Linux: 20 Iptables Examples For New SysAdmins

by VIVEK GITE on DECEMBER 13, 2011 last updated JANUARY 21, 2016
in IPTABLES, LINUX, LINUX DISTRIBUTION, LINUX EMBEDDED DEVICES, LINUX LAPTOP

inux comes with a host based firewall called Netfilter. According to the

official project site:

netfilter is a set of hooks inside the Linux kernel that allows kernel
modules to register callback functions with the network stack. A registered
callback function is then called back for every packet that traverses the
respective hook within the network stack.

This Linux based firewall is controlled by the program called iptables to handles
filtering for IPv4, and ip6tables handles filtering for IPv6. I strongly recommend
that you first read ourquick tutorial that explains how to configure a host-based
firewall called Netfilter (iptables) under CentOS / RHEL / Fedora / Redhat
Enterprise Linux. This post lists most simple iptables solutions required by a
new Linux user to secure his or her Linux operating system from intruders.

IPTABLES Rules Example

Most of the actions listed in this post written with the assumption that
they will be executed by the root user running the bash or any other modern
shell. Do not type commands on the remote system as it will disconnect
your access.

For demonstration purpose, Ive used RHEL 6.x, but the following
command should work with any modern Linux distro that use the netfliter.

It is NOT a tutorial on how to set iptables. See tutorial here. It is a quick

cheat sheet to common iptables commands.

#1: Displaying the Status of Your Firewall

Type the following command as root:
# iptables - L - n - v
Sample outputs:
Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT . packets, . bytes)

pkts bytes target

prot opt in

out

source

destination

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT . packets, . bytes)

pkts bytes target

prot opt in

out

source

destination

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT . packets, . bytes)

pkts bytes target

prot opt in

out

source

destination

Above output indicates that the firewall is not active. The following sample
shows an active firewall:
# iptables - L - n - v
Sample outputs:
Chain INPUT (policy DROP . packets,. bytes)

pkts bytes target

. DROP

prot opt in

out

source

destination

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

all

- -

br.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

all

- -

lo

state INVALID

192 21364 ACCEPT

state RELATED,ESTABLISHED

91 / 7090 ACCEPT

/ 20 ACCEPT

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

Chain FORWARD (policy DROP . packets, . bytes)

pkts bytes target

prot opt in

out

source

destination

. ACCEPT

all

- -

br.

br.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. DROP

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

state INVALID

. TCPMSS

tcp

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

tcp flags:. x. 4-. x. 0 TCPMSS clamp to PMTU

. ACCEPT

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

state RELATED,ESTABLISHED

. wanin

all

- -

vlan0 (

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. wanout

all

- -

vlan0

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ACCEPT

all

- -

br.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT 203 packets, / / 1K bytes)

pkts bytes target

prot opt in

out

source

destination

out

source

destination

out

source

destination

Chain wanin (/ references)

pkts bytes target

prot opt in

Chain wanout (/ references)

pkts bytes target

prot opt in

Where,

-L : List rules.

-v : Display detailed information. This option makes the list command

show the interface name, the rule options, 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.
-n : Display IP address and port in numeric format. Do not use DNS to

resolve names. This will speed up listing.

#1.1: To inspect firewall with line numbers, enter:
# iptables - n - L - v - - line- numbers
Sample outputs:
Chain INPUT (policy DROP)

num

target

DROP

prot opt source

destination

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

state

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

state

INVALID

ACCEPT

RELATED,ESTABLISHED

ACCEPT

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

ACCEPT

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

Chain FORWARD (policy DROP)

num

target

prot opt source

destination

ACCEPT

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

DROP

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

state

INVALID

TCPMSS

tcp

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

tcp

flags:. x. 4-. x. 0 TCPMSS clamp to PMTU

ACCEPT

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

RELATED,ESTABLISHED

wanin

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

wanout

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

ACCEPT

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)

num

target

prot opt source

Chain wanin (/ references)

destination

state

num

target

prot opt source

destination

Chain wanout (/ references)

num

target

prot opt source

destination

You can use line numbers to delete or insert new rules into the firewall.
#1.2: To display INPUT or OUTPUT chain rules, enter:
# iptables - L INPUT - n - v
# iptables - L OUTPUT - n - v - - line- numbers

#2: Stop / Start / Restart the Firewall

If you are using CentOS / RHEL / Fedora Linux, enter:
# service iptables stop
# service iptables start
# service iptables restart
You can use the iptables command itself to stop the firewall and delete all rules:
# iptables - F
# iptables - X
# iptables - t nat - F
# iptables - t nat - X
# iptables - t mangle - F
# iptables - t mangle - X

# iptables - P INPUT ACCEPT

# iptables - P OUTPUT ACCEPT
# iptables - P FORWARD ACCEPT
Where,

-F : Deleting (flushing) all the rules.

-X : Delete chain.

-t table_name : Select table (called nat or mangle) and delete/flush

rules.

-P : Set the default policy (such as DROP, REJECT, or ACCEPT).

#3: Delete Firewall Rules

To display line number along with other information for existing rules, enter:
# iptables - L INPUT - n - - line- numbers
# iptables - L OUTPUT - n - - line- numbers
# iptables - L OUTPUT - n - - line- numbers | less
# iptables - L OUTPUT - n - - line- numbers | grep 0. 0,32,/ ,/
You will get the list of IP. Look at the number on the left, then use number to
delete it. For example delete line number 4, enter:
# iptables - D INPUT 2
OR find source IP 202.74.1.1 and delete from rule:
# iptables - D INPUT - s 0. 0,32,/ ,/ - j DROP
Where,

-D : Delete one or more rules from the selected chain

#4: Insert Firewall Rules

To insert one or more rules in the selected chain as the given rule number use
the following syntax. First find out line numbers, enter:

# iptables -L INPUT -n line-numbers

Sample outputs:
Chain INPUT (policy DROP)

num

target

prot opt source

DROP

all

- -

0. 0,32,/ ,/

ACCEPT

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

destination

. ,. ,. ,. -.

. ,. ,. ,. -.

state

NEW,ESTABLISHED

To insert rule between 1 and 2, enter:

# iptables - I INPUT 0 - s 0. 0,32,/ ,0 - j DROP
To view updated rules, enter:
# iptables - L INPUT - n - - line- numbers
Sample outputs:
Chain INPUT (policy DROP)

num

target

prot opt source

destination

DROP

all

- -

0. 0,32,/ ,/

. ,. ,. ,. -.

DROP

all

- -

0. 0,32,/ ,0

. ,. ,. ,. -.

ACCEPT

all

- -

. ,. ,. ,. -.

NEW,ESTABLISHED

. ,. ,. ,. -.

state

#5: Save Firewall Rules

To save firewall rules under CentOS / RHEL / Fedora Linux, enter:
# service iptables save
In this example, drop an IP and save firewall rules:
# iptables - A INPUT - s 0. 0,3,2,/ - j DROP
# service iptables save
For all other distros use the iptables-save command:
# iptables- save > -root-my,active,firewall,rules
# cat -root-my,active,firewall,rules

#6: Restore Firewall Rules

To restore firewall rules form a file called /root/my.active.firewall.rules, enter:
# iptables- restore < -root-my,active,firewall,rules
To restore firewall rules under CentOS / RHEL / Fedora Linux, enter:
# service iptables restart

#7: Set the Default Firewall Policies

To drop all traffic:
# iptables - P INPUT DROP
# iptables - P OUTPUT DROP
# iptables - P FORWARD DROP
# iptables - L - v - n
#### you will not able to connect anywhere as all traffic is dropped ###
# ping cyberciti,biz
# wget http:--www,kernel,org-pub-linux-kernel-v1,. -testing-linux- 1,0- rc3,tar,bz0

#7.1: Only Block Incoming Traffic

To drop all incoming / forwarded packets, but allow outgoing traffic, enter:
# iptables - P INPUT DROP
# iptables - P FORWARD DROP
# iptables - P OUTPUT ACCEPT
# iptables - A INPUT - m state - - state NEW,ESTABLISHED - j ACCEPT
# iptables - L - v - n
### ((( now ping and wget should work ((( ###
# ping cyberciti,biz
# wget http:--www,kernel,org-pub-linux-kernel-v1,. -testing-linux- 1,0- rc3,tar,bz0

#8:Drop Private Network Address On Public Interface

IP spoofing is nothing but to stop the following IPv4 address ranges for private
networks on your public interfaces. Packets with non-routable source
addresses should be rejected using the following syntax:
# iptables - A INPUT - i eth/ - s / 90,/ 46,. ,. -02 - j DROP
# iptables - A INPUT - i eth/ - s / . ,. ,. ,. -6 - j DROP

#8.1: IPv4 Address Ranges For Private Networks (make sure you block them on public
interface)

10.0.0.0/: -j (A)

192.16.0.0/12 (B)

192.16:.0.0/16 (C)

224.0.0.0/4 (MULTICAST D)

240.0.0.0/7 (E)

129.0.0.0/: (LOOPBACK)

#9: Blocking an IP Address (BLOCK IP)

To block an attackers ip address called 1.2.3.4, enter:
# iptables - A INPUT - s / ,0,1,2 - j DROP
# iptables - A INPUT - s / 90,/ 46,. ,. -02 - j DROP

#10: Block Incoming Port Requests (BLOCK PORT)

To block all service requests on port :0, enter:
# iptables - A INPUT - p tcp - - dport 6. - j DROP
# iptables - A INPUT - i eth/ - p tcp - - dport 6. - j DROP

To block port :0 only for an ip address 1.2.3.4, enter:

# iptables - A INPUT - p tcp - s / ,0,1,2 - - dport 6. - j DROP
# iptables - A INPUT - i eth/ - p tcp - s / 90,/ 46,/ ,. -02 - - dport 6. - j DROP

#11: Block Outgoing IP Address

To block outgoing traffic to a particular host or domain such as cyberciti.biz,
enter:
# host - t a cyberciti,biz
Sample outputs:
cyberciti,biz has address 73,/ 04,/ 31,0. 4

Note down its ip address and type the following to block all outgoing traffic to
97.126.173.206:
# iptables - A OUTPUT - d 73,/ 04,/ 31,0. 4 - j DROP
You can use a subnet as follows:

# iptables - A OUTPUT - d / 90,/ 46,/ ,. -02 - j DROP

# iptables - A OUTPUT - o eth/ - d / 90,/ 46,/ ,. -02 - j DROP

#11.1: Example - Block Facebook.com Domain

First, find out all ip address of facebook.com, enter:
# host - t a www,facebook,com
Sample outputs:
www,facebook,com has address 49,/ 7/ ,006,2.

Find CIDR for 69.191.22:.40, enter:

# whois 49,/ 7/ ,006,2. | grep CIDR
Sample outputs:
CIDR:

49,/ 7/ ,002,. -/ 9

To prevent outgoing access to www.facebook.com, enter:

# iptables - A OUTPUT - p tcp - d 49,/ 7/ ,002,. -/ 9 - j DROP
You can also use domain name, enter:
# iptables - A OUTPUT - p tcp - d www,facebook,com - j DROP
# iptables - A OUTPUT - p tcp - d facebook,com - j DROP

From the iptables man page:

... specifying any name to be resolved with a remote query such as DNS
(e.g., facebook.com is a really bad idea), a network IP address (with /mask),
or a plain IP address ...

#12: Log and Drop Packets

Type the following to log and block IP spoofing on public interface called eth1
# iptables - A INPUT - i eth/ - s / . ,. ,. ,. -6 - j LOG - - log- prefix "IP_SPOOF A:"
# iptables - A INPUT - i eth/ - s / . ,. ,. ,. -6 - j DROP
By default everything is logged to /var/log/messages file.
# tail - f -var-log-messages
# grep - - color '
IP SPOOF'-var-log-messages

#13: Log and Drop Packets with Limited Number of Log Entries
The -m limit module can limit the number of log entries created per time. This is
used to prevent flooding your log file. To log and drop spoofing per 7 minutes,
in bursts of at most 9 entries .
# iptables - A INPUT - i eth/ - s / . ,. ,. ,. -6 - m limit - - limit 3-m - - limit- burst 7
- j LOG - - log- prefix "IP_SPOOF A:"
# iptables - A INPUT - i eth/ - s / . ,. ,. ,. -6 - j DROP

#14: Drop or Accept Traffic From Mac Address

Use the following syntax:
# iptables - A INPUT - m mac - - mac- source . . :. F:EA:9/ :. 2:. 6 - j DROP
## (only accept traffic for TCP port # 6. 6. from mac . . :. F:EA:9/ :. 2:. 7 ( ##
# iptables - A INPUT - p tcp - - destination- port 00 - m mac - - mac- source
. . :. F:EA:9/ :. 2:. 7 - j ACCEPT

#15: Block or Allow ICMP Ping Request

Type the following command to block ICMP ping requests:
# iptables - A INPUT - p icmp - - icmp- type echo- request - j DROP

# iptables - A INPUT - i eth/ - p icmp - - icmp- type echo- request - j DROP

Ping responses can also be limited to certain networks or hosts:
# iptables - A INPUT - s / 90,/ 46,/ ,. -02 - p icmp - - icmp- type echo- request - j
ACCEPT
The following only accepts limited type of ICMP requests:
### (( assumed that default INPUT policy set to DROP (( #############
iptables - A INPUT - p icmp - - icmp- type echo- reply - j ACCEPT
iptables - A INPUT - p icmp - - icmp- type destination- unreachable - j ACCEPT
iptables - A INPUT - p icmp - - icmp- type time- exceeded - j ACCEPT
## (( all our server to respond to pings (( ##
iptables - A INPUT - p icmp - - icmp- type echo- request - j ACCEPT

#16: Open Range of Ports

Use the following syntax to open a range of ports:
iptables - A INPUT - m state - - state NEW - m tcp - p tcp - - dport 7. . . :7. / . - j
ACCEPT

#17: Open Range of IP Addresses

Use the following syntax to open a range of IP address:
## only accept connection to tcp port 6. (Apache) if ip is between / 90,/ 46,/ ,/ . . and
/ 90,/ 46,/ ,0. . ##
iptables - A INPUT - p tcp - - destination- port 6. - m iprange - - src- range
/ 90,/ 46,/ ,/ . . - / 90,/ 46,/ ,0. . - j ACCEPT

## nat example ##
iptables - t nat - A POSTROUTING - j SNAT - - to- source
/ 90,/ 46,/ ,0. - / 90,/ 46,/ ,03

#18: Established Connections and Restaring The Firewall

When you restart the iptables service it will drop established connections as it
unload modules from the system under RHEL / Fedora / CentOS Linux. Edit,
/etc/sysconfig/iptables-config and set IPTABLES_MODULES_UNLOAD as follows:
IPTABLES_MODULES_UNLOAD : no

#19: Help Iptables Flooding My Server Screen

Use the crit log level to send messages to a log file instead of console:
iptables - A INPUT - s / ,0,1,2 - p tcp - - destination- port 6. - j LOG - - log- level
crit

#20: Block or Open Common Ports

The following shows syntax for opening and closing common TCP and UDP
ports:
Replace ACCEPT with DROP to block port:## open port ssh tcp port 22 ##
iptables - A INPUT - m state - - state NEW - m tcp - p tcp - - dport 00 - j ACCEPT
iptables - A INPUT - s / 90,/ 46,/ ,. /02 - m state - - state NEW - p tcp - - dport 00 - j ACCEPT

## open cups (printing service) udp/tcp port 631 for LAN users ##
iptables - A INPUT - s / 90,/ 46,/ ,. /02 - p udp - m udp - - dport 41/ - j ACCEPT
iptables - A INPUT - s / 90,/ 46,/ ,. /02 - p tcp - m tcp - - dport 41/ - j ACCEPT

## allow time sync via NTP for lan users (open udp port 123) ##
iptables - A INPUT - s / 90,/ 46,/ ,. /02 - m state - - state NEW - p udp - - dport / 01 - j ACCEPT

## open tcp port 25 (smtp) for all ##

iptables - A INPUT - m state - - state NEW - p tcp - - dport 03 - j ACCEPT

# open dns server ports for all ##

iptables - A INPUT - m state - - state NEW - p udp - - dport 31 - j ACCEPT
iptables - A INPUT - m state - - state NEW - p tcp - - dport 31 - j ACCEPT

## open http/https (Apache) server port to all ##

iptables - A INPUT - m state - - state NEW - p tcp - - dport 6. - j ACCEPT
iptables - A INPUT - m state - - state NEW - p tcp - - dport 221 - j ACCEPT

## open tcp port 110 (pop3) for all ##

iptables - A INPUT - m state - - state NEW - p tcp - - dport / / . - j ACCEPT

## open tcp port 143 (imap) for all ##

iptables - A INPUT - m state - - state NEW - p tcp - - dport / 21 - j ACCEPT

## open access to Samba file server for lan users only ##

iptables - A INPUT - s / 90,/ 46,/ ,. /02 - m state - - state NEW - p tcp - - dport / 17 - j ACCEPT
iptables - A INPUT - s / 90,/ 46,/ ,. /02 - m state - - state NEW - p tcp - - dport / 16 - j ACCEPT
iptables - A INPUT - s / 90,/ 46,/ ,. /02 - m state - - state NEW - p tcp - - dport / 19 - j ACCEPT
iptables - A INPUT - s / 90,/ 46,/ ,. /02 - m state - - state NEW - p tcp - - dport 223 - j ACCEPT

## open access to proxy server for lan users only ##

iptables - A INPUT - s / 90,/ 46,/ ,. /02 - m state - - state NEW - p tcp - - dport 1/ 06 - j ACCEPT

## open access to mysql server for lan users only ##

iptables - I INPUT - p tcp - - dport 11. 4 - j ACCEPT

#21: Restrict the Number of Parallel Connections To a Server Per

Client IP
You can use connlimit module to put such restrictions. To allow 3 ssh
connections per client host, enter:
# iptables - A INPUT - p tcp - - syn - - dport 00 - m connlimit
- - connlimit- above 1 - j REJECT

Set HTTP requests to 20:

# iptables - p tcp - - syn - - dport 6. - m connlimit - - connlimit- above 0.
- - connlimit- mask 02 - j DROP
Where,
/,

--connlimit-above 3 : Match if the number of existing connections is

above 3.

0,

--connlimit-mask 24 : Group hosts using the prefix length. For IPv4, this
must be a number between (including) 0 and 32.

#22: HowTO: Use iptables Like a Pro

For more information about iptables, please see the manual page by typing
man iptables from the command line:
$ man iptables
You can see the help using the following syntax too:
# iptables - h
To see help with specific commands and targets, enter:
# iptables - j DROP - h

#22.1: Testing Your Firewall

Find out if ports are open or not, enter:

# netstat - tulpn
Find out if tcp port :0 open or not, enter:
# netstat - tulpn | grep :6.
If port :0 is not open, start the Apache, enter:
# service httpd start
Make sure iptables allowing access to the port :0:
# iptables - L INPUT - v - n | grep 6.
Otherwise open port :0 using the iptables for all users:
# iptables - A INPUT - m state - - state NEW - p tcp - - dport 6. - j ACCEPT
# service iptables save
Use the telnet command to see if firewall allows to connect to port :0:
$ telnet www,cyberciti,biz 6.
Sample outputs:
Trying 73,/ 04,/ 31,0. 4,,,

Connected to www,cyberciti,biz,

Escape character is '

^]'
,

^]

telnet> quit

Connection closed,

You can use nmap to probe your own server using the following syntax:
$ nmap - sS - p 6. www,cyberciti,biz
Sample outputs:
Starting Nmap 3,. . (http:--nmap,org ) at 0. / / - / 0- / 1 / 1:/ 9 IST

Interesting ports on www,cyberciti,biz (73,/ 04,/ 31,0. 4) :

PORT

STATE SERVICE

6. -tcp open

http

Nmap done:/ IP address (/ host up) scanned in / ,. . seconds

I also recommend you install and use sniffer such as tcpdupm and ngrep to test
your firewall settings.
Conclusion:
This post only list basic rules for new Linux users. You can create and build
more complex rules. This requires good understanding of TCP/IP, Linux kernel
tuning via sysctl.conf, and good knowledge of your own setup. Stay tuned for
next topics:

Stateful packet inspection.

Using connection tracking helpers.

Network address translation.

Layer 2 filtering.

Firewall testing tools.

Dealing with VPNs, DNS, Web, Proxy, and other protocols.