diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 96a656e90d..4e3d1e0ddb 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2532,7 +2532,7 @@ checksum = "e6e4313cd5fcd3dad5cafa179702e2b244f760991f45397d14d4ebf38247da75"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "usb-core"
-version = "0.2.5"
+version = "0.3.0"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "usbctl"
diff --git a/netstack/src/link/ethernet.rs b/netstack/src/link/ethernet.rs
index 6a3eb84a96..c20f5acf68 100644
--- a/netstack/src/link/ethernet.rs
+++ b/netstack/src/link/ethernet.rs
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ pub struct EthernetLink {
     ip_address: Option<IpCidr>,
     qdisc_config: QdiscConfig,
     mtu: usize,
+    enabled: bool,
     stats: Stats,
     arp_requests: u64,
     arp_replies: u64,
@@ -123,6 +124,7 @@ impl EthernetLink {
             slaac_state: Default::default(),
             qdisc_config: QdiscConfig::default(),
             mtu: Self::MTU,
+            enabled: true,
             stats: Stats::default(),
             neighbor_cache: Default::default(),
             arp_requests: 0,
@@ -882,7 +884,13 @@ impl LinkDevice for EthernetLink {
     }
 
     fn link_state(&self) -> &'static str {
-        if self.hardware_address.is_some() { "up" } else { "down" }
+        if !self.enabled {
+            "down"
+        } else if self.hardware_address.is_some() {
+            "up"
+        } else {
+            "down"
+        }
     }
 
     fn qdisc_info(&self) -> String {
@@ -904,5 +912,13 @@ impl LinkDevice for EthernetLink {
     fn set_mtu(&mut self, mtu: usize) {
         self.mtu = mtu.clamp(576, 9000);
     }
+
+    fn is_enabled(&self) -> bool {
+        self.enabled
+    }
+
+    fn set_enabled(&mut self, enabled: bool) {
+        self.enabled = enabled;
+    }
 }
 
diff --git a/netstack/src/link/mod.rs b/netstack/src/link/mod.rs
index cf2dcba3f5..d637698c83 100644
--- a/netstack/src/link/mod.rs
+++ b/netstack/src/link/mod.rs
@@ -59,6 +59,12 @@ pub trait LinkDevice {
 
     fn set_mtu(&mut self, _mtu: usize) {}
 
+    fn is_enabled(&self) -> bool {
+        true
+    }
+
+    fn set_enabled(&mut self, _enabled: bool) {}
+
     fn link_state(&self) -> &'static str {
         "unknown"
     }
diff --git a/netstack/src/scheme/netcfg/mod.rs b/netstack/src/scheme/netcfg/mod.rs
index 28ba702a8f..2fe508cd37 100644
--- a/netstack/src/scheme/netcfg/mod.rs
+++ b/netstack/src/scheme/netcfg/mod.rs
@@ -522,6 +522,40 @@ fn mk_root_node(
                             None => "Device not found\n".into(),
                         }
                     }
+                },
+                "enabled" => {
+                    rw [devices] (Option<bool>, None)
+                    || {
+                        match devices.borrow().get("eth0") {
+                            Some(dev) => if dev.is_enabled() { "up\n".to_string() } else { "down\n".to_string() },
+                            None => "Device not found\n".into(),
+                        }
+                    }
+                    |cur_value, line| {
+                        let s = line.trim();
+                        match s {
+                            "up" | "1" | "true" | "yes" | "on" => {
+                                if let Some(dev) = devices.borrow_mut().get_mut("eth0") {
+                                    dev.set_enabled(true);
+                                    *cur_value = Some(true);
+                                    Ok(())
+                                } else {
+                                    Err(SyscallError::new(syscall::ENODEV))
+                                }
+                            }
+                            "down" | "0" | "false" | "no" | "off" => {
+                                if let Some(dev) = devices.borrow_mut().get_mut("eth0") {
+                                    dev.set_enabled(false);
+                                    *cur_value = Some(false);
+                                    Ok(())
+                                } else {
+                                    Err(SyscallError::new(syscall::ENODEV))
+                                }
+                            }
+                            _ => Err(SyscallError::new(syscall::EINVAL)),
+                        }
+                    }
+                    |_cur_value| { Ok(()) }
                 }
             },
             "lo" => {