What is that net-pf-## thingie?

what-is-that-net-pf-thingie

Sven Vermeulen Tue 01 April 2014

When checking audit logs, you might come across applications that request loading of a net-pf-## module, with ## being an integer. Having requests for net-pf-10 is a more known cause (enable IPv6) but what about net-pf-34?

The answer can be found in /usr/src/linux/include/linux/socket.h:

#define AF_ATMPVC       8       /* ATM PVCs                     */
#define AF_X25          9       /* Reserved for X.25 project    */
#define AF_INET6        10      /* IP version 6                 */
#define AF_ROSE         11      /* Amateur Radio X.25 PLP       */
#define AF_DECnet       12      /* Reserved for DECnet project  */
...
#define AF_BLUETOOTH    31      /* Bluetooth sockets            */
#define AF_IUCV         32      /* IUCV sockets                 */
#define AF_RXRPC        33      /* RxRPC sockets                */
#define AF_ISDN         34      /* mISDN sockets                */
#define AF_PHONET       35      /* Phonet sockets               */
#define AF_IEEE802154   36      /* IEEE802154 sockets           */

So next time you get such a weird module load request, check socket.h for more information.