Preventing port scanning - "couldn't load match 'recent'"

Question

I want to prevent my server from being port scanned from the Internet, and if port scanning occurs, block the source IP address for several minutes.

This is my current iptables config:

$>iptables --list-rules
-P INPUT ACCEPT
-P FORWARD ACCEPT
-P OUTPUT ACCEPT
-N DOS_PROTECT
-A INPUT -i eth1 -j DOS_PROTECT
-A INPUT -i eth0 -j DOS_PROTECT
-A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -m state --state RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j DROP
-A INPUT -i eth0 -p udp -m udp --dport 80 -j DROP
-A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 587 -j DROP
-A INPUT -i eth0 -p udp -m udp --dport 587 -j DROP
-A INPUT -i eth0 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 666 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 667 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 5006 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 993 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 587 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 465 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 8443 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth1 -j DROP
-A DOS_PROTECT -i eth1 -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 8 -m limit --limit 1/sec -j RETURN
-A DOS_PROTECT -i eth1 -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 8 -j DROP
-A DOS_PROTECT -i eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,ACK RST -m limit --limit 1/sec -j RETURN
-A DOS_PROTECT -i eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,ACK RST -j DROP
-A DOS_PROTECT -i eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,ACK SYN -m limit --limit 10000/sec --limit-burst 100 -j RETURN
-A DOS_PROTECT -i eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,ACK SYN -j DROP
-A DOS_PROTECT -i eth0 -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 8 -m limit --limit 1/sec -j RETURN
-A DOS_PROTECT -i eth0 -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 8 -j DROP
-A DOS_PROTECT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,ACK RST -m limit --limit 1/sec -j RETURN
-A DOS_PROTECT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,ACK RST -j DROP
-A DOS_PROTECT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,ACK SYN -m limit --limit 10000/sec --limit-burst 100 -j RETURN
-A DOS_PROTECT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,ACK SYN -j DROP
$> iptables --list      
Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target     prot opt source               destination         
DOS_PROTECT  all  --  anywhere             anywhere            
DOS_PROTECT  all  --  anywhere             anywhere            
ACCEPT     all  --  anywhere             anywhere            
ACCEPT     all  --  anywhere             anywhere             state RELATED,ESTABLISHED
DROP       tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp dpt:http
DROP       udp  --  anywhere             anywhere             udp dpt:http
DROP       tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp dpt:submission
DROP       udp  --  anywhere             anywhere             udp dpt:submission
ACCEPT     all  --  anywhere             anywhere            
ACCEPT     tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp dpt:666
ACCEPT     tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp dpt:667
ACCEPT     tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp dpt:5006
ACCEPT     tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp dpt:imaps
ACCEPT     tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp dpt:submission
ACCEPT     tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp dpt:urd
ACCEPT     tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp dpt:8443
DROP       all  --  anywhere             anywhere            

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
target     prot opt source               destination         

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target     prot opt source               destination         

Chain DOS_PROTECT (2 references)
target     prot opt source               destination         
RETURN     icmp --  anywhere             anywhere             icmp  echo-request limit: avg 1/sec burst 5
DROP       icmp --  anywhere             anywhere             icmp echo-request
RETURN     tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp flags:FIN,SYN,RST,ACK/RST limit: avg 1/sec burst 5
DROP       tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp flags:FIN,SYN,RST,ACK/RST
RETURN     tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp flags:FIN,SYN,RST,ACK/SYN limit: avg 10000/sec burst 100
DROP       tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp flags:FIN,SYN,RST,ACK/SYN
RETURN     icmp --  anywhere             anywhere             icmp echo-request limit: avg 1/sec burst 5
DROP       icmp --  anywhere             anywhere             icmp echo-request
RETURN     tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp flags:FIN,SYN,RST,ACK/RST limit: avg 1/sec burst 5
DROP       tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp flags:FIN,SYN,RST,ACK/RST
RETURN     tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp flags:FIN,SYN,RST,ACK/SYN limit: avg 10000/sec burst 100
DROP       tcp  --  anywhere             anywhere             tcp flags:FIN,SYN,RST,ACK/SYN

I want to insert an anti-scanning rule for the interface eth1. How can I do it?

I tried:

iptables -A INPUT -m recent –name portscan –rcheck –seconds 900 -j DROP
iptables -A FORWARD -m recent –name portscan –rcheck –seconds 900 -j DROP

but an error was reported:

$> iptables -A INPUT -m recent –name portscan –rcheck –seconds 900 -j DROP
iptables v1.4.21: Couldn't load match `recent':No such file or directory

Can anybody help me?

Answer 1

I found out why my attempt was not working. The reason was the absence of xt_recent in the kernel. So the solution was:

sudo modprobe xt_recent

Answer 2

Psad

I would suggest looking into a service such as psad which does most of the iptables configurations for you. To install simply run sudo apt install psad, then you can configure psad to automatically block an "attacker" after so many packets or so many different services are scanned. To edit psad's configuration file you can find it at /etc/psad/psad.conf