Tom Eastep wrote:
> C. Albers wrote:
>> Hi Tom,
>>
>> The problem isn't so much that I have made a
>> connection
>> from loc->net on UDP port 500 (and 10000), but the
>> other way around, net->loc.  If I understanding your
>> firewall correctly, the rules in the rules config file
>> are exceptions to a net->loc DROP policy.  For
>> example,
>> as an exception, I have opened port 22 to allow
>> incoming ssh connection.  However, I have not opened
>> UDP port 500 (and 10000) for returning VPN traffic.  
>> In theory, then, I shouldn't be able to connect to my
>> VPN at all, because a response from my VPN server 
>> would be blocked by the firewall and never reach my 
>> VPN client.
>>  
>> The mystery then is why am I able to connect to my VPN
>> server when I have not opened UDP port 500 for
>> incoming traffic.  Why hasn't my firewall blocked this
>> traffic, when, by default(and without a rule
>> exception), it should be blocked?
>>
>> Let me know if I'm making sense,
> 
> You are misunderstanding the concept of a stateful firewall.
> 
> In a stateful firewall (like the one configured by Shorewall), any packet that
> is part of an ESTABLISHED connection is automatically passed by the firewall. 
> A
> connection becomes ESTABLISHED when a response packet is received (reaching
> ESTABLISHED state has nothing to do with the underlying protocol's idea of a
> connection).

BTW -- I'm was not yelling "established" in the above text -- it's
capitalized in the iptables syntax and there is an ESTABLISHED section
in the Shorewall rules file.

-Tom
-- 
Tom Eastep    \ Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool
Shoreline,     \ http://shorewall.net
Washington USA  \ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
PGP Public Key   \ https://lists.shorewall.net/teastep.pgp.key

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