Android Packet Filter (APF) lets the framework control hardware packet filtering logic at runtime. This lets the system save power by dropping packets in hardware, while allowing the Android framework to change filtering rules at runtime based on network conditions.
APF overview
APF consists of two main components:
- The APF interpreter runs on networking hardware (typically, the Wi-Fi chipset). The APF interpreter runs APF bytecode on packets received by the hardware and decides whether to accept or drop them.
- The APF program generation code runs on the main CPU. The code creates and updates APF programs according to network and device state.
Wi-Fi HAL methods allow the Android framework to install the APF program bytecode and to read the current counters. The Network Stack Mainline module can update the APF program bytecode at any time while APF is running.
There are several APF filters implemented. For example, APF includes filters to
drop disallowed ethertypes, filter IPv6 router advertisement (RA) packets,
filter multicast and broadcast traffic if the multicast lock isn't held, drop
DHCP packets for other hosts, and drop unsolicited address resolution protocol
(ARP) and (neighbor discovery) ND packets. The full list of filters is defined
in
ApfFilter.
Because the APF program generation code is part of the Network Stack module, the filtering logic can be updated, and new filters can be added, through monthly Mainline updates.
APF integration
The APF API is defined in
apf_interpreter.h.
The Wi-Fi firmware code calls int accept_packet() to determine if the packet
should be dropped (zero return value) or passed (nonzero return value). APF
instructions are variable length. Each instruction is at least one byte in
length. The APF instructions codes are defined in
apf.h.
APF relies on dedicated memory. The memory is used for both the APF program itself and for data storage, and the memory must not be cleared or written by the chipset except through the APF HAL methods. The APF bytecode uses the data storage to store counters for accepted and dropped packets. The data region can be read from the Android framework. The minimum amount of memory available to APF must be 1024 bytes.
Debug APF
To check if APF is enabled on the device, display the current program, and show
the current counters, run the adb shell dumpsys network_stack command. The
following is an example of this command:
adb shell dumpsys network_stack
......
IpClient.wlan0 APF dump:
Capabilities: ApfCapabilities{version: 4, maxSize: 4096, format: 1}
......
Last program:
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
APF packet counters:
TOTAL_PACKETS: 469
PASSED_DHCP: 4
PASSED_IPV4: 65
PASSED_IPV6_NON_ICMP: 64
PASSED_IPV4_UNICAST: 64
PASSED_IPV6_ICMP: 223
PASSED_IPV6_UNICAST_NON_ICMP: 6
PASSED_ARP_UNICAST_REPLY: 4
PASSED_NON_IP_UNICAST: 1
DROPPED_RA: 4
DROPPED_IPV4_BROADCAST_ADDR: 7
DROPPED_IPV4_BROADCAST_NET: 27
The output for this example adb shell dumpsys network_stack command includes
the following:
ApfCapabilities{version: 4, maxSize: 4096, format: 1}: This means the Wi-Fi chips support APF (version 4).Last program: This section is the latest installed APF program binary in hex string format.APF packet counters: This section shows how many packets are passed or dropped by APF and the specific reasons.
To decode and disassemble the code into human-readable assembler language, use
the apf_disassembler tool. To compile the executable binary, run the
m apf_disassembler command. The following is an example of how to use the
apf_disassembler tool.
echo "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" | out/host/linux-x86/bin/apf_disassembler
0: li r1, -4
2: lddw r0, [r1+0]
3: add r0, 1
5: stdw r0, [r1+0]
6: ldh r0, [12]
8: li r1, -108
10: jlt r0, 0x600, 504
15: li r1, -112
17: jeq r0, 0x88a2, 504
22: jeq r0, 0x88a4, 504
27: jeq r0, 0x88b8, 504
32: jeq r0, 0x88cd, 504
37: jeq r0, 0x88e1, 504
42: jeq r0, 0x88e3, 504
47: jne r0, 0x806, 116
......
To check APF results offline, use the
apf_run
tool. To compile the executable binary, run the m apf_run command. The
following is an example of how to check against a single packet using the
apf_run command.
To provide the hex binary string presentation of the raw packet, use the
--packet option. To provide the hex binary string of the data region, which is
used to store the
APF counter,
use the --data option. Because each counter is 4 bytes long, the data
regions must be long enough to make sure no buffer overflow occurs.
out/host/linux-x86/bin/apf_run --program 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 --packet 5ebcd79a8f0dc244efaab81408060001080006040002c244efaab814c0a8ca1e5ebcd79a8f0d --data 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Packet passed
Data: 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001
To check APF results against the pcap file taken by tcpdump, use the apf_run
command as follows:
out/host/linux-x86/bin/apf_run --program 6bfcb03a01b8120c6b989401df06006b947c01d888a27c01d388a47c01ce88b87c01c988cd7c01c488e17c01bf88e384004408066a0e6bdca401a5000600010800060412147a1e016bd884019900021a1c6b907c01960000686bd4a401820006ffffffffffff6a266bc0a4017b0004c0a82b056bf874017084005f08000a17821f1112149c00181fffab0d2a108211446a3239a20506fabe589435936bf47401470a1e52f06bb07c014200e06bb81a1e7e00000135ffffffff6bb47e0000012ac0a82bff6be868a401160006ffffffffffff6bbc7401176bf074010c7c001086dd686bd0a2fb06ffffffffffff6bcc72fd0a147a0b3a6b9c0a267af1ff6be072e70a366bac7ae6858218886a26a2040fff02000000000000000000000000006ba872cbaa0e82be8eaa0f8c00b7025868a2a40ffabe5894359352a9874d08aa86dd606a12a2792600583afffe80000000000000f7d4e8ccd81ddb43fe80000000000000f8be58fffe94359386006a3aa272024108123c94006b02586a3ea25e0800000000000000006a56a25504030440c01a5a94004e02581a5e94004702586a62a23e04000000006a66a229102409891f9a26ae6d00000000000000006a76a22004190300001a7a94001902586a7ea204102409891f9a26ae6dba98e781ca9ef9ba6bc872086be4b03a01b87206b03a01b87201 --pcap apf.pcap --data 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
37 packets dropped
1733 packets passed
Data: 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000200000005000000000000000000000002000000000000001b000000000000000000000001000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000689000000000000003c00000000000000000000000000000000000006ea