On Wed, Dec 13, 2006 at 05:52:03PM +0100, Albert Shih wrote:

> It's a problem with FreeBSD or it's with pf ?

With neither, you're assuming a state entry has the same effect in pf as
in ipfw, which is not the case.

> For example I've put this kind of rule
> 
>       pass in on $first-nic proto tcp from IP-A to IP-B port 22 keep state
> 
> When I try to connect from IP-A to IP-B using ssh the connection don't
> work. And I've got 
> 
> self tcp IP-B:22 <- IP-A:56906       CLOSED:SYN_SENT
> self tcp IP-B:22 <- IP-A:59496       CLOSED:SYN_SENT
> 
> in my pfctl -s state
> 
> and got deny for outgoing packet from IP-B to IP-A

That is expected with pf. A state entry created for an incoming packet
on one interface does not allow the same packet to go out through
another interface, it merely allows further packets through the same
interface and _replies_ back out through the same interface.

If you do want to allow the packets to pass through another interface
(as is usually the case with legitimate forwarded connections), you have
to add

  pass out on $second-nic proto tcp from IP-A to IP-B port 22 keep state

which will then create a _second_ state entry for the same connection.

The point of this is that you can control _which_ interface(s) a
connection must flow through, instead of granting a permission to pass
any and all interfaces.

This may seem pointless to want to control in a simple setup which only
forwards between two NICs, but it isn't in a more complex case with
multiple NICs and routing tables dynamically updated and/or not trusted.

> On my old FreeBSD I'm using something like
> 
>       ipfw add permit any to any established.

The pf counterpart would be

  pass from any to any keep state

i.e. leaving out the 'on $if' part makes the rule apply to all
interfaces, and leaving out the 'out' or 'in' direction makes it apply
to both directions.

Daniel

Reply via email to