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20 .\" This document is derived in part from the enet man page (enet.4)
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23 .\" $FreeBSD: src/share/man/man4/bpf.4,v 1.21.2.10 2001/08/17 13:08:37 ru Exp $
30 .Nd Berkeley Packet Filter
34 The Berkeley Packet Filter
35 provides a raw interface to data link layers in a protocol
37 All packets on the network, even those destined for other hosts,
38 are accessible through this mechanism.
40 The packet filter appears as a character special device,
44 After opening the device, the file descriptor must be bound to a
45 specific network interface with the
48 A given interface can be shared by multiple listeners, and the filter
49 underlying each descriptor will see an identical packet stream.
51 A separate device file is required for each minor device.
52 If a file is in use, the open will fail and
57 Associated with each open instance of a
59 file is a user-settable packet filter.
60 Whenever a packet is received by an interface,
61 all file descriptors listening on that interface apply their filter.
62 Each descriptor that accepts the packet receives its own copy.
64 Reads from these files return the next group of packets
65 that have matched the filter.
66 To improve performance, the buffer passed to read must be
67 the same size as the buffers used internally by
69 This size is returned by the
71 ioctl (see below), and
74 Note that an individual packet larger than this size is necessarily
77 A packet can be sent out on the network by writing to a
79 file descriptor. The writes are unbuffered, meaning only one
80 packet can be processed per write.
81 Currently, only writes to Ethernets and
85 When the last minor device is opened, an additional minor device is
86 created on demand. The maximum number of devices that can be created is
87 controlled by the sysctl debug.bpf_maxdevices.
91 command codes below are defined in
96 #include <sys/types.h>
98 #include <sys/ioctl.h>
111 The (third) argument to
113 should be a pointer to the type indicated.
114 .Bl -tag -width BIOCGRTIMEOUT
117 Returns the required buffer length for reads on
122 Sets the buffer length for reads on
124 files. The buffer must be set before the file is attached to an interface
127 If the requested buffer size cannot be accommodated, the closest
128 allowable size will be set and returned in the argument.
129 A read call will result in
131 if it is passed a buffer that is not this size.
134 Returns the type of the data link layer underlying the attached interface.
136 is returned if no interface has been specified.
137 The device types, prefixed with
142 .Pq Li "struct bpf_dltlist"
143 Returns an array of the available types of the data link layer
144 underlying the attached interface:
145 .Bd -literal -offset indent
152 The available types are returned in the array pointed to by the
154 field while their length in u_int is supplied to the
158 is returned if there is not enough buffer space and
160 is returned if a bad address is encountered.
163 field is modified on return to indicate the actual length in u_int
164 of the array returned.
171 field is set to indicate the required length of an array in u_int.
174 Changes the type of the data link layer underlying the attached interface.
176 is returned if no interface has been specified or the specified
177 type is not available for the interface.
179 Forces the interface into promiscuous mode.
180 All packets, not just those destined for the local host, are processed.
181 Since more than one file can be listening on a given interface,
182 a listener that opened its interface non-promiscuously may receive
183 packets promiscuously. This problem can be remedied with an
186 The interface remains in promiscuous mode until all files listening
187 promiscuously are closed.
189 Flushes the buffer of incoming packets,
190 and resets the statistics that are returned by BIOCGSTATS.
192 .Pq Li "struct ifreq"
193 Returns the name of the hardware interface that the file is listening on.
194 The name is returned in the ifr_name field of
198 All other fields are undefined.
200 .Pq Li "struct ifreq"
201 Sets the hardware interface associated with the file. This
202 command must be performed before any packets can be read.
203 The device is indicated by name using the
208 Additionally, performs the actions of
212 .Pq Li "struct timeval"
213 Sets or gets the read timeout parameter.
215 specifies the length of time to wait before timing
216 out on a read request.
217 This parameter is initialized to zero by
219 indicating no timeout.
221 .Pq Li "struct bpf_stat"
222 Returns the following structure of packet statistics:
225 u_int bs_recv; /* number of packets received */
226 u_int bs_drop; /* number of packets dropped */
231 .Bl -hang -offset indent
233 the number of packets received by the descriptor since opened or reset
234 (including any buffered since the last read call);
237 the number of packets which were accepted by the filter but dropped by the
238 kernel because of buffer overflows
239 (i.e., the application's reads aren't keeping up with the packet traffic).
245 based on the truth value of the argument.
246 When immediate mode is enabled, reads return immediately upon packet
247 reception. Otherwise, a read will block until either the kernel buffer
248 becomes full or a timeout occurs.
249 This is useful for programs like
251 which must respond to messages in real time.
252 The default for a new file is off.
255 .Pq Li "struct bpf_program"
256 Sets the filter program used by the kernel to discard uninteresting
257 packets. An array of instructions and its length is passed in using
258 the following structure:
262 struct bpf_insn *bf_insns;
266 The filter program is pointed to by the
268 field while its length in units of
269 .Sq Li struct bpf_insn
278 for an explanation of the filter language.
279 The only difference between
285 performs the actions of
291 .Pq Li "struct bpf_version"
292 Returns the major and minor version numbers of the filter language currently
293 recognized by the kernel. Before installing a filter, applications must check
294 that the current version is compatible with the running kernel. Version
295 numbers are compatible if the major numbers match and the application minor
296 is less than or equal to the kernel minor. The kernel version number is
297 returned in the following structure:
305 The current version numbers are given by
306 .Dv BPF_MAJOR_VERSION
308 .Dv BPF_MINOR_VERSION
311 An incompatible filter
312 may result in undefined behavior (most likely, an error returned by
314 or haphazard packet matching).
318 Sets or gets the status of the
321 Set to zero if the link level source address should be filled in automatically
322 by the interface output routine. Set to one if the link level source
323 address will be written, as provided, to the wire. This flag is initialized
328 Sets or gets the flag determining whether locally generated packets on the
329 interface should be returned by BPF. Set to zero to see only incoming
330 packets on the interface. Set to one to see packets originating
331 locally and remotely on the interface. This flag is initialized to one by
335 Returns the signal that will be sent to a process waiting on the bpf descriptor upon packet reception. The default is SIGIO.
338 Sets the signal that should be sent to a process waiting on bpf descriptor upon packet reception. The default is SIGIO.
342 now supports several standard
344 which allow the user to do non-blocking I/O to an open
347 .Bl -tag -width SIOCGIFADDR
350 Returns the number of bytes that are immediately available for reading.
352 .Pq Li "struct ifreq"
353 Returns the address associated with the interface.
356 The following structure is prepended to each packet returned by
360 struct BPF_TIMEVAL bh_tstamp; /* time stamp */
361 bpf_u_int32 bh_caplen; /* length of captured portion */
362 bpf_u_int32 bh_datalen; /* original length of packet */
363 u_short bh_hdrlen; /* length of bpf header (this struct
364 plus alignment padding */
368 The fields, whose values are stored in host order, are:
370 .Bl -tag -compact -width bh_datalen
372 The time at which the packet was processed by the packet filter.
374 The length of the captured portion of the packet. This is the minimum of
375 the truncation amount specified by the filter and the length of the packet.
377 The length of the packet off the wire.
378 This value is independent of the truncation amount specified by the filter.
382 header, which may not be equal to
383 .\" XXX - not really a function call
384 .Fn sizeof "struct bpf_hdr" .
389 field exists to account for
390 padding between the header and the link level protocol.
391 The purpose here is to guarantee proper alignment of the packet
392 data structures, which is required on alignment sensitive
393 architectures and improves performance on many other architectures.
394 The packet filter insures that the
396 and the network layer
397 header will be word aligned. Suitable precautions
398 must be taken when accessing the link layer protocol fields on alignment
399 restricted machines. (This isn't a problem on an Ethernet, since
400 the type field is a short falling on an even offset,
401 and the addresses are probably accessed in a bytewise fashion).
403 Additionally, individual packets are padded so that each starts
404 on a word boundary. This requires that an application
405 has some knowledge of how to get from packet to packet.
411 this process. It rounds up its argument
412 to the nearest word aligned value (where a word is
418 points to the start of a packet, this expression
419 will advance it to the next packet:
420 .Dl p = (char *)p + BPF_WORDALIGN(p->bh_hdrlen + p->bh_caplen)
422 For the alignment mechanisms to work properly, the
425 must itself be word aligned.
429 will always return an aligned buffer.
431 A filter program is an array of instructions, with all branches forwardly
432 directed, terminated by a
435 Each instruction performs some action on the pseudo-machine state,
436 which consists of an accumulator, index register, scratch memory store,
437 and implicit program counter.
439 The following structure defines the instruction format:
451 field is used in different ways by different instructions,
456 fields are used as offsets
457 by the branch instructions.
458 The opcodes are encoded in a semi-hierarchical fashion.
459 There are eight classes of instructions:
469 Various other mode and
470 operator bits are or'd into the class to give the actual instructions.
471 The classes and modes are defined in
474 Below are the semantics for each defined
477 We use the convention that A is the accumulator, X is the index register,
478 P[] packet data, and M[] scratch memory store.
479 P[i:n] gives the data at byte offset
482 interpreted as a word (n=4),
483 unsigned halfword (n=2), or unsigned byte (n=1).
484 M[i] gives the i'th word in the scratch memory store, which is only
485 addressed in word units. The memory store is indexed from 0 to
492 are the corresponding fields in the
493 instruction definition.
495 refers to the length of the packet.
497 .Bl -tag -width BPF_STXx
499 These instructions copy a value into the accumulator. The type of the
500 source operand is specified by an
502 and can be a constant
504 packet data at a fixed offset
506 packet data at a variable offset
510 or a word in the scratch memory store
516 the data size must be specified as a word
522 The semantics of all the recognized
526 .Bl -tag -width "BPF_LD+BPF_W+BPF_IND" -compact
527 .It Li BPF_LD+BPF_W+BPF_ABS
529 .It Li BPF_LD+BPF_H+BPF_ABS
531 .It Li BPF_LD+BPF_B+BPF_ABS
533 .It Li BPF_LD+BPF_W+BPF_IND
535 .It Li BPF_LD+BPF_H+BPF_IND
537 .It Li BPF_LD+BPF_B+BPF_IND
539 .It Li BPF_LD+BPF_W+BPF_LEN
541 .It Li BPF_LD+BPF_IMM
543 .It Li BPF_LD+BPF_MEM
547 These instructions load a value into the index register. Note that
548 the addressing modes are more restrictive than those of the accumulator loads,
551 a hack for efficiently loading the IP header length.
553 .Bl -tag -width "BPF_LDX+BPF_W+BPF_MEM" -compact
554 .It Li BPF_LDX+BPF_W+BPF_IMM
556 .It Li BPF_LDX+BPF_W+BPF_MEM
558 .It Li BPF_LDX+BPF_W+BPF_LEN
560 .It Li BPF_LDX+BPF_B+BPF_MSH
564 This instruction stores the accumulator into the scratch memory.
565 We do not need an addressing mode since there is only one possibility
568 .Bl -tag -width "BPF_ST" -compact
573 This instruction stores the index register in the scratch memory store.
575 .Bl -tag -width "BPF_STX" -compact
580 The alu instructions perform operations between the accumulator and
581 index register or constant, and store the result back in the accumulator.
582 For binary operations, a source mode is required
587 .Bl -tag -width "BPF_ALU+BPF_MUL+BPF_K" -compact
588 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_ADD+BPF_K
590 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_SUB+BPF_K
592 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_MUL+BPF_K
594 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_DIV+BPF_K
596 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_AND+BPF_K
598 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_OR+BPF_K
600 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_LSH+BPF_K
602 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_RSH+BPF_K
604 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_ADD+BPF_X
606 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_SUB+BPF_X
608 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_MUL+BPF_X
610 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_DIV+BPF_X
612 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_AND+BPF_X
614 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_OR+BPF_X
616 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_LSH+BPF_X
618 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_RSH+BPF_X
620 .It Li BPF_ALU+BPF_NEG
624 The jump instructions alter flow of control. Conditional jumps
625 compare the accumulator against a constant
627 or the index register
629 If the result is true (or non-zero),
630 the true branch is taken, otherwise the false branch is taken.
631 Jump offsets are encoded in 8 bits so the longest jump is 256 instructions.
632 However, the jump always
634 opcode uses the 32 bit
636 field as the offset, allowing arbitrarily distant destinations.
637 All conditionals use unsigned comparison conventions.
639 .Bl -tag -width "BPF_JMP+BPF_KSET+BPF_X" -compact
640 .It Li BPF_JMP+BPF_JA
642 .It Li BPF_JMP+BPF_JGT+BPF_K
643 pc += (A > k) ? jt : jf
644 .It Li BPF_JMP+BPF_JGE+BPF_K
645 pc += (A >= k) ? jt : jf
646 .It Li BPF_JMP+BPF_JEQ+BPF_K
647 pc += (A == k) ? jt : jf
648 .It Li BPF_JMP+BPF_JSET+BPF_K
649 pc += (A & k) ? jt : jf
650 .It Li BPF_JMP+BPF_JGT+BPF_X
651 pc += (A > X) ? jt : jf
652 .It Li BPF_JMP+BPF_JGE+BPF_X
653 pc += (A >= X) ? jt : jf
654 .It Li BPF_JMP+BPF_JEQ+BPF_X
655 pc += (A == X) ? jt : jf
656 .It Li BPF_JMP+BPF_JSET+BPF_X
657 pc += (A & X) ? jt : jf
660 The return instructions terminate the filter program and specify the amount
661 of packet to accept (i.e., they return the truncation amount). A return
662 value of zero indicates that the packet should be ignored.
663 The return value is either a constant
668 .Bl -tag -width "BPF_RET+BPF_K" -compact
675 The miscellaneous category was created for anything that doesn't
676 fit into the above classes, and for any new instructions that might need to
677 be added. Currently, these are the register transfer instructions
678 that copy the index register to the accumulator or vice versa.
680 .Bl -tag -width "BPF_MISC+BPF_TAX" -compact
681 .It Li BPF_MISC+BPF_TAX
683 .It Li BPF_MISC+BPF_TXA
690 interface provides the following macros to facilitate
692 .Fn BPF_STMT opcode operand
694 .Fn BPF_JUMP opcode operand true_offset false_offset .
696 The following filter is taken from the Reverse ARP Daemon. It accepts
697 only Reverse ARP requests.
699 struct bpf_insn insns[] = {
700 BPF_STMT(BPF_LD+BPF_H+BPF_ABS, 12),
701 BPF_JUMP(BPF_JMP+BPF_JEQ+BPF_K, ETHERTYPE_REVARP, 0, 3),
702 BPF_STMT(BPF_LD+BPF_H+BPF_ABS, 20),
703 BPF_JUMP(BPF_JMP+BPF_JEQ+BPF_K, REVARP_REQUEST, 0, 1),
704 BPF_STMT(BPF_RET+BPF_K, sizeof(struct ether_arp) +
705 sizeof(struct ether_header)),
706 BPF_STMT(BPF_RET+BPF_K, 0),
710 This filter accepts only IP packets between host 128.3.112.15 and
713 struct bpf_insn insns[] = {
714 BPF_STMT(BPF_LD+BPF_H+BPF_ABS, 12),
715 BPF_JUMP(BPF_JMP+BPF_JEQ+BPF_K, ETHERTYPE_IP, 0, 8),
716 BPF_STMT(BPF_LD+BPF_W+BPF_ABS, 26),
717 BPF_JUMP(BPF_JMP+BPF_JEQ+BPF_K, 0x8003700f, 0, 2),
718 BPF_STMT(BPF_LD+BPF_W+BPF_ABS, 30),
719 BPF_JUMP(BPF_JMP+BPF_JEQ+BPF_K, 0x80037023, 3, 4),
720 BPF_JUMP(BPF_JMP+BPF_JEQ+BPF_K, 0x80037023, 0, 3),
721 BPF_STMT(BPF_LD+BPF_W+BPF_ABS, 30),
722 BPF_JUMP(BPF_JMP+BPF_JEQ+BPF_K, 0x8003700f, 0, 1),
723 BPF_STMT(BPF_RET+BPF_K, (u_int)-1),
724 BPF_STMT(BPF_RET+BPF_K, 0),
728 Finally, this filter returns only TCP finger packets. We must parse
729 the IP header to reach the TCP header. The
732 checks that the IP fragment offset is 0 so we are sure
733 that we have a TCP header.
735 struct bpf_insn insns[] = {
736 BPF_STMT(BPF_LD+BPF_H+BPF_ABS, 12),
737 BPF_JUMP(BPF_JMP+BPF_JEQ+BPF_K, ETHERTYPE_IP, 0, 10),
738 BPF_STMT(BPF_LD+BPF_B+BPF_ABS, 23),
739 BPF_JUMP(BPF_JMP+BPF_JEQ+BPF_K, IPPROTO_TCP, 0, 8),
740 BPF_STMT(BPF_LD+BPF_H+BPF_ABS, 20),
741 BPF_JUMP(BPF_JMP+BPF_JSET+BPF_K, 0x1fff, 6, 0),
742 BPF_STMT(BPF_LDX+BPF_B+BPF_MSH, 14),
743 BPF_STMT(BPF_LD+BPF_H+BPF_IND, 14),
744 BPF_JUMP(BPF_JMP+BPF_JEQ+BPF_K, 79, 2, 0),
745 BPF_STMT(BPF_LD+BPF_H+BPF_IND, 16),
746 BPF_JUMP(BPF_JMP+BPF_JEQ+BPF_K, 79, 0, 1),
747 BPF_STMT(BPF_RET+BPF_K, (u_int)-1),
748 BPF_STMT(BPF_RET+BPF_K, 0),
757 .%T "An efficient, extensible, and portable network monitor"
760 .Bl -tag -compact -width /dev/bpfXXX
761 .It Pa /dev/bpf Ns Sy n
762 the packet filter device
765 The read buffer must be of a fixed size (returned by the
769 A file that does not request promiscuous mode may receive promiscuously
770 received packets as a side effect of another file requesting this
771 mode on the same hardware interface. This could be fixed in the kernel
772 with additional processing overhead. However, we favor the model where
773 all files must assume that the interface is promiscuous, and if
774 so desired, must utilize a filter to reject foreign packets.
776 The Enet packet filter was created in 1980 by Mike Accetta and
777 Rick Rashid at Carnegie-Mellon University. Jeffrey Mogul, at
778 Stanford, ported the code to
780 and continued its development from
781 1983 on. Since then, it has evolved into the Ultrix Packet Filter
794 of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, implemented BPF in
795 Summer 1990. Much of the design is due to