Ip6tables
is used to set up, maintain, and inspect the tables of IPv6 packet
filter rules in the Linux kernel. Several different tables
may be defined. Each table contains a number of built-in
chains and may also contain user-defined chains.
Each chain is a list of rules which can match a set of packets. Each
rule specifies what to do with a packet that matches. This is called
a `target', which may be a jump to a user-defined chain in the same
table.
TARGETS
A firewall rule specifies criteria for a packet, and a target. If the
packet does not match, the next rule in the chain is the examined; if
it does match, then the next rule is specified by the value of the
target, which can be the name of a user-defined chain or one of the
special values
ACCEPT,
DROP,
QUEUE,
or
RETURN.
ACCEPT
means to let the packet through.
DROP
means to drop the packet on the floor.
QUEUE
means to pass the packet to userspace. (How the packet can be received
by a userspace process differs by the particular queue handler. 2.4.x
and 2.6.x kernels up to 2.6.13 include the
ip_queue
queue handler. Kernels 2.6.14 and later additionally include the
nfnetlink_queue
queue handler. Packets with a target of QUEUE will be sent to queue number '0'
in this case. Please also see the
NFQUEUE
target as described later in this man page.)
RETURN
means stop traversing this chain and resume at the next rule in the
previous (calling) chain. If the end of a built-in chain is reached
or a rule in a built-in chain with target
RETURN
is matched, the target specified by the chain policy determines the
fate of the packet.
TABLES
There are currently two independent tables (which tables are present
at any time depends on the kernel configuration options and which
modules are present), as nat table has not been implemented yet.
-t, --table table
This option specifies the packet matching table which the command
should operate on. If the kernel is configured with automatic module
loading, an attempt will be made to load the appropriate module for
that table if it is not already there.
The tables are as follows:
filter:
This is the default table (if no -t option is passed). It contains
the built-in chains
INPUT
(for packets coming into the box itself),
FORWARD
(for packets being routed through the box), and
OUTPUT
(for locally-generated packets).
mangle:
This table is used for specialized packet alteration. Until kernel
2.4.17 it had two built-in chains:
PREROUTING
(for altering incoming packets before routing) and
OUTPUT
(for altering locally-generated packets before routing).
Since kernel 2.4.18, three other built-in chains are also supported:
INPUT
(for packets coming into the box itself),
FORWARD
(for altering packets being routed through the box), and
POSTROUTING
(for altering packets as they are about to go out).
raw:
This table is used mainly for configuring exemptions from connection
tracking in combination with the NOTRACK target. It registers at the netfilter
hooks with higher priority and is thus called before nf_conntrack, or any other
IP6 tables. It provides the following built-in chains:
PREROUTING
(for packets arriving via any network interface)
OUTPUT
(for packets generated by local processes)
OPTIONS
The options that are recognized by
ip6tables
can be divided into several different groups.
COMMANDS
These options specify the specific action to perform. Only one of them
can be specified on the command line unless otherwise specified
below. For all the long versions of the command and option names, you
need to use only enough letters to ensure that
ip6tables
can differentiate it from all other options.
-A, --append chain rule-specification
Append one or more rules to the end of the selected chain.
When the source and/or destination names resolve to more than one
address, a rule will be added for each possible address combination.
-D, --delete chain rule-specification
-D, --delete chain rulenum
Delete one or more rules from the selected chain. There are two
versions of this command: the rule can be specified as a number in the
chain (starting at 1 for the first rule) or a rule to match.
-I, --insert
Insert one or more rules in the selected chain as the given rule
number. So, if the rule number is 1, the rule or rules are inserted
at the head of the chain. This is also the default if no rule number
is specified.
-R, --replace chain rulenum rule-specification
Replace a rule in the selected chain. If the source and/or
destination names resolve to multiple addresses, the command will
fail. Rules are numbered starting at 1.
-L, --list [chain]
List all rules in the selected chain. If no chain is selected, all
chains are listed. As every other iptables command, it applies to the
specified table (filter is the default), so mangle rules get listed by
ip6tables -t mangle -n -L
Please note that it is often used with the
-n
option, in order to avoid long reverse DNS lookups.
It is legal to specify the
-Z
(zero) option as well, in which case the chain(s) will be atomically
listed and zeroed. The exact output is affected by the other
arguments given. The exact rules are suppressed until you use
ip6tables -L -v
-F, --flush [chain]
Flush the selected chain (all the chains in the table if none is given).
This is equivalent to deleting all the rules one by one.
-Z, --zero [chain]
Zero the packet and byte counters in all chains. It is legal to
specify the
-L, --list
(list) option as well, to see the counters immediately before they are
cleared. (See above.)
-N, --new-chain chain
Create a new user-defined chain by the given name. There must be no
target of that name already.
-X, --delete-chain [chain]
Delete the optional user-defined chain specified. There must be no references
to the chain. If there are, you must delete or replace the referring
rules before the chain can be deleted. If no argument is given, it
will attempt to delete every non-builtin chain in the table.
-P, --policy chain target
Set the policy for the chain to the given target. See the section
TARGETS
for the legal targets. Only built-in (non-user-defined) chains can have
policies, and neither built-in nor user-defined chains can be policy
targets.
-E, --rename-chain old-chain new-chain
Rename the user specified chain to the user supplied name. This is
cosmetic, and has no effect on the structure of the table.
-h
Help.
Give a (currently very brief) description of the command syntax.
PARAMETERS
The following parameters make up a rule specification (as used in the
add, delete, insert, replace and append commands).
-p, --protocol [!] protocol
The protocol of the rule or of the packet to check.
The specified protocol can be one of
tcp,
udp,
icmpv6,
esp,
all,
or it can be a numeric value, representing one of these protocols or a
different one. A protocol name from /etc/protocols is also allowed.
But IPv6 extension headers except
esp
are not allowed.
esp,
and
ipv6-nonext
can be used with Kernel version 2.6.11 or later.
A "!" argument before the protocol inverts the
test. The number zero is equivalent to
all.
Protocol
all
will match with all protocols and is taken as default when this
option is omitted.
-s, --source [!] address[/mask]
Source specification.
Address
can be either a hostname (please note that specifying
any name to be resolved with a remote query such as DNS is a really bad idea),
a network IPv6 address (with /mask), or a plain IPv6 address.
(the network name isn't supported now).
The
mask
can be either a network mask or a plain number,
specifying the number of 1's at the left side of the network mask.
Thus, a mask of
64
is equivalent to
ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:0000:0000:0000:0000.
A "!" argument before the address specification inverts the sense of
the address. The flag
--src
is an alias for this option.
-d, --destination [!] address[/mask]
Destination specification.
See the description of the
-s
(source) flag for a detailed description of the syntax. The flag
--dst
is an alias for this option.
-j, --jump target
This specifies the target of the rule; i.e., what to do if the packet
matches it. The target can be a user-defined chain (other than the
one this rule is in), one of the special builtin targets which decide
the fate of the packet immediately, or an extension (see
EXTENSIONS
below). If this
option is omitted in a rule, then matching the rule will have no
effect on the packet's fate, but the counters on the rule will be
incremented.
-i, --in-interface [!] name
Name of an interface via which a packet is going to be received (only for
packets entering the
INPUT,
FORWARD
and
PREROUTING
chains). When the "!" argument is used before the interface name, the
sense is inverted. If the interface name ends in a "+", then any
interface which begins with this name will match. If this option is
omitted, any interface name will match.
-o, --out-interface [!] name
Name of an interface via which a packet is going to be sent (for packets
entering the
FORWARD
and
OUTPUT
chains). When the "!" argument is used before the interface name, the
sense is inverted. If the interface name ends in a "+", then any
interface which begins with this name will match. If this option is
omitted, any interface name will match.
-c, --set-counters PKTS BYTES
This enables the administrator to initialize the packet and byte
counters of a rule (during
INSERT,APPEND,REPLACE
operations).
OTHER OPTIONS
The following additional options can be specified:
-v, --verbose
Verbose output. This option makes the list command show the interface
name, the rule options (if any), and the TOS masks. The packet and
byte counters are also listed, with the suffix 'K', 'M' or 'G' for
1000, 1,000,000 and 1,000,000,000 multipliers respectively (but see
the
-x
flag to change this).
For appending, insertion, deletion and replacement, this causes
detailed information on the rule or rules to be printed.
-n, --numeric
Numeric output.
IP addresses and port numbers will be printed in numeric format.
By default, the program will try to display them as host names,
network names, or services (whenever applicable).
-x, --exact
Expand numbers.
Display the exact value of the packet and byte counters,
instead of only the rounded number in K's (multiples of 1000)
M's (multiples of 1000K) or G's (multiples of 1000M). This option is
only relevant for the
-L
command.
--line-numbers
When listing rules, add line numbers to the beginning of each rule,
corresponding to that rule's position in the chain.
--modprobe=command
When adding or inserting rules into a chain, use
command
to load any necessary modules (targets, match extensions, etc).
MATCH EXTENSIONS
ip6tables can use extended packet matching modules. These are loaded
in two ways: implicitly, when
-p
or
--protocol
is specified, or with the
-m
or
--match
options, followed by the matching module name; after these, various
extra command line options become available, depending on the specific
module. You can specify multiple extended match modules in one line,
and you can use the
-h
or
--help
options after the module has been specified to receive help specific
to that module.
The following are included in the base package, and most of these can
be preceded by a
!
to invert the sense of the match.
ah
This module matches the parameters in Authentication header of IPsec packets.
--ahspi [!] spi[:spi]
Matches SPI.
--ahlen [!] length
Total length of this header in octets.
--ahres
Matches if the reserved field is filled with zero.
condition
This matches if a specific /proc filename is '0' or '1'.
--condition [!] filename
Match on boolean value stored in /proc/net/ip6t_condition/filename file
dst
This module matches the parameters in Destination Options header
--dst-len [!] length
Total length of this header in octets.
--dst-opts type[:length][,type[:length]...]
numeric type of option and the length of the option data in octets.
esp
This module matches the SPIs in ESP header of IPsec packets.
--espspi [!] spi[:spi]
eui64
This module matches the EUI-64 part of a stateless autoconfigured IPv6 address.
It compares the EUI-64 derived from the source MAC address in Ehternet frame
with the lower 64 bits of the IPv6 source address. But "Universal/Local"
bit is not compared. This module doesn't match other link layer frame, and
is only valid in the
PREROUTING,
INPUT
and
FORWARD
chains.
frag
This module matches the parameters in Fragment header.
--fragid [!] id[:id]
Matches the given Identification or range of it.
--fraglen [!] length
This option cannot be used with kernel version 2.6.10 or later. The length of
Fragment header is static and this option doesn't make sense.
--fragres
Matches if the reserved fields are filled with zero.
--fragfirst
Matches on the first fragment.
[--fragmore]
Matches if there are more fragments.
[--fraglast]
Matches if this is the last fragement.
fuzzy
This module matches a rate limit based on a fuzzy logic controller [FLC]
--lower-limit number
Specifies the lower limit (in packets per second).
--upper-limit number
Specifies the upper limit (in packets per second).
hbh
This module matches the parameters in Hop-by-Hop Options header
--hbh-len [!] length
Total length of this header in octets.
--hbh-opts type[:length][,type[:length]...]
numeric type of option and the length of the option data in octets.
hl
This module matches the Hop Limit field in the IPv6 header.
--hl-eq [!] value
Matches if Hop Limit equals value.
--hl-lt value
Matches if Hop Limit is less than value.
--hl-gt value
Matches if Hop Limit is greater than value.
icmpv6
This extension is loaded if `--protocol ipv6-icmp' or `--protocol icmpv6' is
specified. It provides the following option:
--icmpv6-type [!] type[/code]|typename
This allows specification of the ICMPv6 type, which can be a numeric
ICMPv6
type,
type
and
code,
or one of the ICMPv6 type names shown by the command
ip6tables -p ipv6-icmp -h
ipv6header
This module matches IPv6 extension headers and/or upper layer header.
--header [!] header[,header...]
Matches the packet which EXACTLY includes all specified headers. The headers
encapsulated with ESP header are out of scope.
header
can be
hop|hop-by-hop
(Hop-by-Hop Options header),
dst
(Destination Options header),
route
(Routing header),
frag
(Fragment header),
auth
(Authentication header),
esp
(Encapsulating Security Payload header),
none
(No Next header) which matches 59 in the 'Next Header field' of IPv6 header or any IPv6 extension headers, or
proto
which matches any upper layer protocol header. A protocol name from /etc/protocols and numeric value also allowed. The number 255 is equivalent to
proto.
[--soft]
Matches if the packet includes all specified headers with
--header,
AT LEAST.
length
This module matches the length of the IPv6 payload in octets, or range of it.
IPv6 header itself isn't counted.
--length [!] length[:length]
limit
This module matches at a limited rate using a token bucket filter.
A rule using this extension will match until this limit is reached
(unless the `!' flag is used). It can be used in combination with the
LOG
target to give limited logging, for example.
--limit rate
Maximum average matching rate: specified as a number, with an optional
`/second', `/minute', `/hour', or `/day' suffix; the default is
3/hour.
--limit-burst number
Maximum initial number of packets to match: this number gets
recharged by one every time the limit specified above is not reached,
up to this number; the default is 5.
mac
--mac-source [!] address
Match source MAC address. It must be of the form XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX.
Note that this only makes sense for packets coming from an Ethernet device
and entering the
PREROUTING,
FORWARD
or
INPUT
chains.
mark
This module matches the netfilter mark field associated with a packet
(which can be set using the
MARK
target below).
--mark value[/mask]
Matches packets with the given unsigned mark value (if a mask is
specified, this is logically ANDed with the mask before the
comparison).
multiport
This module matches a set of source or destination ports. Up to 15
ports can be specified. A port range (port:port) counts as two
ports, but range isn't supported now. It can only be used in conjunction
with
-p tcp
or
-p udp.
--source-ports [!] port[,port[,port:port...]]
Match if the source port is one of the given ports. The flag
--sports
is a convenient alias for this option.
Match if the destination port is one of the given ports. The flag
--dports
is a convenient alias for this option.
--ports [!] port[,port[,port:port...]]
Match if the both the source and destination ports are equal to each
other and to one of the given ports.
nth
This module matches every `n'th packet
--every value
Match every `value' packet
[--counter num]
Use internal counter number `num'. Default is `0'.
[--start num]
Initialize the counter at the number `num' insetad of `0'. Most between `0'
and `value'-1.
[--packet num]
Match on `num' packet. Most be between `0' and `value'-1.
owner
This module attempts to match various characteristics of the packet
creator, for locally-generated packets. It is only valid in the
OUTPUT
chain, and even this some packets (such as ICMPv6 ping responses) may
have no owner, and hence never match. This is regarded as experimental.
--uid-owner userid
Matches if the packet was created by a process with the given
effective user id.
--gid-owner groupid
Matches if the packet was created by a process with the given
effective group id.
--pid-owner processid
Matches if the packet was created by a process with the given
process id.
--sid-owner sessionid
Matches if the packet was created by a process in the given session
group.
NOTE: pid, sid and command matching are broken on SMP
physdev
This module matches on the bridge port input and output devices enslaved
to a bridge device. This module is a part of the infrastructure that enables
a transparent bridging IP firewall and is only useful for kernel versions
above version 2.5.44.
--physdev-in [!] name
Name of a bridge port via which a packet is received (only for
packets entering the
INPUT,
FORWARD
and
PREROUTING
chains). If the interface name ends in a "+", then any
interface which begins with this name will match. If the packet didn't arrive
through a bridge device, this packet won't match this option, unless '!' is used.
--physdev-out [!] name
Name of a bridge port via which a packet is going to be sent (for packets
entering the
FORWARD,
OUTPUT
and
POSTROUTING
chains). If the interface name ends in a "+", then any
interface which begins with this name will match. Note that in the
nat and mangleOUTPUT
chains one cannot match on the bridge output port, however one can in the
filter OUTPUT
chain. If the packet won't leave by a bridge device or it is yet unknown what
the output device will be, then the packet won't match this option, unless
[!] --physdev-is-in
Matches if the packet has entered through a bridge interface.
[!] --physdev-is-out
Matches if the packet will leave through a bridge interface.
[!] --physdev-is-bridged
Matches if the packet is being bridged and therefore is not being routed.
This is only useful in the FORWARD and POSTROUTING chains.
policy
This modules matches the policy used by IPsec for handling a packet.
--dir in|out
Used to select whether to match the policy used for decapsulation or the
policy that will be used for encapsulation.
in
is valid in the
PREROUTING, INPUT and FORWARD
chains,
out
is valid in the
POSTROUTING, OUTPUT and FORWARD
chains.
--pol none|ipsec
Matches if the packet is subject to IPsec processing.
--strict
Selects whether to match the exact policy or match if any rule of
the policy matches the given policy.
--reqid id
Matches the reqid of the policy rule. The reqid can be specified with
setkey(8)
using
unique:id
as level.
--spi spi
Matches the SPI of the SA.
--proto ah|esp|ipcomp
Matches the encapsulation protocol.
--mode tunnel|transport
Matches the encapsulation mode.
--tunnel-src addr[/mask]
Matches the source end-point address of a tunnel mode SA.
Only valid with --mode tunnel.
--tunnel-dst addr[/mask]
Matches the destination end-point address of a tunnel mode SA.
Only valid with --mode tunnel.
--next
Start the next element in the policy specification. Can only be used with
--strict
random
This module randomly matches a certain percentage of all packets.
--average percent
Matches the given percentage. If omitted, a probability of 50% is set.
rt
Match on IPv6 routing header
--rt-type [!] type
Match the type (numeric).
--rt-segsleft [!] num[:num]
Match the `segments left' field (range).
--rt-len [!] length
Match the length of this header.
--rt-0-res
Match the reserved field, too (type=0)
--rt-0-addrsADDR[,ADDR...]
Match type=0 addresses (list).
--rt-0-not-strict
List of type=0 addresses is not a strict list.
tcp
These extensions are loaded if `--protocol tcp' is specified. It
provides the following options:
--source-port [!] port[:port]
Source port or port range specification. This can either be a service
name or a port number. An inclusive range can also be specified,
using the format
port:port.
If the first port is omitted, "0" is assumed; if the last is omitted,
"65535" is assumed.
If the second port greater then the first they will be swapped.
The flag
--sport
is a convenient alias for this option.
--destination-port [!] port[:port]
Destination port or port range specification. The flag
--dport
is a convenient alias for this option.
--tcp-flags [!] maskcomp
Match when the TCP flags are as specified. The first argument is the
flags which we should examine, written as a comma-separated list, and
the second argument is a comma-separated list of flags which must be
set. Flags are:
SYN ACK FIN RST URG PSH ALL NONE.
Hence the command
ip6tables -A FORWARD -p tcp --tcp-flags SYN,ACK,FIN,RST SYN
will only match packets with the SYN flag set, and the ACK, FIN and
RST flags unset.
[!] --syn
Only match TCP packets with the SYN bit set and the ACK and RST bits
cleared. Such packets are used to request TCP connection initiation;
for example, blocking such packets coming in an interface will prevent
incoming TCP connections, but outgoing TCP connections will be
unaffected.
It is equivalent to --tcp-flags SYN,RST,ACK SYN.
If the "!" flag precedes the "--syn", the sense of the
option is inverted.
--tcp-option [!] number
Match if TCP option set.
udp
These extensions are loaded if `--protocol udp' is specified. It
provides the following options:
--source-port [!] port[:port]
Source port or port range specification.
See the description of the
--source-port
option of the TCP extension for details.
--destination-port [!] port[:port]
Destination port or port range specification.
See the description of the
--destination-port
option of the TCP extension for details.
TARGET EXTENSIONS
ip6tables can use extended target modules: the following are included
in the standard distribution.
HL
This is used to modify the Hop Limit field in IPv6 header. The Hop Limit field
is similar to what is known as TTL value in IPv4. Setting or incrementing the
Hop Limit field can potentially be very dangerous, so it should be avoided at
any cost. This target is only valid in
mangle
table.
Don't ever set or increment the value on packets that leave your local network!
--hl-set value
Set the Hop Limit to `value'.
--hl-dec value
Decrement the Hop Limit `value' times.
--hl-inc value
Increment the Hop Limit `value' times.
LOG
Turn on kernel logging of matching packets. When this option is set
for a rule, the Linux kernel will print some information on all
matching packets (like most IPv6 IPv6-header fields) via the kernel log
(where it can be read with
dmesg
or
syslogd(8)).
This is a "non-terminating target", i.e. rule traversal continues at
the next rule. So if you want to LOG the packets you refuse, use two
separate rules with the same matching criteria, first using target LOG
then DROP (or REJECT).
Prefix log messages with the specified prefix; up to 29 letters long,
and useful for distinguishing messages in the logs.
--log-tcp-sequence
Log TCP sequence numbers. This is a security risk if the log is
readable by users.
--log-tcp-options
Log options from the TCP packet header.
--log-ip-options
Log options from the IPv6 packet header.
--log-uid
Log the userid of the process which generated the packet.
MARK
This is used to set the netfilter mark value associated with the
packet. It is only valid in the
mangle
table.
--set-mark mark
NFQUEUE
This target is an extension of the QUEUE target. As opposed to QUEUE, it allows
you to put a packet into any specific queue, identified by its 16-bit queue
number.
--queue-num value
This specifies the QUEUE number to use. Valud queue numbers are 0 to 65535. The default value is 0.
It can only be used with Kernel versions 2.6.14 or later, since it requires
the
nfnetlink_queue
kernel support.
REJECT
This is used to send back an error packet in response to the matched
packet: otherwise it is equivalent to
DROP
so it is a terminating TARGET, ending rule traversal.
This target is only valid in the
INPUT,
FORWARD
and
OUTPUT
chains, and user-defined chains which are only called from those
chains. The following option controls the nature of the error packet
returned:
which return the appropriate ICMPv6 error message (port-unreach is
the default). Finally, the option
tcp-reset
can be used on rules which only match the TCP protocol: this causes a
TCP RST packet to be sent back. This is mainly useful for blocking
ident
(113/tcp) probes which frequently occur when sending mail to broken mail
hosts (which won't accept your mail otherwise).
tcp-reset
can only be used with kernel versions 2.6.14 or latter.
ROUTE
This is used to explicitly override the core network stack's routing decision.
mangle
table.
--oif ifname
Route the packet through `ifname' network interface
--gw IPv6_address
Route the packet via this gateway
--continue
Behave like a non-terminating target and continue traversing the rules. Not valid in combination with `--tee'
--tee
Make a copy of the packet, and route that copy to the given destination. For the original, uncopied packet, behave like a non-terminating target and continue traversing the rules. Not valid in combination with `--continue'
TRACE
This target has no options. It just turns on
packet tracing
for all packets that match this rule.
DIAGNOSTICS
Various error messages are printed to standard error. The exit code
is 0 for correct functioning. Errors which appear to be caused by
invalid or abused command line parameters cause an exit code of 2, and
other errors cause an exit code of 1.
BUGS
Bugs? What's this? ;-)
Well... the counters are not reliable on sparc64.
COMPATIBILITY WITH IPCHAINS
This
ip6tables
is very similar to ipchains by Rusty Russell. The main difference is
that the chains
INPUT
and
OUTPUT
are only traversed for packets coming into the local host and
originating from the local host respectively. Hence every packet only
passes through one of the three chains (except loopback traffic, which
involves both INPUT and OUTPUT chains); previously a forwarded packet
would pass through all three.
The other main difference is that
-i
refers to the input interface;
-o
refers to the output interface, and both are available for packets
entering the
FORWARD
chain.
There are several other changes in ip6tables.
Rusty Russell wrote iptables, in early consultation with Michael
Neuling.
Marc Boucher made Rusty abandon ipnatctl by lobbying for a generic packet
selection framework in iptables, then wrote the mangle table, the owner match,
the mark stuff, and ran around doing cool stuff everywhere.
James Morris wrote the TOS target, and tos match.
Jozsef Kadlecsik wrote the REJECT target.
Harald Welte wrote the ULOG and NFQUEUE target, the new libiptc, aswell as TTL match+target and libipulog.
The Netfilter Core Team is: Marc Boucher, Martin Josefsson, Jozsef Kadlecsik,
James Morris, Harald Welte and Rusty Russell.
ip6tables man page created by Andras Kis-Szabo, based on
iptables man page written by Herve Eychenne <[email protected]>.