Matching packet metainformation

The meta selectors allows you to match -- and in some cases, set -- packet metainformation. That is, information the local host has about the packet (such as how / when it was received) that is not necessarily carried in the packet itself.

Matching by packet info

The following meta selectors match packets by information carried by the packet itself:

meta Packet Info Selectors
Keyword	Settable	Description	Data Type	Notes
pkttype	Y	packet type	pkt_type
length		packet length in bytes	integer (32 bit)
protocol		packet protocol / EtherType protocol value	ether_type	as in skb->protocol
nfproto		netfilter packet protocol family	integer (32 bit)	like ipv4, ipv6, etc...; useful only in inet table
l4proto		layer 4 protocol	integer (8 bit)	like tcp, udp, etc...; skips ipv6 extension headers

Matching by interface

The following meta selectors match packets based on incoming or outgoing interfaces:

meta Interface Selectors
Keyword	Settable	Description	Data Type	Notes
iif		input interface index	iface_index	Faster than iifname as it only has to compare a 32-bit unsigned integer instead of a string. The interface index is dynamically allocated, so don't use this for interfaces that are dynamically created and destroyed, eg. ppp0.
iifname		input interface name	ifname
iiftype		input interface type	iface_type
iifkind		input interface kind name	ifkind
iifgroup		input interface group	devgroup
oif		output interface index	iface_index	Faster than oifname as it only has to compare a 32-bit unsigned integer instead of a string. The interface index is dynamically allocated, so don't use this for interfaces that are dynamically created and destroyed, eg. ppp0.
oifname		output interface name	ifname
oiftype		output interface type	iface_type
oifkind		output interface kind name	ifkind
oifgroup		output interface group	devgroup
ibrname		input bridge interface name	ifname	equivalent to obsolete ibriport keyword
obrname		output bridge interface name	ifname	equivalent to obsolete oibriport keyword
ibrvproto		input bridge vlan protocol	ether_type
ibrpvid		input bridge port pvid	integer (16 bit)
sdif		slave device interface index	integer
sdifname		slave device interface name	ifname

An example rule that uses iifname to accept all traffic entering the loopback pseudodevice lo:

% nft add rule filter input meta iifname lo accept

Matching by packet mark, routing class and realm

meta Packet Mark & Routing Selectors
Keyword	Settable	Description	Data Type	Notes
mark	Y	packet mark	mark
priority	Y	tc packet priority	tc_handle	detailed usage example
rtclassid		routing realm	realm	Routing realm references: linux-ip.net policyrouting.org

You can match packets whose mark is 123 with the following rule:

nft add rule filter output meta mark 123 counter

• Since nftables v0.7 you can match the packet priority, the tc classid:

% nft add rule filter forward meta priority abcd:1234

• Packet without set priority can be matched using meta priority none

% nft add rule filter forward meta priority none

See also: nexthop and fib selectors

Matching by socket UID / GID

meta UID / GID Selectors
Keyword	Settable	Description	Data Type	Notes
skuid		UID associated with originating socket	uid
skgid		GID associated with originating socket	gid

You can use your user name to match traffic, eg.

% nft add rule filter output meta skuid pablo counter

Or the 32-bits unsigned integer (UID) in case there is no entry in /etc/passwd for a given user.

% nft add rule filter output meta skuid 1000 counter

Let's just generate some HTTP traffic to test this rule:

% wget --spider http://www.google.com

Then, if you check the counters, you can verify that the packets are matching that rule.

% nft list table filter
table ip filter {
        chain output {
                 type filter hook output priority 0;
                 skuid pablo counter packets 7 bytes 510
        }

        chain input {
                 type filter hook input priority 0;
        }
}

Important: Beware if you test this with ping, it is usually installed with suid so that traffic will match the root user (uid=0).

Matching by time

meta Time Selectors
Keyword	Settable	Description	Data Type	Notes
time		timestamp of packet reception	time	Can specify as: integer: ns since epoch, or string: date in ISO format.
day		day of week	day	Can specify as: integer: 0 = Sunday to 6 = Saturday, or case-insensitive string: "Monday", "tuesday", etc. Unique abbreviations also work: "fri", "Sat".
hour		hour of day	hour	24-hour "HH:MM:SS", with seconds optional.

Matching by security selectors

meta Security Selectors
Keyword	Settable	Description	Data Type	Notes
cpu		CPU number processing the packet	integer (32 bit)
cgroup		socket control group ID	integer (32 bit)
secmark	Y	packet secmark	integer (32 bit)
ipsec		true if packet was ipsec encrypted	boolean (1 bit)	equivalent to obsolete secpath keyword

Matching by miscellaneous selectors

In addition to those in the above subsections, the following miscellaneous meta selectors are available:

meta Miscellaneous Selectors
Keyword	Settable	Description	Data Type	Notes
nftrace	Y	nftrace debugging bit	boolean (1 bit)
random		pseudo-random number	integer (32 bit)