Question

How to block all websites except for a few using IP Tables

Asked by: ray-solomon

I have many workstations on a network and I need some IP Table rules to block port 80 and 8080 of any websites, except for a few.
I will be configuring the IP Tables on each workstation.

All stations are using Ubuntu Jaunty.

It would also be helpful to know how to undo the IP Table rules if I need to.

Thanks.

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Asked On
2009-09-30 at 05:56:52ID24773354
Tags

IP Tables

,

Ubuntu

,

Linux

Topics

IP Tables/IP Chains

,

Ubuntu

,

Linux Network Security

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
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Answers

 

by: nociPosted on 2009-09-30 at 06:40:51ID: 25458710

iptables -N HTTPX
iptables -N HTTPOK

# Select HTTP special cases
iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 8080 -j HTTPX
iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j HTTPX
iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j HTTPX

# Generic table for HTTP & Proxy
iptables -A HTTPX -j HTTPOK
iptables -A HTTPX -j DROP            # or reject if you are nice to them

# table with acceptable hosts.
iptables -A HTTPOK -d some.ip.address -j ACCEPT

 

by: ifreqPosted on 2009-09-30 at 07:15:30ID: 25459063

I recommend rather installing proxy server ie.  squid (http://www.squid-cache.org/) & reroute all your http/https/ traffic via the proxy where you can define easily which urls are ok and which are not. Its the real way togo imho :-)

 

by: ray-solomonPosted on 2009-09-30 at 07:28:13ID: 25459207

Thanks I am very familiar with squid, and I agree it would be a more robust solution, but I am just looking for some simplistic iptable rules for a quick solution.

Thanks for your help.

 

by: ray-solomonPosted on 2009-09-30 at 07:28:33ID: 31635340

Thank you.

 

by: ray-solomonPosted on 2009-09-30 at 13:59:51ID: 25463592

I am posting a full guide to how I accomplished this task to be used for anyone's reference.
I am using Ubuntu Jaunty.
The bash script may not work for other Linux flavors besides Debian, but it can be adapted if you know how.

Login as root (makes the process easier):
$ su -

$ mkdir /etc/custom_iptables
$ touch /etc/custom_iptables/iptables.up.rules

# Create two chains
$ iptables -N HTTPX
$ iptables -N HTTPOK

# Append new rules to the chain
$ iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 8080 -j HTTPX
$ iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j HTTPX
$ iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j HTTPX

# Generic table for HTTP & Proxy
$ iptables -A HTTPX -j HTTPOK
$ iptables -A HTTPX -j DROP

# These are the websites I want to allow access to
$ iptables -A HTTPOK -d mydomain.com -j ACCEPT
$ iptables -A HTTPOK -d myotherdomain.com -j ACCEPT
$ iptables -A HTTPOK -d xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -j ACCEPT

# Export all the current IP Table rules to a file
$ iptables-save > /etc/custom_iptables/iptables.up.rules

# Create a new file that will be used as a script for controlling the rules
$ touch /etc/init.d/custom_iptables

# Open the file with nano
$ nano /etc/init.d/custom_iptables

PASTE THE BASH SCRIPT BELOW INTO THE NANO EDITOR, THEN SAVE IT AND EXIT THE EDITOR.

# Make the script executable
$ chmod +x /etc/init.d/custom_iptables

# Add to boot runlevel (the period at the end is required)
$ update-rc.d custom_iptables start 37 S . stop 37 0 .

# Apply the rules by starting the script
$ /etc/init.d/custom_iptables start

Log out of root user.

That's It. It works instantly.

The bash script will execute every time the computer is rebooted so it can apply the rules again.

You can also control the script with these commands anytime you want:
sudo /etc/init.d/custom_iptables start
sudo /etc/init.d/custom_iptables stop
sudo /etc/init.d/custom_iptables restart
sudo /etc/init.d/custom_iptables save


Hope this helps someone.

#!/bin/sh
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          custom_iptables
# Required-Start:    sudo /etc/init.d/custom_iptables start
# Required-Stop:     sudo /etc/init.d/custom_iptables stop
# Default-Start:     37 S
# Default-Stop:      37 0
# Short-Description: Run script at boot time
# Description:       Enables custom iptable rules
### END INIT INFO
 
IPTABLES_SAVE="/etc/custom_iptables/iptables.up.rules"
SAVE_RESTORE_OPTIONS="-c"
SAVE_ON_STOP="yes"
 
checkrules() {
	if [ ! -f ${IPTABLES_SAVE} ]
	then
		echo "Not starting iptables. First create some rules then run"
		echo "\"/etc/init.d/custom_iptables save\""
		return 1
	fi
}
 
save() {
  echo "Saving iptables state"
  /sbin/iptables-save ${SAVE_RESTORE_OPTIONS} > ${IPTABLES_SAVE}
}
 
start(){
	checkrules || return 1
	  echo  "Loading iptables state and starting firewall"
	  echo -n "Restoring iptables ruleset"
	  start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --exec /sbin/iptables-restore -- ${SAVE_RESTORE_OPTIONS} < ${IPTABLES_SAVE}
}
 
case "$1" in
  save)
        save
        echo "."
        ;;
 
  start)
  	start
	echo "."
	;;
  stop)
	  if [ "${SAVE_ON_STOP}" = "yes" ]; then
		  save || exit 1
	  fi
	  echo -n "Stopping firewall"
		for a in `cat /proc/net/ip_tables_names`; do
			/sbin/iptables -F -t $a
			/sbin/iptables -X -t $a
	
			if [ $a == nat ]; then
				/sbin/iptables -t nat -P PREROUTING ACCEPT
				/sbin/iptables -t nat -P POSTROUTING ACCEPT
				/sbin/iptables -t nat -P OUTPUT ACCEPT
			elif [ $a == mangle ]; then
				/sbin/iptables -t mangle -P PREROUTING ACCEPT
				/sbin/iptables -t mangle -P INPUT ACCEPT
				/sbin/iptables -t mangle -P FORWARD ACCEPT
				/sbin/iptables -t mangle -P OUTPUT ACCEPT
				/sbin/iptables -t mangle -P POSTROUTING ACCEPT
			elif [ $a == filter ]; then
				/sbin/iptables -t filter -P INPUT ACCEPT
				/sbin/iptables -t filter -P FORWARD ACCEPT
				/sbin/iptables -t filter -P OUTPUT ACCEPT
			fi
		done
    start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --pidfile /var/run/iptables.pid --exec /sbin/iptables
    echo "."
    ;;
 
  restart)
	  echo -n "Flushing firewall"
		  for a in `cat /proc/net/ip_tables_names`; do
			  /sbin/iptables -F -t $a
  			  /sbin/iptables -X -t $a
	  	done;
	  start
    echo "."
    ;;
  *)
    echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/custom_iptables {start|stop|restart|save}" >&2
    exit 1
    ;;
esac
 
exit 0

                                              
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