A process of filtering packet data in a network device is disclosed. At least one mask is applied to a portion of an incoming packet and a field is extracted from the portion of the incoming packet. A rules table is searched for a matching value for the extracted field and one of a hit and a miss is recorded depending on the matching value. A combination table is accessed based on the at least one mask and the one of the hit and the miss is combined with another search result to obtain a combined search result. One of a hit action and a miss action is executed from the combination table based on the combined search result.