MACIOC_PROMISC(7mdi)
MACIOC_PROMISC --
MDI enable promiscuous mode ioctl
Description
This ioctl requests that the MDI driver
enable promiscuous mode on the adapter.
Enabling promiscuous mode means:
-
Network frames bound for any MAC address
are received and passed to the MDI consumer.
-
Runt frames are received and passed to the MDI consumer.
Promiscuous mode is disabled
when the MDI device is opened,
and is reset when the device is closed;
see
open(D2mdi)
and
close(D2mdi).
Multiple opens of the same MDI device
are not permitted; this means that only one MDI
consumer (for example, a user application or kernel driver) at a
time can access the the device. Normally, the
dlpid(1M)
daemon opens the MDI device
when the system goes into multiuser mode.
Promiscuous mode support is optional for MDI drivers.
Set the PROMISCUOUS parameter in the driver's
bcfg(4dsp)
file(s) to true if the driver implements promiscuous mode,
or to false if it does not.
Use the
ndcfg(1M)
utility in interactive mode with the promiscuous
command to determine if installed network devices support
promiscuous mode.
This ioctl can only be sent
directly to the MDI device;
it will not be passed from the
DLPI
module (/dev/netX) to the MDI driver
(/dev/mdi).
The MACIOC_PROMISC ioctl
is valid only if the issuing process is root or
has equivalent credentials; drivers should call
drv_priv(D3)
to determine if the accompanying privileges are appropriate.
NOTE:
Promiscuous mode can be useful for network troubleshooting;
network monitors and other tools rely on promiscuous mode.
However, its use can pose significant security risks,
particularly when root integrity has been compromised.
For this reason, modifications to MDI drivers
concerning promiscuous mode are not supported. For more
information, see CERT (Computer Emergency Response
Team) Coordination Center advisories concerning network
monitoring attacks, available at:
http://www.cert.org
Parameters
None; no ioctl data mblk
is associated with this ioctl.
Data returned
None.
Version applicability
mdi:
1, 2, 2.1
References
Intro(7mdi)
``MDI ioctls'' in HDK Technical Reference
25 April 2004
© 2004 The SCO Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
HDK 7.1.0b - 15 March 2000