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Manual:IP/Firewall/Mangle
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Contents
Summary
Properties
Stats
Menu specific commands
Basic examples
Change MSS
Marking packets

Summary
Sub-menu: /ip firewall mangle

Mangle is a kind of 'marker' that marks packets for future processing with special marks. Many
other facilities in RouterOS make use of these marks, e.g. queue trees, NAT, routing. They identify
a packet based on its mark and process it accordingly. The mangle marks exist only within the
router, they are not transmitted across the network.

Additionally, the mangle facility is used to modify some fields in the IP header, like TOS (DSCP)
and TTL fields.

Properties
Property Description
action (action name; Default: accept) Action to take if packet is matched by the rule:

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accept - accept the packet. Packet is not

passed to next firewall rule.
add-dst-to-address-list - add destination
address to Address list specified by
address-list parameter
add-src-to-address-list - add source
address to Address list specified by
address-list parameter
change-dscp - change Differentiated
Services Code Point (DSCP) field value
specified by the new-dscp parameter
change-mss - change Maximum Segment
Size field value of the packet to a value
specified by the new-mss parameter
change-ttl - change Time to Live field
value of the packet to a value specified by
the new-ttl parameter
clear-df - clear 'Do Not Fragment' Flag
fasttrack-connection - shows fasttrack
counters, useful for statistics
jump - jump to the user defined chain
specified by the value of jump-target
parameter
log - add a message to the system log
containing following data: in-interface, out-
interface, src-mac, protocol, src-ip:port-
>dst-ip:port and length of the packet. After
packet is matched it is passed to next rule
in the list, similar as passthrough
mark-connection - place a mark specified by
the new-connection-mark parameter on
the entire connection that matches the rule
mark-packet - place a mark specified by the
new-packet-mark parameter on a packet
that matches the rule
mark-routing - place a mark specified by
the new-routing-mark parameter on a
packet. This kind of marks is used for
policy routing purposes only
passthrough - if packet is matched by the
rule, increase counter and go to next rule
(useful for statistics).
return - pass control back to the chain
from where the jump took place
route - forces packets to a specific
gateway IP by ignoring normal routing
decision (prerouting chain only)
set-priority - set priority specified by the
new-priority parameter on the packets
sent out through a link that is capable of
transporting priority (VLAN or WMM-
enabled wireless interface). Read more>

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sniff-pc - send a packet to a remote

RouterOS CALEA server.
sniff-tzsp - send packet to a remote TZSP
compatible system (such as Wireshark).
Set remote target with sniff-target and
sniff-target-port parameters
(Wireshark recommends port 37008)
strip-ipv4-options - strip IPv4 option fields
from IP header, action does not actually
remove IPv4 options but rather replaces
all option octets with NOP, further matcher
with ipv4-options=any will still match the
packet.

address-list (string; Default: ) Name of the address list to be used. Applicable if

action is add-dst-to-address-list or add-src-
to-address-list
address-list-timeout (none-dynamic | Time interval after which the address will be removed
none-static | time; Default: none- from the address list specified by address-list
dynamic) parameter. Used in conjunction with add-dst-to-
address-list or add-src-to-address-list
actions

Value of none-dynamic (00:00:00) will leave

the address in the address list till reboot
Value of none-static will leave the address
in the address list forever and will be
included in configuration export/backup

chain (name; Default: ) Specifies to which chain the rule will be added. If the
input does not match the name of an already defined
chain, a new chain will be created.
comment (string; Default: ) Descriptive comment for the rule.
connection-bytes (integer-integer; Default: Matches packets only if a given amount of bytes has
) been transfered through the particular connection. 0 -
means infinity, for example connection-
bytes=2000000-0 means that the rule matches if
more than 2MB (upload and download) has been
transfered through the relevant connection
connection-limit (integer,netmask; Matches connections per address or address block
Default: ) after given value is reached.
connection-mark (no-mark | string; Matches packets marked via mangle facility with
Default: ) particular connection mark. If no-mark is set, rule will
match any unmarked connection.

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connection-nat-state (srcnat | dstnat; Can match connections that are srcnatted, dstnatted
Default: ) or both. Note that connection-state=related
connections connection-nat-state is determined by
direction of the first packet. and if connection tracking
needs to use dst-nat to deliver this connection to
same hosts as main connection it will be in
connection-nat-state=dstnat even if there are no dst-
nat rules at all.
connection-rate (Integer 0..4294967295; Connection Rate is a firewall matcher that allows the
Default: ) capture of traffic based on the present speed of the
connection. Read more >>
connection-state (estabilished | invalid | Interprets the connection tracking analysis data for a
new | related; Default: ) particular packet:

established - a packet which belongs to an

existing connection
invalid - a packet that does not have
determined state in connection tracking
(ussualy - sevear out-of-order packets,
packets with wrong sequence/ack number,
or in case of resource overusage on
router), for this reason invalid packet will
not participate in NAT (as only connection-
state=new packets do), and will still
contain original source IP address when
routed. We strongly suggest to drop all
connection-state=invalid packets in firewall
filter forward and input chains
new - the packet has started a new
connection, or otherwise associated with a
connection which has not seen packets in
both directions
related - a packet which is related to, but
not part of an existing connection, such as
ICMP errors or a packet which begins FTP
data connection
untracked packet which was set to bypass
connection tracking in Firewall RAW (http
s://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:IP/Firewa
ll/Raw) tables.

connection-type (ftp | h323 | irc | pptp | Matches packets from related connections based on
quake3 | sip | tftp; Default: ) information from their connection tracking helpers. A
relevant connection helper must be enabled under /ip
firewall service-port
content (string; Default: ) Match packets that contain specified text
dscp (integer: 0..63; Default: ) Matches DSCP IP header field.
dst-address (IP/netmask | IP range; Matches packets where destination is equal to
Default: ) specified IP or falls into specified IP range.
dst-address-list (name; Default: ) Matches destination address of a packet against
user-defined address list

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dst-address-type (unicast | local | Matches destination address type:

broadcast | multicast; Default: )
unicast - IP address used for point to point
transmission
local - if dst-address is assigned to one of
router's interfaces
broadcast - packet is sent to all devices in
subnet
multicast - packet is forwarded to defined
group of devices

dst-limit (integer[/time],integer,dst- Matches packets until a given pps limit is exceeded.

address | dst-port | src-address[/time]; As opposed to the limit matcher, every destination
Default: ) IP address / destination port has it's own limit.
Parameters are written in following format:
count[/time],burst,mode[/expire].

count - maximum average packet rate

measured in packets per time interval
time - specifies the time interval in which
the packet rate is measured (optional)
burst - number of packets which are not
counted by packet rate
mode - the classifier for packet rate
limiting
expire - specifies interval after which
recored ip address /port will be deleted
(optional)

dst-port (integer[-integer]: 0..65535; List of destination port numbers or port number

Default: ) ranges
fragment (yes|no; Default: ) Matches fragmented packets. First (starting)
fragment does not count. If connection tracking is
enabled there will be no fragments as system
automatically assembles every packet
hotspot (auth | from-client | http | local-dst Matches packets received from HotSpot clients
| to-client; Default: ) against various HotSpot matchers.

auth - matches authenticted HotSpot client

packets
from-client - matches packets that are
coming from the HotSpot client
http - matches HTTP requests sent to the
HotSpot server
local-dst - matches packets that are
destined to the HotSpot server
to-client - matches packets that are sent
to the HotSpot client

icmp-options (integer:integer; Default: ) Matches ICMP "type:code" fields

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in-bridge-port (name; Default: ) Actual interface the packet has entered the router, if
incoming interface is bridge
in-interface (name; Default: ) Interface the packet has entered the router
ingress-priority (integer: 0..63; Default: ) Matches ingress priority of the packet. Priority may
be derived from VLAN, WMM or MPLS EXP bit. Read
more >>
ipsec-policy (in | out, ipsec | none; Matches the policy used by IpSec. Value is written in
Default: ) following format: direction, policy. Direction is
Used to select whether to match the policy used for
decapsulation or the policy that will be used for
encapsulation.
in - valid in the PREROUTING, INPUT and
FORWARD chains
out - valid in the POSTROUTING, OUTPUT and
FORWARD chains
ipsec - matches if the packet is subject to IpSec
processing;
none - matches packet that is not subject to IpSec
processing (for example, IpSec transport packet).
For example, if router receives Ipsec encapsulated
Gre packet, then rule ipsec-policy=in,ipsec will
match Gre packet, but rule ipsec-policy=in,none
will match ESP packet.

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ipv4-options (any | loose-source-routing | Matches IPv4 header options.

no-record-route | no-router-alert | no-
source-routing | no-timestamp | none | any - match packet with at least one of the
record-route | router-alert | strict-source- ipv4 options
routing | timestamp; Default: ) loose-source-routing - match packets with
loose source routing option. This option is
used to route the internet datagram based
on information supplied by the source
no-record-route - match packets with no
record route option. This option is used to
route the internet datagram based on
information supplied by the source
no-router-alert - match packets with no
router alter option
no-source-routing - match packets with no
source routing option
no-timestamp - match packets with no
timestamp option
record-route - match packets with record
route option
router-alert - match packets with router
alter option
strict-source-routing - match packets with
strict source routing option
timestamp - match packets with timestamp

jump-target (name; Default: ) Name of the target chain to jump to. Applicable only if
action=jump
layer7-protocol (name; Default: ) Layer7 filter name defined in layer7 protocol menu.
limit (integer,time,integer; Default: ) Matches packets until a given pps limit is exceeded.
Parameters are written in following format:
count[/time],burst.

count - maximum average packet rate

measured in packets per time interval
time - specifies the time interval in which
the packet rate is measured (optional, 1s
will be used if not specified)
burst - number of packets which are not
counted by packet rate

log-prefix (string; Default: ) Adds specified text at the beginning of every log
message. Applicable if action=log
new-connection-mark (string; Default: )
new-dscp (integer: 0..63; Default: ) Sets a new DSCP value for a packet.
new-mss (integer; Default: ) Sets a new MSS for a packet. clamp-to-pmtu option
dynamically sets the MSS size acordingly to the Path
MTU.
new-packet-mark (string; Default: )

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new-priority(integer | from-dscp | from- Sets a new priority for a packet. This can be the
dscp-high-3-bits | from-ingress; Default: ) VLAN, WMM, DSCP or MPLS EXP priority Read
more >>. This property can also be used to set an
internal priority.
new-routing-mark (string; Default: )
new-ttl (decrement | increment |
set:integer; Default: )
nth (integer,integer; Default: ) Matches every nth packet. Read more (https://wiki.mi
krotik.com/wiki/NTH_load_balancing_with_masquera
de)
out-bridge-port (name; Default: ) Actual interface the packet is leaving the router, if
outgoing interface is bridge
out-interface (; Default: ) Interface the packet is leaving the router
packet-mark (no-mark | string; Default: ) Matches packets marked via mangle facility with
particular packet mark. If no-mark is set, rule will
match any unmarked packet.
packet-size (integer[-integer]:0..65535; Matches packets of specified size or size range in
Default: ) bytes.
passthrough (yes|no; Default: yes) whether to let the packet to pass further (like action
passthrough) into firewall or not (property only valid
some actions).
per-connection-classifier PCC matcher allows division of traffic into equal
(ValuesToHash:Denominator/Remainder; streams with ability to keep packets with specific set
Default: ) of options in one particular stream. Read more >>
port (integer[-integer]: 0..65535; Default: Matches if any (source or destination) port matches
) the specified list of ports or port ranges. Applicable
only if protocol is TCP or UDP
protocol (name or protocol ID; Default: Matches particular IP protocol specified by protocol
tcp) name or number
psd (integer,time,integer,integer; Default: Attempts to detect TCP and UDP scans. Parameters
) are in following format WeightThreshold,
DelayThreshold, LowPortWeight,
HighPortWeight

WeightThreshold - total weight of the

latest TCP/UDP packets with different
destination ports coming from the same
host to be treated as port scan sequence
DelayThreshold - delay for the packets
with different destination ports coming
from the same host to be treated as
possible port scan subsequence
LowPortWeight - weight of the packets
with privileged (<1024) destination port
HighPortWeight - weight of the packet
with non-priviliged destination port

random (integer: 1..99; Default: ) Matches packets randomly with given probability.
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routing-mark (string; Default: ) Matches packets marked by mangle facility with

particular routing mark
priority (integer: 0..63; Default: ) Matches packet's priority after a new priority has
been set. Priority may be derived from VLAN, WMM,
DSCP, MPLS EXP bit or from internal priority that has
been set using the set-priority action. Read more
>>
src-address (IP/Netmask, IP range; Matches packets where source is equal to specified
Default: ) IP or falls into specified IP range.
src-address-list (name; Default: ) Matches source address of a packet against user-
defined address list
src-address-type (unicast | local | Matches source address type:
broadcast | multicast; Default: )

unicast - IP address used for point to point

transmission
local - if address is assigned to one of
router's interfaces
broadcast - packet is sent to all devices in
subnet
multicast - packet is forwarded to defined
group of devices

src-port (integer[-integer]: 0..65535; List of source ports and ranges of source ports.
Default: ) Applicable only if protocol is TCP or UDP.
src-mac-address (MAC address; Default: ) Matches source MAC address of the packet
tcp-flags (ack | cwr | ece | fin | psh | rst | Matches specified TCP flags
syn | urg; Default: )
ack - acknowledging data
cwr - congestion window reduced
ece - ECN-echo flag (explicit congestion
notification)
fin - close connection
psh - push function
rst - drop connection
syn - new connection
urg - urgent data

tcp-mss (integer[-integer]: 0..65535; Matches TCP MSS value of an IP packet

Default: )
(time-time,sat | fri | thu | wed | tue |
time Allows creation of a filter based on the packets'
mon | sun; Default: ) arrival time and date or, for locally generated
packets, departure time and date

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tls-host (string; Default: ) Allows to match traffic based on TLS hostname.

Accepts GLOB syntax (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G
lob_(programming)) for wildcard matching. Note that
matcher will not be able to match hostname if TLS
handshake frame is fragmented into multiple TCP
segments (packets).
ttl(equal | greater-than | less-than | not- Matches packets TTL value.
equal : integer(0..255); Default: )

Stats
/ip firewall filter print stats will show additional read-only properties

Property Description
bytes (integer) Total amount of bytes matched by the rule
packets (integer) Total amount of packets matched by the rule

By default print is equivalent to print static and shows only static rules.

[admin@dzeltenais_burkaans] /ip firewall mangle> print stats

Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid, D - dynamic
# CHAIN ACTION BYTES PACKETS
0 prerouting mark-routing 17478158 127631
1 prerouting mark-routing 782505 4506

To print also dynamic rules use print all.

[admin@dzeltenais_burkaans] /ip firewall mangle> print all stats

Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid, D - dynamic
# CHAIN ACTION BYTES PACKETS
0 prerouting mark-routing 17478158 127631
1 prerouting mark-routing 782505 4506
2 D forward change-mss 0 0
3 D forward change-mss 0 0
4 D forward change-mss 0 0
5 D forward change-mss 129372 2031

Or to print only dynamic rules use print dynamic

[admin@dzeltenais_burkaans] /ip firewall mangle> print stats dynamic

Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid, D - dynamic
# CHAIN ACTION BYTES PACKETS
0 D forward change-mss 0 0
1 D forward change-mss 0 0
2 D forward change-mss 0 0
3 D forward change-mss 132444 2079

Menu specific commands

Property Description
reset-counters (id) Reset statistics counters for specified firewall rules.

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reset-counters-all () Reset statistics counters for all firewall rules.

Basic examples

Change MSS
It is a well known fact that VPN links have smaller packet size due to encapsulation overhead. A
large packet with MSS that exceeds the MSS of the VPN link should be fragmented prior to sending
it via that kind of connection. However, if the packet has DF flag set, it cannot be fragmented and
should be discarded. On links that have broken path MTU discovery (PMTUD) it may lead to a
number of problems, including problems with FTP and HTTP data transfer and e-mail services.

In case of link with broken PMTUD, a decrease of the MSS of the packets coming through the VPN
link solves the problem. The following example demonstrates how to decrease the MSS value via
mangle:

/ip firewall mangle

add out-interface=pppoe-out protocol=tcp tcp-flags=syn action=change-mss new-mss=1300 chain=forward tcp-
mss=1301-65535

Marking packets
Marking each packet is quite resource expensive especially if rule has to match against many
parameters from IP header or address list containing hundreds of entries.

Lets say we want to

mark all tcp packets except tcp/80 and match these packets against first address list
mark all udp packets and match them against second address list.

/ip firewall mangle

add chain=forward protocol=tcp port=!80 dst-address-list=first action=mark-packet new-packet-mark=first
add chain=forward protocol=udp dst-address-list=second action=mark-packet new-packet-mark=second

Setup looks quite simple and probably will work without problems in small networks. Now
multiply count of rules by 10, add few hundred entries in address list, run 100Mbit of traffic over
this router and you will see how rapidly CPU usage is increasing. The reason for such behavior is
that each rule reads IP header of every packet and tries to match collected data against parameters
specified in firewall rule.

Fortunately if connection tracking is enabled, we can use connection marks to optimize our setup.

/ip firewall mangle

add chain=forward protocol=tcp port=!80 dst-address-list=first connection-state=new action=mark-connection
\
new-connection-mark=first
add chain=forward connection-mark=first action=mark-packet new-packet-mark=first passthrough=no

add chain=forward protocol=udp dst-address-list=second connection-state=new action=mark-connection \

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new-connection-mark=second
add chain=forward connection-mark=second action=mark-packet new-packet-mark=second passthrough=no

Now first rule will try to match data from IP header only from first packet of new connection and
add connection mark. Next rule will no longer check IP header for each packet, it will just compare
connection marks resulting in lower CPU consumption. Additionally passthrough=no was added
that helps to reduce CPU consumption even more.

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