cap_getnameinfo(3)

cap_getnameinfo3

Library for networking in capability mode

Part of cap_net(3).

Usage

#include <sys/nv.h>

#include <libcasper.h>

#include <casper/cap_net.h>

int

cap_bind(cap_channel_t *chan, int s, const struct sockaddr *addr, socklen_t addrlen);

int

cap_connect(cap_channel_t *chan, int s, const struct sockaddr *name, socklen_t namelen);

int

cap_getaddrinfo(cap_channel_t *chan, const char *hostname, const char *servname, const struct addrinfo *hints, struct addrinfo **res);

int

cap_getnameinfo(cap_channel_t *chan, const struct sockaddr *sa, socklen_t salen, char *host, size_t hostlen, char *serv, size_t servlen, int flags);

struct hostent *

cap_gethostbyname(const cap_channel_t *chan, const char *name);

struct hostent *

cap_gethostbyname2(const cap_channel_t *chan, const char *name, int af);

struct hostent *

cap_gethostbyaddr(const cap_channel_t *chan, const void *addr, socklen_t len, int af);

cap_net_limit_t *

cap_net_limit_init(cap_channel_t *chan, uint64_t mode);

int

cap_net_limit(cap_net_limit_t *limit);

void

cap_net_free(cap_net_limit_t *limit);

cap_net_limit_t *

cap_net_limit_addr2name_family(cap_net_limit_t *limit, int *family, size_t size);

cap_net_limit_t *

cap_net_limit_addr2name(cap_net_limit_t *limit, const struct sockaddr *sa, socklen_t salen);

cap_net_limit_t *

cap_net_limit_name2addr_family(cap_net_limit_t *limit, int *family, size_t size);

cap_net_limit_t *

cap_net_limit_name2addr(cap_net_limit_t *limit, const char *name, const char *serv);

cap_net_limit_t *

cap_net_limit_connect(cap_net_limit_t *limit, const struct sockaddr *sa, socklen_t salen);

cap_net_limit_t *

cap_net_limit_bind(cap_net_limit_t *limit, const struct sockaddr *sa, socklen_t salen);

Library

library “libcap_net”

Overview

The functions cap_bind(), cap_connect(), cap_getaddrinfo(), cap_getnameinfo(), cap_gethostbyname(), cap_gethostbyname2(), and cap_gethostbyaddr() provide a set of APIs equivalent to bind(2), connect(2), getaddrinfo(3), getnameinfo(3), gethostbyname(3), gethostbyname2(3), and gethostbyaddr(3) except that a connection to the system.net service needs to be provided.

These functions, as well as cap_net_limit(), are reentrant but not thread-safe. That is, they may be called from separate threads only with different cap_channel_t arguments or with synchronization.

Limits

By default, the cap_net capability provides unrestricted access to the network namespace. Applications typically only require access to a small portion of the network namespace: The cap_net_limit() function can be used to restrict access to the network. The cap_net_limit_init() returns an opaque limit handle used to store a list of capabilities. The mode restricts the functionality of the service. Modes are encoded using the following flags:

CAPNET_ADDR2NAME		reverse DNS lookups are allowed with
				cap_getnameinfo
CAPNET_NAME2ADDR		name resolution is allowed with
				cap_getaddrinfo
CAPNET_DEPRECATED_ADDR2NAME	reverse DNS lookups are allowed with
				cap_gethostbyaddr
CAPNET_DEPRECATED_NAME2ADDR	name resolution is allowed with
				cap_gethostbyname and cap_gethostbyname2
CAPNET_BIND			bind syscall is allowed
CAPNET_CONNECT			connect syscall is allowed
CAPNET_CONNECTDNS		connect syscall is allowed to the values
				returned from previous call to
				the cap_getaddrinfo or cap_gethostbyname

cap_net_limit_addr2name_family() limits the cap_getnameinfo() and cap_gethostbyaddr() to do reverse DNS lookups to specific family (AF_INET, AF_INET6, etc.)

cap_net_limit_addr2name() limits the cap_getnameinfo() and cap_gethostbyaddr() to do reverse DNS lookups only on those specific structures.

cap_net_limit_name2addr_family() limits the cap_getaddrinfo(), cap_gethostbyname() and cap_gethostbyname2() to do the name resolution on specific family (AF_INET, AF_INET6, etc.)

cap_net_limit_addr2name() restricts cap_getaddrinfo(), cap_gethostbyname() and cap_gethostbyname2() to a set of domains.

cap_net_limit_bind() limits cap_bind() to bind only on those specific structures.

cap_net_limit_connect() limits cap_connect() to connect only on those specific structures. If the CAPNET_CONNECTDNS is set the limits are extended to the values returned by cap_getaddrinfo(), cap_gethostbyname() and cap_gethostbyname2() In case of the cap_getaddrinfo() the restriction is strict. In case of the cap_gethostbyname() and cap_gethostbyname2() any port will be accepted in the cap_connect() function.

The cap_net_limit() will consume and apply the limits.

Once a set of limits is applied, subsequent calls to cap_net_limit() may only further restrict the service. Any call that would grant operations not currently permitted will fail.

If the cap_net_limit() was not called the rights may be freed using cap_net_free(). Multiple calls to cap_net_limit_addr2name_family(), cap_net_limit_addr2name(), cap_net_limit_name2addr_family(), cap_net_limit_name2addr(), cap_net_limit_connect(), and cap_net_limit_bind() is supported, each call is extending previous capabilities.

Examples

The following example first opens a capability to casper and then uses this capability to create the system.net casper service and uses it to resolve a host and connect to it.

cap_channel_t *capcas, *capnet;
cap_net_limit_t *limit;
int familylimit, error, s;
const char *host = "example.com";
struct addrinfo hints, *res;
/* Open capability to Casper. */
capcas = cap_init();
if (capcas == NULL)
	err(1, "Unable to contact Casper");
/* Cache NLA for gai_strerror. */
caph_cache_catpages();
/* Enter capability mode sandbox. */
if (caph_enter_casper() < 0)
	err(1, "Unable to enter capability mode");
/* Use Casper capability to create capability to the system.net service. */
capnet = cap_service_open(capcas, "system.net");
if (capnet == NULL)
	err(1, "Unable to open system.net service");
/* Close Casper capability. */
cap_close(capcas);
/* Limit system.net to resolve IPv4 addresses, to host example.com . */
limit = cap_net_limit_init(capnet, CAPNET_NAME2ADDR | CAPNET_CONNECTDNS);
if (limit == NULL)
	err(1, "Unable to create limits.");
cap_net_limit_name2addr(limit, host, "80");
familylimit = AF_INET;
cap_net_limit_name2addr_family(limit, &familylimit, 1);
if (cap_net_limit(limit) < 0)
	err(1, "Unable to apply limits.");
/* Find IP addresses for the given host. */
memset(&hints, 0, sizeof(hints));
hints.ai_family = AF_INET;
hints.ai_socktype = SOCK_STREAM;
error = cap_getaddrinfo(capnet, host, "80", &hints, &res);
if (error != 0)
	errx(1, "cap_getaddrinfo(): %s: %s", host, gai_strerror(error));
s = socket(res->ai_family, res->ai_socktype, res->ai_protocol);
if (s < 0)
	err(1, "Unable to create socket");
if (cap_connect(capnet, s, res->ai_addr,  res->ai_addrlen) < 0)
	err(1, "Unable to connect to host");

Releases

20 releases since FreeBSD 12.0-RELEASE; the text changed 14 times.

  1. 12.0
  2. 12.1
  3. 12.2
  4. 12.3
  5. 12.4
  6. 13.0
  7. 13.1–13.2
  8. 13.3–13.4
  9. 13.5
  10. 14.0
  11. 14.1–14.2
  12. 14.3–14.4
  13. 14.5
  14. 15.0–15.1
  15. 16.0

Authors

Mariusz Zaborski ⟨[email protected]⟩

From base 16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79 in FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27). Parsed by carta from the page's mdoc source.