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The netfilter framework in Linux 2.4


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by

Harald Welte <laforge@gnumonks.org>


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netfilter in Linux 2.4
Contents

	Introduction

	PART I - Netfilter basics / concepts

	Part II - Packet filtering using iptables and netfilter

	Part III - NAT using iptables and netfilter

	Part IV - Packet mangling using iptables and netfilter

	Advanced netfilter concepts

	Current development and Future

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netfilter in Linux 2.4
Introduction

What is netfilter

	More than a firewall subsystem

	Generalized Framework (protocol independend)
		Hooks in the Network stack
		Multiple kernel modules can register with the hooks
		Asynchronous packet handling in userspace

Traditional packet filtering / NAT / ... implemented on top of this framework

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netfilter in Linux 2.4
Introduction

Why did we need netfilter

	No infrastructure for passing packets to userspace

	Transparent proxying extremely difficult

	Packet filter rules depend on interface addresses

	Masquerading and packet filtering not implemented seperately

	Code too complex

	Neither modular nor extensible
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netfilter in Linux 2.4
Introduction 

Authors of netfilter 
	Paul 'Rusty' Russel
		co-author of iptables in Linux 2.2
		was paid by Watchguard for about one Year of development
		now works for Linuxcare
	James Morris
		userspace queuing (kernel, library and tools)
		REJECT target
	Marc Boucher
		NAT and packet filtering controlled by one comand
		Mangle table
	Non-core team contributors
		Philip Blundell (IPv6 integration)
		Jozsef Kadlecsik (full TCP window tracking)
		Harald Welte (IRC NAT helper, userspace logging)
	lots of people I probably forgot

see http://netfilter.kernelnotes.org/scoreboard.html
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netfilter in Linux 2.4
PART I - Netfilter basics

Netfilter architecture in IPv4
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   --->[1]--->[ROUTE]--->[3]--->[4]--->
                 |            ^
                 |            |
                 |         [ROUTE]
                 v            |
                [2]          [5]
                 |            ^
                 |            |
                 v            |

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1=NF_IP_PRE_ROUTING
2=NF_IP_LOCAL_IN
3=NF_IP_FORWARD
4=NF_IP_POST_ROUTING
6=NF_IP_LOCAL_OUT
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netfilter in Linux 2.4
PART I - Netfilter basics

Netfilter base

A Module registered to a hook has to return one of the following constants
	NF_ACCEPT
		continue traversal as normal
	NF_DROP
		drop the packet, do not continue
	NF_STOLEN
		I've taken over the packet do not continue
	NF_QUEUE
		enqueue packet to userspace
	NF_REPEAT
		call this hook again

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netfilter in Linux 2.4
PART I - Netfilter basics

Packet selection using IP tables

Most modules registering for one of the netfilter hooks also use the generic IP tables infrastructure. 

The three major parts of 2.4 advanced packet handling are implemented using IP tables

	Packet filtering table 'filter'

	NAT table 'nat'

	Packet mangling table 'mangle'

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netfilter in Linux 2.4
PART I - Netfilter basics

Connection tracking

Implemented seperately from NAT to Provide a basis for statefule filtering using the 'state' match described later.

The generic conntrack infrastructure is extensible via
	protocol helpers (currently TCP/UDP/ICMP)
	application helpers (currently FTP and IRC-DCC)

Conntrack divides packets in the following four categories:
	NEW - would establish new connection
	ESTABLISHED - part of already established connection
	RELATED - is related to established connection
	INVALID - (multicast, errors...)

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netfilter in Linux 2.4
PART II - packet filtering

Overview

Packet filtering in IPv4 is implemented on top of three netfilter hooks
	NF_IP_LOCAL_IN (packets destined for the local host)
	NF_IP_FORWARD (packets forwarded by us)
	NF_IP_LOCAL_OUT (packets from the local host)

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Each packet passes exactly one of the three hooks. Note that this is very different compared to the old 2.2 ipchains behaviour.

On each of the three hooks is a chain (INPUT, FORWARD, OUTPUT) implemented on top of the IP table "filter"

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netfilter in Linux 2.4
PART II - packet filtering

Managing chains and tables

Each rule in a chain consists out of
	match (which packet match this rule)
	target (what to do if the rule is matched)

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matches and targets can either be builtin or implemented as kernel modules

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The userspace tool iptables is very flexible
	handles all different kinds of IP tables 
	supports a plugin/shlib interface for target / match specific options

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netfilter in Linux 2.4
PART II - packet filtering

Basic iptables commands

To build a complete iptable command, we must specify
	which table to work with
	which chain in this table to use
	an operation (insert, add, delete, modify)
	a match
	a target

The syntax is
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iptables -t table -Operation chain -j target match(es)
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Example:
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iptables -t filter -A INPUT -j ACCEPT -p tcp --dport smtp
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netfilter in Linux 2.4
PART II - packet filtering

Targets

Builtin Targets to be used in filter table
	ACCEPT	accept the packet
	DROP	silently drop the packet 
	QUEUE	enqueue packet to userspace
	RETURN	return to previous (calling) chain
	foobar	user defined chain

Targets implemented as loadable modules 
	REJECT	drop the packet but inform sender
	MIRROR	change source/destination IP and resend
	LOG  	log via syslog
	ULOG	log via userspace

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netfilter in Linux 2.4
PART II - packet filtering

Matches

Basic matches
	-p protocol (tcp/udp/icmp/...)
	-s source address (ip/mask)
	-d destination address (ip/mask)
	-i incoming interface
	-o outgoint interface
Match extensions
	--dport	destination port
	--sport source port
	--state (ESTABLISHED/RELATED/NEW/INVALID)
	--mac-source source MAC address
	--mark nfmark
	--tos
	--limit rate limiting (n packets per timeframe)

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netfilter in Linux 2.4
PART III - NAT

Overview

	Previous Linux Kernels only implemented one special case of NAT: Masquerading
	Netfilter enables Linux to do any kind of NAT.
	All matches from packet filtering are available for the nat tables, too
	We divide NAT into 'source NAT' and 'destination NAT'
		SNAT changes the packet's source whille passing NF_IP_POST_ROUTING
		DNAT changes the packet's destination while passing NF_IP_PRE_ROUTING
		MASQUERADE is a special case of SNAT
		REDIRECT is a special case of DNAT

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netfilter in Linux 2.4
PART III - NAT

Source NAT

	SNAT Example:
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iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -j SNAT --to-source 1.2.3.4
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Masquerading does almost the same as SNAT, but if the outgoing interfaces' address changes (in case we have a dialup with dynamic ip), the new address is used.

	MASQUERADE Example:
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iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -j MASQUERADE -o ppp0
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netfilter in Linux 2.4
PART III - NAT

Destination NAT

	DNAT example:
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iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -j DNAT --to-destination 1.2.3.4:8080 -p tcp --dport 80 -i eth1
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REDIRECT is a special case of DNAT, which alters the destination to the address of the incoming interface.

	REDIRECT example:
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iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -j REDIRECT --to-port 3128 -i eth1 -p tcp --dport 80
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netfilter in Linux 2.4
PART IV - Packet mangling

Packet mangling enables us to change certain parts of a packet based on rules in IP tables.
Of course, we again have all the matches available, as described in the packet filtering section.

Currently, the supported packet mangling targets are:
	- TOS - manipulate the TOS bits 
	- MARK - change the nfmark field of the skb

Simple example:
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iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -j MARK --set-mark 10 -p tcp --dport 80



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netfilter in Linux 2.4
Advanced Netfilter concepts

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	Connection tracking

	Userspace logging
		flexible replacement for old syslog-based logging
		packets to userspace via multicast netlink sockets
		easy-to-use library (libipulog)
		plugin-extensible userspace logging daemon already available

	Queuing
		reliable asynchronous packet handling 
		packets to userspace via unicast netlink socket
		easy-to-use library (libipq)
		experimental queue multiplex daemon (ipqmpd)


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netfilter in Linux 2.4
Current Development and Future

Netfilter (although it proved very stable) is still work in progress. 

Areas of current development
	provide an unique libnfnetlink (like librtnetlink) 
	infrastructure for conntrack/nat helpers in userspace
	full TCP sequence number tracking
	multicast support
	more flexible matches (MAXCONN, ...)
	more NAT modules (RPC, SNMP, SMB, ...)
	more IPv6 matches / targets
