Linux Network Administrators Guide
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9.11. A Sample Firewall Configuration

We've discussed the fundamentals of firewall configuration. Let's now look at what a firewall configuration might actually look like.

The configuration in this example has been designed to be easily extended and customized. We've provided three versions. The first version is implemented using the ipfwadm command (or the ipfwadm-wrapper script), the second uses ipchains, and the third uses iptables. The example doesn't attempt to exploit user-defined chains, but it will show you the similarities and differences between the old and new firewall configuration tool syntaxes:

#!/bin/bash
##########################################################################
# IPFWADM VERSION
# This sample configuration is for a single host firewall configuration
# with no services supported by the firewall machine itself.
##########################################################################

# USER CONFIGURABLE SECTION

# The name and location of the ipfwadm utility. Use ipfwadm-wrapper for
# 2.2.* kernels.
IPFWADM=ipfwadm

# The path to the ipfwadm executable.
PATH="/sbin"

# Our internal network address space and its supporting network device.
OURNET="172.29.16.0/24"
OURBCAST="172.29.16.255"
OURDEV="eth0"

# The outside address and the network device that supports it.
ANYADDR="0/0"
ANYDEV="eth1"

# The TCP services we wish to allow to pass - "" empty means all ports
# note: space separated
TCPIN="smtp www"
TCPOUT="smtp www ftp ftp-data irc"

# The UDP services we wish to allow to pass - "" empty means all ports
# note: space separated
UDPIN="domain"
UDPOUT="domain"

# The ICMP services we wish to allow to pass - "" empty means all types
# ref: /usr/include/netinet/ip_icmp.h for type numbers
# note: space separated
ICMPIN="0 3 11"
ICMPOUT="8 3 11"

# Logging; uncomment the following line to enable logging of datagrams
# that are blocked by the firewall.
# LOGGING=1

# END USER CONFIGURABLE SECTION
###########################################################################
# Flush the Incoming table rules
$IPFWADM -I -f

# We want to deny incoming access by default.
$IPFWADM -I -p deny

# SPOOFING
# We should not accept any datagrams with a source address matching ours
# from the outside, so we deny them.
$IPFWADM -I -a deny -S $OURNET -W $ANYDEV

# SMURF
# Disallow ICMP to our broadcast address to prevent "Smurf" style attack.
$IPFWADM -I -a deny -P icmp -W $ANYDEV -D $OURBCAST

# TCP
# We will accept all TCP datagrams belonging to an existing connection
# (i.e. having the ACK bit set) for the TCP ports we're allowing through.
# This should catch more than 95 % of all valid TCP packets.
$IPFWADM -I -a accept -P tcp -D $OURNET $TCPIN -k -b

# TCP - INCOMING CONNECTIONS
# We will accept connection requests from the outside only on the
# allowed TCP ports.
$IPFWADM -I -a accept -P tcp -W $ANYDEV -D $OURNET $TCPIN -y

# TCP - OUTGOING CONNECTIONS
# We accept all outgoing tcp connection requests on allowed TCP ports.
$IPFWADM -I -a accept -P tcp -W $OURDEV -D $ANYADDR $TCPOUT -y

# UDP - INCOMING
# We will allow UDP datagrams in on the allowed ports.
$IPFWADM -I -a accept -P udp -W $ANYDEV -D $OURNET $UDPIN

# UDP - OUTGOING
# We will allow UDP datagrams out on the allowed ports.
$IPFWADM -I -a accept -P udp -W $OURDEV -D $ANYADDR $UDPOUT

# ICMP - INCOMING
# We will allow ICMP datagrams in of the allowed types.
$IPFWADM -I -a accept -P icmp -W $ANYDEV -D $OURNET $UDPIN

# ICMP - OUTGOING
# We will allow ICMP datagrams out of the allowed types.
$IPFWADM -I -a accept -P icmp -W $OURDEV -D $ANYADDR $UDPOUT

# DEFAULT and LOGGING
# All remaining datagrams fall through to the default
# rule and are dropped. They will be logged if you've
# configured the LOGGING variable above.
#
if [ "$LOGGING" ]
then
	# Log barred TCP
	$IPFWADM -I -a reject -P tcp -o

	# Log barred UDP
	$IPFWADM -I -a reject -P udp -o

	# Log barred ICMP
	$IPFWADM -I -a reject -P icmp -o
fi
#
# end.

Now we'll reimplement it using the ipchains command:

#!/bin/bash
##########################################################################
# IPCHAINS VERSION
# This sample configuration is for a single host firewall configuration
# with no services supported by the firewall machine itself.
##########################################################################

# USER CONFIGURABLE SECTION

# The name and location of the ipchains utility.
IPCHAINS=ipchains

# The path to the ipchains executable.
PATH="/sbin"

# Our internal network address space and its supporting network device.
OURNET="172.29.16.0/24"
OURBCAST="172.29.16.255"
OURDEV="eth0"

# The outside address and the network device that supports it.
ANYADDR="0/0"
ANYDEV="eth1"

# The TCP services we wish to allow to pass - "" empty means all ports
# note: space separated
TCPIN="smtp www"
TCPOUT="smtp www ftp ftp-data irc"

# The UDP services we wish to allow to pass - "" empty means all ports
# note: space separated
UDPIN="domain"
UDPOUT="domain"

# The ICMP services we wish to allow to pass - "" empty means all types
# ref: /usr/include/netinet/ip_icmp.h for type numbers
# note: space separated
ICMPIN="0 3 11"
ICMPOUT="8 3 11"

# Logging; uncomment the following line to enable logging of datagrams
# that are blocked by the firewall.
# LOGGING=1

# END USER CONFIGURABLE SECTION
##########################################################################
# Flush the Input table rules
$IPCHAINS -F input

# We want to deny incoming access by default.
$IPCHAINS -P input deny

# SPOOFING
# We should not accept any datagrams with a source address matching ours
# from the outside, so we deny them.
$IPCHAINS -A input -s $OURNET -i $ANYDEV -j deny

# SMURF
# Disallow ICMP to our broadcast address to prevent "Smurf" style attack.
$IPCHAINS -A input -p icmp -w $ANYDEV -d $OURBCAST -j deny

# We should accept fragments, in ipchains we must do this explicitly.
$IPCHAINS -A input -f -j accept

# TCP
# We will accept all TCP datagrams belonging to an existing connection
# (i.e. having the ACK bit set) for the TCP ports we're allowing through.
# This should catch more than 95 % of all valid TCP packets.
$IPCHAINS -A input -p tcp -d $OURNET $TCPIN ! -y -b -j accept

# TCP - INCOMING CONNECTIONS
# We will accept connection requests from the outside only on the
# allowed TCP ports.
$IPCHAINS -A input -p tcp -i $ANYDEV -d $OURNET $TCPIN -y -j accept

# TCP - OUTGOING CONNECTIONS
# We accept all outgoing TCP connection requests on allowed TCP ports.
$IPCHAINS -A input -p tcp -i $OURDEV -d $ANYADDR $TCPOUT -y -j accept

# UDP - INCOMING
# We will allow UDP datagrams in on the allowed ports.
$IPCHAINS -A input -p udp -i $ANYDEV -d $OURNET $UDPIN -j accept

# UDP - OUTGOING
# We will allow UDP datagrams out on the allowed ports.
$IPCHAINS -A input -p udp -i $OURDEV -d $ANYADDR $UDPOUT -j accept

# ICMP - INCOMING
# We will allow ICMP datagrams in of the allowed types.
$IPCHAINS -A input -p icmp -w $ANYDEV -d $OURNET $UDPIN -j accept

# ICMP - OUTGOING
# We will allow ICMP datagrams out of the allowed types.
$IPCHAINS -A input -p icmp -i $OURDEV -d $ANYADDR $UDPOUT -j accept

# DEFAULT and LOGGING
# All remaining datagrams fall through to the default
# rule and are dropped. They will be logged if you've
# configured the LOGGING variable above.
#
if [ "$LOGGING" ]
then
	# Log barred TCP
	$IPCHAINS -A input -p tcp -l -j reject

	# Log barred UDP
	$IPCHAINS -A input -p udp -l -j reject

	# Log barred ICMP
	$IPCHAINS -A input -p icmp -l -j reject
fi
#
# end.

In our iptables example, we've switched to using the FORWARD ruleset because of the difference in meaning of the INPUT ruleset in the netfilter implementation. This has implications for us; it means that none of the rules protect the firewall host itself. To accurately mimic our ipchains example, we would replicate each of our rules in the INPUT chain. For clarity, we've dropped all incoming datagrams received from our outside interface instead.

#!/bin/bash
##########################################################################
# IPTABLES VERSION
# This sample configuration is for a single host firewall configuration
# with no services supported by the firewall machine itself.
##########################################################################

# USER CONFIGURABLE SECTION

# The name and location of the ipchains utility.
IPTABLES=iptables

# The path to the ipchains executable.
PATH="/sbin"

# Our internal network address space and its supporting network device.
OURNET="172.29.16.0/24"
OURBCAST="172.29.16.255"
OURDEV="eth0"

# The outside address and the network device that supports it.
ANYADDR="0/0"
ANYDEV="eth1"

# The TCP services we wish to allow to pass - "" empty means all ports
# note: comma separated
TCPIN="smtp,www"
TCPOUT="smtp,www,ftp,ftp-data,irc"

# The UDP services we wish to allow to pass - "" empty means all ports
# note: comma separated
UDPIN="domain"
UDPOUT="domain"

# The ICMP services we wish to allow to pass - "" empty means all types
# ref: /usr/include/netinet/ip_icmp.h for type numbers
# note: comma separated
ICMPIN="0,3,11"
ICMPOUT="8,3,11"

# Logging; uncomment the following line to enable logging of datagrams
# that are blocked by the firewall.
# LOGGING=1

# END USER CONFIGURABLE SECTION
###########################################################################
# Flush the Input table rules
$IPTABLES -F FORWARD

# We want to deny incoming access by default.
$IPTABLES -P FORWARD deny

# Drop all datagrams destined for this host received from outside.
$IPTABLES -A INPUT -i $ANYDEV -j DROP

# SPOOFING
# We should not accept any datagrams with a source address matching ours
# from the outside, so we deny them.
$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -s $OURNET -i $ANYDEV -j DROP

# SMURF
# Disallow ICMP to our broadcast address to prevent "Smurf" style attack.
$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m multiport -p icmp -i $ANYDEV -d $OURNET -j DENY

# We should accept fragments, in iptables we must do this explicitly.
$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -f -j ACCEPT

# TCP
# We will accept all TCP datagrams belonging to an existing connection
# (i.e. having the ACK bit set) for the TCP ports we're allowing through.
# This should catch more than 95 % of all valid TCP packets.
$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m multiport -p tcp -d $OURNET --dports $TCPIN /
    ! --tcp-flags SYN,ACK ACK -j ACCEPT
$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m multiport -p tcp -s $OURNET --sports $TCPIN /
    ! --tcp-flags SYN,ACK ACK -j ACCEPT


# TCP - INCOMING CONNECTIONS
# We will accept connection requests from the outside only on the
# allowed TCP ports.
$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m multiport -p tcp -i $ANYDEV -d $OURNET $TCPIN /
    --syn -j ACCEPT

# TCP - OUTGOING CONNECTIONS
# We will accept all outgoing tcp connection requests on the allowed /
    TCP ports.
$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m multiport -p tcp -i $OURDEV -d $ANYADDR /
    --dports $TCPOUT --syn -j ACCEPT
# UDP - INCOMING
# We will allow UDP datagrams in on the allowed ports and back.
$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m multiport -p udp -i $ANYDEV -d $OURNET /
    --dports $UDPIN -j ACCEPT
$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m multiport -p udp -i $ANYDEV -s $OURNET /
    --sports $UDPIN -j ACCEPT
# UDP - OUTGOING
# We will allow UDP datagrams out to the allowed ports and back.
$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m multiport -p udp -i $OURDEV -d $ANYADDR /
    --dports $UDPOUT -j ACCEPT
$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m multiport -p udp -i $OURDEV -s $ANYADDR /
    --sports $UDPOUT -j ACCEPT
# ICMP - INCOMING
# We will allow ICMP datagrams in of the allowed types.
$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m multiport -p icmp -i $ANYDEV -d $OURNET /
    --dports $ICMPIN -j ACCEPT
# ICMP - OUTGOING
# We will allow ICMP datagrams out of the allowed types.
$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m multiport -p icmp -i $OURDEV -d $ANYADDR /
    --dports $ICMPOUT -j ACCEPT
# DEFAULT and LOGGING
# All remaining datagrams fall through to the default
# rule and are dropped. They will be logged if you've
# configured the LOGGING variable above.
#
if [ "$LOGGING" ]
then
	# Log barred TCP
	$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m tcp -p tcp -j LOG
	# Log barred UDP
	$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m udp -p udp -j LOG
	# Log barred ICMP
	$IPTABLES -A FORWARD -m udp -p icmp -j LOG
fi
#
# end.

In many simple situations, to use the sample all you have to do is edit the top section of the file labeled “USER CONFIGURABLE section” to specify which protocols and datagrams type you wish to allow in and out. For more complex configurations, you will need to edit the section at the bottom, as well. Remember, this is a simple example, so scrutinize it very carefully to ensure it does what you want while implementing it.

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