a big advantage over "dport" and "sport": it generates
853 only one rule for up to 15 ports instead of one rule for every port.
857 Match every 'n'th packet.
860 mod nth counter 5 every 2;
861 mod nth start 2 every 3;
862 mod nth start 5 packet 2 every 6;
864 Type "iptables -m nth -h" for details.
868 Check information about the packet creator, namely user id, group id,
869 process id, session id and command name.
871 mod owner uid-owner 0;
872 mod owner gid-owner 1000;
873 mod owner pid-owner 5432;
874 mod owner sid-owner 6543;
875 mod owner cmd-owner "sendmail";
877 ("cmd-owner", "pid-owner" and "sid-owner" require special kernel
878 patches not included in the vanilla Linux kernel)
882 Matches the physical device on which a packet entered or is about to
883 leave the machine. This is useful for bridged interfaces.
885 mod physdev physdev-in ppp1;
886 mod physdev physdev-out eth2;
887 mod physdev physdev-is-in;
888 mod physdev physdev-is-out;
889 mod physdev physdev-is-bridged;
893 Check the link-layer packet type.
895 mod pkttype pkt-type unicast;
896 mod pkttype pkt-type broadcase;
897 mod pkttype pkt-type multicast;
901 Matches IPsec policy being applied to this packet.
903 mod policy dir out pol ipsec ACCEPT;
904 mod policy strict reqid 23 spi 0x10 proto ah ACCEPT;
905 mod policy mode tunnel tunnel-src 192.168.1.2 ACCEPT;
906 mod policy mode tunnel tunnel-dst 192.168.2.1 ACCEPT;
907 mod policy strict next reqid 24 spi 0x11 ACCEPT;
909 Note that the keyword I<proto> is also used as a shorthand version of
910 I<protocol> (built-in match module). You can fix this conflict by
911 always using the long keyword I<protocol>.
915 Detect TCP/UDP port scans.
917 mod psd psd-weight-threshold 21 psd-delay-threshold 300
918 psd-lo-ports-weight 3 psd-hi-ports-weight 1 DROP;
922 Implements network quotas by decrementing a byte counter with each packet.
924 mod quota quota 65536 ACCEPT;
928 Match a random percentage of all packets.
930 mod random average 70;
934 Match the routing realm. Useful in environments using BGP.
940 Temporarily mark source IP addresses.
943 mod recent rcheck seconds 60;
944 mod recent set rsource name "badguy";
945 mod recent set rdest;
946 mod recent rcheck rsource name "badguy" seconds 60;
947 mod recent update seconds 120 hitcount 3 rttl;
949 This netfilter module has a design flaw: although it is implemented as
950 a match module, it has target-like behaviour when using the "set"
953 L<http://snowman.net/projects/ipt_recent/>
957 Match the IPv6 routing header (ip6 only).
959 mod rt rt-type 2 rt-len 20 ACCEPT;
960 mod rt rt-type !2 rt-len !20 ACCEPT;
961 mod rt rt-segsleft 2:3 ACCEPT;
962 mod rt rt-segsleft !4:5 ACCEPT;
963 mod rt rt-0-res rt-0-addrs (::1 ::2) rt-0-not-strict ACCEPT;
967 Check SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol) specific attributes.
968 This module is automatically loaded when you use "protocol sctp".
970 proto sctp sport 1234 dport 2345 ACCEPT;
971 proto sctp chunk-types only DATA:Be ACCEPT;
972 proto sctp chunk-types any (INIT INIT_ACK) ACCEPT;
973 proto sctp chunk-types !all (HEARTBEAT) ACCEPT;
975 Use "iptables -p sctp C<-h>" to obtain a list of valid chunk types.
979 Checks the source or destination IP/Port/MAC against a set.
981 mod set set badguys src DROP;
983 See L<http://ipset.netfilter.org/> for more information.
987 Checks the connection tracking state.
989 mod state state INVALID DROP;
990 mod state state (ESTABLISHED RELATED) ACCEPT;
992 Type "iptables -m state -h" for details.
996 Successor of B<nth> and B<random>, currently undocumented in the
997 iptables(8) man page.
999 mod statistic mode random probability 0.8 ACCEPT;
1000 mod statistic mode nth every 5 packet 0 DROP;
1006 mod string string "foo bar" ACCEPT;
1007 mod string algo kmp from 64 to 128 hex-string "deadbeef" ACCEPT;
1011 Checks TCP specific attributes. This module is automatically loaded
1012 when you use "protocol tcp".
1014 proto tcp sport 1234;
1015 proto tcp dport 2345;
1016 proto tcp tcp-flags (SYN ACK) SYN;
1017 proto tcp tcp-flags ! (SYN ACK) SYN;
1018 proto tcp tcp-flags ALL (RST ACK);
1020 proto tcp tcp-option 2;
1023 Type "iptables -p tcp -h" for details.
1027 Check the TCP MSS field of a SYN or SYN/ACK packet.
1029 mod tcpmss mss 123 ACCEPT;
1030 mod tcpmss mss 234:567 ACCEPT;
1034 Check if the time a packet arrives is in given range.
1036 mod time timestart 12:00;
1037 mod time timestop 13:30;
1038 mod time days (Mon Wed Fri);
1039 mod time datestart 2005:01:01;
1040 mod time datestart 2005:01:01:23:59:59;
1041 mod time datestop 2005:04:01;
1042 mod time monthday (30 31);
1043 mod time weekdays (Wed Thu);
1044 mod time timestart 12:00 utc;
1045 mod time timestart 12:00 localtz;
1047 Type "iptables -m time -h" for details.
1051 Matches a packet on the specified TOS-value.
1053 mod tos tos Minimize-Cost ACCEPT;
1054 mod tos tos !Normal-Service ACCEPT;
1056 Type "iptables -m tos -h" for details.
1060 Matches the ttl (time to live) field in the IP header.
1062 mod ttl ttl-eq 12; # ttl equals
1063 mod ttl ttl-gt 10; # ttl greater than
1064 mod ttl ttl-lt 16; # ttl less than
1068 Compares raw data from the packet. You can specify more than one
1069 filter in a ferm list; these are not expanded into multiple rules.
1071 mod u32 u32 '6&0xFF=1' ACCEPT;
1072 mod u32 u32 ('27&0x8f=7' '31=0x527c4833') DROP;
1076 Matches packets which seem malformed or unusual. This match has no
1082 =head2 iptables target modules
1084 The following additional targets are available in ferm, provided that
1085 you enabled them in your kernel:
1093 CLASSIFY set-class 3:50;
1097 Configure a simple cluster of nodes that share a certain IP and MAC
1098 address. Connections are statically distributed between the nodes.
1100 CLUSTERIP new hashmode sourceip clustermac 00:12:34:45:67:89
1101 total-nodes 4 local-node 2 hash-init 12345;
1105 Sets the netfilter mark value associated with a connection.
1107 CONNMARK set-mark 42;
1109 CONNMARK restore-mark;
1110 CONNMARK save-mark mask 0x7fff;
1111 CONNMARK restore-mark mask 0x8000;
1113 =item B<CONNSECMARK>
1115 This module copies security markings from packets to connections (if
1116 unlabeled), and from connections back to packets (also only if
1117 unlabeled). Typically used in conjunction with SECMARK, it is only
1118 valid in the mangle table.
1121 CONNSECMARK restore;
1123 =item B<DNAT to [ip-address|ip-range|ip-port-range]>
1125 Change the destination address of the packet.
1128 DNAT to 10.0.0.4:80;
1129 DNAT to 10.0.0.4:1024-2048;
1130 DNAT to 10.0.1.1-10.0.1.20;
1134 This target allows to selectively work around known ECN blackholes.
1135 It can only be used in the mangle table.
1141 Modify the IPv6 Hop Limit field (ip6/mangle only).
1147 =item B<IPV4OPTSSTRIP>
1149 Strip all the IP options from a packet. This module does not take any
1156 Log all packets that match this rule in the kernel log. Be carefull
1157 with log flooding. Note that this is a "non-terminating target",
1158 i.e. rule traversal continues at the next rule.
1160 LOG log-level warning log-prefix "Look at this: ";
1161 LOG log-tcp-sequence log-tcp-options;
1166 Sets the netfilter mark field for the packet (a 32 bit integer between
1177 Masquerades matching packets. Optionally followed by a port or
1178 port-range for iptables. Specify as "123", "123-456" or "123:456".
1179 The port range parameter specifies what local ports masqueraded
1180 connections should originate from.
1183 MASQUERADE to-ports 1234:2345;
1184 MASQUERADE to-ports 1234:2345 random;
1188 Experimental demonstration target which inverts the source and
1189 destination fields in the IP header.
1195 Map a whole network onto another network in the B<nat> table.
1197 NETMAP to 192.168.2.0/24;
1201 Disable connection tracking for all packets matching that rule.
1203 proto tcp dport (135:139 445) NOTRACK;
1207 Log packets over netlink; this is the successor of I<ULOG>.
1209 NFLOG nflog-group 5 nflog-prefix "Look at this: ";
1210 NFLOG nflog-range 256;
1211 NFLOG nflog-threshold 10;
1215 Userspace queueing, requires nfnetlink_queue kernel support.
1217 proto tcp dport ftp NFQUEUE queue-num 20;
1221 Userspace queueing, the predecessor to B<NFQUEUE>. All packets go to
1224 proto tcp dport ftp QUEUE;
1226 =item B<REDIRECT to-ports [ports]>
1228 Transparent proxying: alter the destination IP of the packet to the
1231 proto tcp dport http REDIRECT to-ports 3128;
1232 proto tcp dport http REDIRECT to-ports 3128 random;
1236 Similar to SNAT, but a client is mapped to the same source IP for all
1239 SAME to 1.2.3.4-1.2.3.7;
1240 SAME to 1.2.3.8-1.2.3.15 nodst;
1241 SAME to 1.2.3.16-1.2.3.31 random;
1245 This is used to set the security mark value associated with the packet
1246 for use by security subsystems such as SELinux. It is only valid in
1249 SECMARK selctx "system_u:object_r:httpd_packet_t:s0";
1251 =item B<SET [add-set|del-set] [setname] [flag(s)]>
1253 Add the IP to the specified set. See L<http://ipset.netfilter.org/>
1255 proto icmp icmp-type echo-request SET add-set badguys src;
1257 =item B<SNAT to [ip-address|ip-range|ip-port-range]>
1259 Change the source address of the packet.
1262 SNAT to 1.2.3.4:20000-30000;
1263 SNAT to 1.2.3.4 random;
1267 Alter the MSS value of TCP SYN packets.
1269 TCPMSS set-mss 1400;
1270 TCPMSS clamp-mss-to-pmtu;
1272 =item B<TOS set-tos [value]>
1274 Set the tcp package Type Of Service bit to this value. This will be
1275 used by whatever traffic scheduler is willing to, mostly your own
1276 linux-machine, but maybe more. The original tos-bits are blanked and
1277 overwritten by this value.
1279 TOS set-tos Maximize-Throughput;
1284 Type "iptables -j TOS -h" for details.
1288 Modify the TTL header field.
1291 TTL ttl-dec 1; # decrease by 1
1292 TTL ttl-inc 4; # increase by 4
1296 Log packets to a userspace program.
1298 ULOG ulog-nlgroup 5 ulog-prefix "Look at this: ";
1299 ULOG ulog-cprange 256;
1300 ULOG ulog-qthreshold 10;
1304 =head1 OTHER DOMAINS
1306 Since version 2.0, B<ferm> supports not only I<ip> and I<ip6>, but
1307 also I<arp> (ARP tables) and I<eb> (ethernet bridging tables). The
1308 concepts are similar to I<iptables>.
1310 =head2 arptables keywords
1314 =item B<source-ip>, B<destination-ip>
1316 Matches the source or destination IPv4 address. Same as B<saddr> and
1317 B<daddr> in the I<ip> domain.
1319 =item B<source-mac>, B<destination-mac>
1321 Matches the source or destination MAC address.
1323 =item B<interface>, B<outerface>
1325 Input and output interface.
1329 Hardware length of the packet.
1331 chain INPUT h-length 64 ACCEPT;
1335 Operation code, for details see the iptables(8).
1349 proto-type 0x800 ACCEPT;
1353 The keywords B<mangle-ip-s>, B<mangle-ip-d>, B<mangle-mac-s>,
1354 B<mangle-mac-d>, B<mangle-target> may be used for ARP mangling. See
1355 iptables(8) for details.
1359 =head2 ebtables keywords
1365 Matches the protocol which created the frame, e.g. I<IPv4> or B<PPP>.
1366 For a list, see F</etc/ethertypes>.
1368 =item B<interface>, B<outerface>
1370 Physical input and output interface.
1372 =item B<logical-in>, B<logical-out>
1374 The logical bridge interface.
1376 =item B<saddr>, B<daddr>
1378 Matches source or destination MAC address.
1380 =item B<Match modules>
1382 The following match modules are supported: 802.3, arp, ip, mark_m,
1383 pkttype, stp, vlan, log.
1385 =item B<Target extensions>
1387 The following target extensions are supported: arpreply, dnat, mark,
1390 Please note that there is a conflict between I<--mark> from the
1391 I<mark_m> match module and I<-j mark>. Since both would be
1392 implemented with the ferm keyword B<mark>, we decided to solve this by
1393 writing the target's name in uppercase, like in the other domains.
1394 The following example rewrites mark 1 to 2:
1400 =head1 ADVANCED FEATURES
1404 In complex firewall files, it is helpful to use variables, e.g. to
1405 give a network interface a meaningful name.
1407 To set variables, write:
1409 @def $DEV_INTERNET = eth0;
1410 @def $PORTS = (http ftp);
1411 @def $MORE_PORTS = ($PORTS 8080);
1413 In the real ferm code, variables are used like any other keyword
1416 chain INPUT interface $DEV_INTERNET proto tcp dport $MORE_PORTS ACCEPT;
1418 Note that variables can only be used in keyword parameters
1419 ("192.168.1.1", "http"); they cannot contain ferm keywords like
1420 "proto" or "interface".
1422 Variables are only valid in the current block:
1424 @def $DEV_INTERNET = eth1;
1427 @def $DEV_INTERNET = ppp0;
1428 interface $DEV_INTERNET dport http ACCEPT;
1430 interface $DEV_INTERNET DROP;
1433 will be expanded to:
1437 interface ppp0 dport http ACCEPT;
1439 interface eth1 DROP;
1442 The "def $DEV_INTERNET = ppp0" is only valid in the "proto tcp" block;
1443 the parent block still knows "set $DEV_INTERNET = eth1".
1445 Include files are special - variables declared in an included file are
1446 still available in the calling block. This is useful when you include
1447 a file which only declares variables.
1449 =head2 Automatic variables
1451 Some variables are set internally by ferm. Ferm scripts can use them
1452 just like any other variable.
1458 The name of the configuration file.
1462 The directory of the configuration file.
1466 The current domain. One of I<ip>, I<ip6>, I<arp>, I<eb>.
1470 The current netfilter table.
1474 The current netfilter chain.
1480 Functions are similar to variables, except that they may have
1481 parameters, and they provide ferm commands, not values.
1483 @def &FOO() = proto (tcp udp) dport domain;
1486 @def &TCP_TUNNEL($port, $dest) = {
1487 table filter chain FORWARD interface ppp0 proto tcp dport $port daddr $dest outerface eth0 ACCEPT;
1488 table nat chain PREROUTING interface ppp0 proto tcp dport $port daddr 1.2.3.4 DNAT to $dest;
1491 &TCP_TUNNEL(http, 192.168.1.33);
1492 &TCP_TUNNEL(ftp, 192.168.1.30);
1493 &TCP_TUNNEL((ssh smtp), 192.168.1.2);
1495 A function call which contains a block (like '{...}') must be the last
1496 command in a ferm rule, i.e. it must be followed by ';'. The '&FOO()'
1497 example does not contain a block, thus you may write 'ACCEPT' after
1498 the call. To circumvent this, you can reorder the keywords:
1500 @def &IPSEC() = { proto (esp ah); proto udp dport 500; }
1501 chain INPUT ACCEPT &IPSEC();
1505 With backticks, you may use the output of an external command:
1507 @def $DNSSERVERS = `grep nameserver /etc/resolv.conf | awk '{print $2}'`;
1508 chain INPUT proto tcp saddr $DNSSERVERS ACCEPT;
1510 The command is executed with the shell (F</bin/sh>), just like
1511 backticks in perl. ferm does not do any variable expansion here.
1513 The output is then tokenized, and saved as a ferm list (array). Lines
1514 beginning with '#' are ignored; the other lines may contain any number
1515 of values, separated by whitespace.
1519 The B<@include> keyword allows you to include external files:
1521 @include 'vars.ferm';
1523 The file name is relative to the calling file, e.g. when including
1524 from F</etc/ferm/ferm.conf>, the above statement includes
1525 F</etc/ferm/vars.ferm>. Variables and functions declared in an
1526 included file are still available in the calling file.
1528 B<include> works within a block:
1531 @include 'input.ferm';
1534 If you specify a directory (with a trailing '/'), all files in this
1535 directory are included, sorted alphabetically:
1539 With a trailing pipe symbol, B<ferm> executes a program and parses its
1542 @include '/root/generate_ferm_rules.sh $HOSTNAME|'
1546 The keyword B<@if> introduces a conditional expression:
1548 @if $condition DROP;
1550 A value is evaluated true just like in Perl: zero, empty list, empty
1551 string are false, everything else is true. Examples for true values:
1553 (a b); 1; 'foo'; (0 0)
1555 Examples for false values:
1559 There is also B<@else>:
1561 @if $condition DROP; @else REJECT;
1563 Note the semicolon before the B<@else>.
1565 It is possible to use curly braces after either B<@if> or B<@else>:
1574 Since the closing curly brace also finishes the command, there is no
1577 There is no B<@elsif>, use B<@else @if> instead.
1581 @def $have_ipv6 = `test -f /proc/net/ip6_tables_names && echo 1 || echo`;
1590 To run custom commands, you may install hooks:
1592 @hook pre "echo 0 >/proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/eth0/forwarding";
1593 @hook post "echo 1 >/proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/eth0/forwarding";
1594 @hook flush "echo 0 >/proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/eth0/forwarding";
1596 The specified command is executed using the shell. "pre" means run
1597 the command before applying the firewall rules, and "post" means run
1598 the command afterwards. "flush" hooks are run after ferm has flushed
1599 the firewall rules (option --flush). You may install any number of
1602 =head1 BUILT-IN FUNCTIONS
1604 There are several built-in functions which you might find useful.
1606 =head2 @resolve((hostname1 hostname2 ...))
1608 Usually, host names are resolved by iptables. To let ferm resolve
1609 host names, use the function @resolve:
1611 saddr @resolve(my.host.foo) proto tcp dport ssh ACCEPT;
1612 saddr @resolve((another.host.foo third.host.foo)) proto tcp dport openvpn ACCEPT;
1614 Note the double parentheses in the second line: the inner pair for
1615 creating a ferm list, and the outer pair as function parameter
1618 This function currently only resolves B<A> records (i.e. IPv4
1619 addresses), rendering it useless for the I<ip6> domain.
1621 Be careful with resolved host names in firewall configuration. DNS
1622 requests may block the firewall configuration for a long time, leaving
1623 the machine vulnerable, or they may fail.
1627 The F<./examples/> directory contains numerous ferm configuration
1628 which can be used to begin a new firewall. This sections contains more
1629 samples, recipes and tricks.
1631 =head2 Easy port forwarding
1633 Ferm function make routine tasks quick and easy:
1635 @def &FORWARD_TCP($proto, $port, $dest) = {
1636 table filter chain FORWARD interface $DEV_WORLD outerface $DEV_DMZ daddr $dest proto $proto dport $port ACCEPT;
1637 table nat chain PREROUTING interface $DEV_WORLD daddr $HOST_STATIC proto $proto dport $port DNAT to $dest;
1640 &FORWARD_TCP(tcp, http, 192.168.1.2);
1641 &FORWARD_TCP(tcp, smtp, 192.168.1.3);
1642 &FORWARD_TCP((tcp udp), domain, 192.168.1.4);
1644 =head2 Remote B<ferm>
1646 If the target machine is not able to run B<ferm> for some reason
1647 (maybe an embedded device without Perl), you can edit the B<ferm>
1648 configuration file on another computer and let B<ferm> generate a
1651 Example for OpenWRT:
1653 ferm --remote --shell mywrt/ferm.conf >mywrt/firewall.user
1654 chmod +x mywrt/firewall.user
1655 scp mywrt/firewall.user mywrt.local.net:/etc/
1656 ssh mywrt.local.net /etc/firewall.user
1664 Do not execute the iptables(8) commands, but skip instead. This way
1665 you can parse your data, use B<--lines> to view the output.
1669 Clears the firewall rules and sets the policy of all chains to ACCEPT.
1670 B<ferm> needs a configuration file for that to determine which domains
1671 and tables are affected.
1675 Show the firewall lines that were generated from the rules. They
1676 will be shown just before they are executed, so if you get error
1677 messages from iptables(8) etc., you can see which rule caused
1680 =item B<--interactive>
1682 Apply the firewall rules and ask the user for confirmation. Reverts
1683 to the previous ruleset if there is no valid user response within 30
1684 seconds. This is useful for remote firewall administration: you can
1685 test the rules without fearing to lock yourself out.
1689 Show a brief list of available commandline options.
1693 Shows the version number of the program.
1697 Enable fast mode: ferm generates an iptables-save(8) file, and
1698 installs it with iptables-restore(8). This is much faster, because
1699 ferm calls iptables(8) once for every rule by default.
1701 Fast mode is enabled by default since B<ferm> 2.0, deprecating this
1706 Disable fast mode, i.e. run iptables(8) for every rule, and don't use
1707 iptables-restore(8).
1711 Generate a shell script which calls iptables-restore(8) and prints it.
1712 Implies --fast --lines.
1716 Generate rules for a remote machine. Implies B<--noexec> and
1717 B<--lines>. Can be combined with B<--shell>.
1719 =item B<--domain {ip|ip6}>
1721 Handle only the specified domain. B<ferm> output may be empty if the
1722 domain is not configured in the input file.
1724 =item B<--def '$name=value'>
1726 Override a variable defined in the configuration file.
1738 =head2 Operating system
1740 Linux 2.4 or newer, with netfilter support and all netfilter modules
1741 used by your firewall script
1745 iptables and perl 5.6
1751 If you find a bug, please tell us: ferm@foo-projects.org
1755 Copyright (C) 2001-2010 Max Kellermann <max@foo-projects.org>, Auke
1756 Kok <sofar@foo-projects.org>
1758 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
1759 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
1760 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
1761 your option) any later version.
1763 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
1764 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1765 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
1766 General Public License for more details.
1768 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
1769 along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
1770 Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307
1775 Max Kellermann <max@foo-projects.org>, Auke Kok
1776 <sofar@foo-projects.org>