netfilter: xt_hashlimit: add rate match mode

This patch adds a new feature to hashlimit that allows matching on the
current packet/byte rate without rate limiting. This can be enabled
with a new flag --hashlimit-rate-match. The match returns true if the
current rate of packets is above/below the user specified value.

The main difference between the existing algorithm and the new one is
that the existing algorithm rate-limits the flow whereas the new algorithm
does not. Instead it *classifies* the flow based on whether it is above or
below a certain rate. I will demonstrate this with an example below. Let
us assume this rule:

iptables -A INPUT -m hashlimit --hashlimit-above 10/s -j new_chain

If the packet rate is 15/s, the existing algorithm would ACCEPT 10 packets
every second and send 5 packets to "new_chain".

But with the new algorithm, as long as the rate of 15/s is sustained, all
packets will continue to match and every packet is sent to new_chain.

This new functionality will let us classify different flows based on their
current rate, so that further decisions can be made on them based on what
the current rate is.

This is how the new algorithm works:
We divide time into intervals of 1 (sec/min/hour) as specified by
the user. We keep track of the number of packets/bytes processed in the
current interval. After each interval we reset the counter to 0.

When we receive a packet for match, we look at the packet rate
during the current interval and the previous interval to make a decision:

if [ prev_rate < user and cur_rate < user ]
        return Below
else
        return Above

Where cur_rate is the number of packets/bytes seen in the current
interval, prev is the number of packets/bytes seen in the previous
interval and 'user' is the rate specified by the user.

We also provide flexibility to the user for choosing the time
interval using the option --hashilmit-interval. For example the user can
keep a low rate like x/hour but still keep the interval as small as 1
second.

To preserve backwards compatibility we have to add this feature in a new
revision, so I've created revision 3 for hashlimit. The two new options
we add are:

--hashlimit-rate-match
--hashlimit-rate-interval

I have updated the help text to add these new options. Also added a few
tests for the new options.

Suggested-by: Igor Lubashev <ilubashe@akamai.com>
Reviewed-by: Josh Hunt <johunt@akamai.com>
Signed-off-by: Vishwanath Pai <vpai@akamai.com>
Signed-off-by: Pablo Neira Ayuso <pablo@netfilter.org>

1 files changed, 8 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/extensions/libxt_hashlimit.man b/extensions/libxt_hashlimit.man
index 6aac3f28..5dbb3273 100644
--- a/extensions/libxt_hashlimit.man
+++ b/extensions/libxt_hashlimit.man
@@ -51,6 +51,14 @@ After how many milliseconds do hash entries expire.
 .TP
 \fB\-\-hashlimit\-htable\-gcinterval\fP \fImsec\fP
 How many milliseconds between garbage collection intervals.
+.TP
+\fB\-\-hashlimit\-rate\-match\fP
+Classify the flow instead of rate-limiting it. This acts like a
+true/flase match on whether the rate is above/below a certain number
+.TP
+\fB\-\-hashlimit\-rate\-interval\fP \fIsec\fP
+Can be used with \-\-hashlimit\-rate\-match to specify the interval
+at which the rate should be sampled
 .PP
 Examples:
 .TP