[HOW TO] What is net.ipv4.conf.default.rp_filter

/usr/share/doc/kernel-doc-2.6.32/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.txt

rp_filter - INTEGER
        0 - No source validation.
        1 - Strict mode as defined in RFC3704 Strict Reverse Path 
            Each incoming packet is tested against the FIB and if the interface
            is not the best reverse path the packet check will fail.
            By default failed packets are discarded.
        2 - Loose mode as defined in RFC3704 Loose Reverse Path 
            Each incoming packet's source address is also tested against the FIB
            and if the source address is not reachable via any interface
            the packet check will fail.

        Current recommended practice in RFC3704 is to enable strict mode 
        to prevent IP spoofing from DDos attacks. If using asymmetric routing
        or other complicated routing, then loose mode is recommended.

        The max value from conf/{all,interface}/rp_filter is used 
        when doing source validation on the {interface}.

        Default value is 0. Note that some distributions enable it
        in startup scripts.