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Handling firewall blocking and unblocking, iptables, csf

23 Jan 2012

How to block an IP using iptables?

$ iptables -A INPUT -s xx.xx.xx.xx -j DROP

How to block an IP for a specific port:

$ iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -s xx.xx.xx.xx --dport PORT -j DROP

How to allow access to an IP?

$ iptables -A INPUT -s xx.xx.xx.xx -j ACCEPT

How to allow access to an IP to a specific port using iptables?

$ iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -s xx.xx.xx.xx --dport PORT -j ACCEPT

where, xx.xx.xx.xx is the remote IP address and PORT is the port number you wish to allow/deny access to.

How to block a scanner on your server for example “w00tw00t.at.ISC.SANS” using iptables?

$ iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -m string --algo bm --string 'GET /w00tw00t.at.ISC.SANS.' -j DROP

by nixcraft on january 23, 2009 last updated february 15, 2011 in bash shell, centos, debian / ubuntu

I am a brand new user of a Linux iptables and I can't find how to instruct my iptables to delete or unblock an IP address listed in iptables firewall. I'm using Debian Linux version. Can you help please?

Iptables is used to set up, maintain, and inspect the tables of IP packet filter rules in the Linux kernel. You can delete one or more rules from the selected chain. There are two versions of this command: the rule can be specified as a number in the chain (starting at 1 for the first rule) or a rule to match.

List existing chains

Type the following command to list current IPs in tables:
iptables -L -n
iptables -L -n -v
iptables -L chain-name -n -v
iptables -L spamips -n -v

List existing chains with line number

To display line number along with other information, enter:
iptables -L INPUT -n --line-numbers
iptables -L OUTPUT -n --line-numbers
iptables -L OUTPUT -n --line-numbers | less
iptables -L spamips -n -v --line-numbers
iptables -L spamips -n -v --line-numbers | grep 202.54.1.2
Chain droplist (3 references)
num   pkts bytes target     prot opt in     out     source               destination
1        0     0 LOG        0    --  *      *       116.199.128.0/19     0.0.0.0/0           LOG flags 0 level 4 prefix `LASSO DROP Block'
2        0     0 DROP       0    --  *      *       116.199.128.0/19     0.0.0.0/0
3        0     0 LOG        0    --  *      *       116.50.8.0/21        0.0.0.0/0           LOG flags 0 level 4 prefix `LASSO DROP Block'
4        0     0 DROP       0    --  *      *       116.50.8.0/21        0.0.0.0/0
5        0     0 LOG        0    --  *      *       128.199.0.0/16       0.0.0.0/0           LOG flags 0 level 4 prefix `LASSO DROP Block'
6        0     0 DROP       0    --  *      *       128.199.0.0/16       0.0.0.0/0
7        0     0 LOG        0    --  *      *       132.232.0.0/16       0.0.0.0/0           LOG flags 0 level 4 prefix `LASSO DROP Block'
8        0     0 DROP       0    --  *      *       132.232.0.0/16       0.0.0.0/0
9      342 23317 LOG        0    --  *      *       134.175.0.0/16       0.0.0.0/0           LOG flags 0 level 4 prefix `LASSO DROP Block'
10     342 23317 DROP       0    --  *      *       134.175.0.0/16       0.0.0.0/0
11       0     0 LOG        0    --  *      *       134.33.0.0/16        0.0.0.0/0           LOG flags 0 level 4 prefix `LASSO DR

You will get the list of all blocked IP. Look at the number on the left, then use number to delete it. For example delete line number 10 (subner 134.175.0.0/16), enter:

$ iptables -D INPUT 10

You can also use the following syntax to delete / unblock an IP use the following syntax:

iptables -D INPUT -s xx.xxx.xx.xx -j DROP
iptables -D INPUT -s xx.xxx.xx.xx/yy -j DROP
iptables -D spamlist -s 202.54.1.2 -d 0/0 -j DROP
iptables -D spamlist -s 202.54.1.2/29 -d 0/0 -j DROP

Finally, make sure you save the firewall. Under CentOS / Fedora / RHEL / Redhat Linux type the following command:

$ service iptables save

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