diff --git a/proto/config/appconfig.proto b/proto/config/appconfig.proto
index c4f7e35..d979e3d 100644
--- a/proto/config/appconfig.proto
+++ b/proto/config/appconfig.proto
@@ -213,6 +213,16 @@ message AppInstanceConfig {
 
   // Custom resolution applies to VM that is running in FML mode only.
   string vm_resolution = 27;
+
+  // Enables enforcement of user-defined ordering for network interfaces.
+  // This applies to both virtual interfaces (specified in the "interfaces" list)
+  // and directly assigned network adapters (specified in the "adapters" list as items
+  // of type "PhyIoNetEth", "PhyIoNetWLAN", "PhyIoNetWWAN", and "PhyIoNetEthVF").
+  // Note: Older versions of EVE may not support enforcing the user-defined order
+  // of application network interfaces. The controller can check
+  // ZInfoDevice.api_capability to verify if the configured device supports the
+  // API capability API_CAPABILITY_ENFORCED_NET_INTERFACE_ORDER.
+  bool enforce_network_interface_order = 28;
 }
 
 message PatchEnvelopeRef {
diff --git a/proto/config/devcommon.proto b/proto/config/devcommon.proto
index cd19ec0..907b35d 100644
--- a/proto/config/devcommon.proto
+++ b/proto/config/devcommon.proto
@@ -50,6 +50,25 @@ message Adapter {
   org.lfedge.eve.common.PhyIoType type = 1;
   string name = 2;  // Short hand name such as "com" from bundle
   EthVF eth_vf = 3; // Only relevant for PHY_IO_TYPE_PHY_IO_NET_ETH_VF
+
+  // Optionally defines the network interface order relative to other directly assigned
+  // network devices and virtual network adapters (see "interface_order" in
+  // NetworkAdapter, file "netconfig.proto").
+  // Only applies to (assignable) network adapters, i.e. types: "PhyIoNetEth", "PhyIoNetWLAN",
+  // "PhyIoNetWWAN" and "PhyIoNetEthVF".
+  // Interface with a lower order value will appear inside the application before
+  // interface with a higher order value.
+  // The implementation of this ordering may depend on the hypervisor. For example,
+  // the hypervisor might virtualize the PCI bus and assign lower PCI addresses to
+  // interfaces with lower order values.
+  // Two network interfaces (virtual or physical) assigned to the same application
+  // cannot share the same order value, except for the value `0`, which represents
+  // an undefined interface order.
+  // Since this field was introduced in later versions, older versions of EVE do not
+  // support user-defined interface ordering. For backward compatibility, the user-defined
+  // order is applied only if "enforce_network_interface_order" is enabled for the given
+  // application (see "AppInstanceConfig", file "appconfig.proto").
+  uint32 interface_order = 4;
 }
 
 // Information regarding Virtual Function (VF) customisation
diff --git a/proto/config/netconfig.proto b/proto/config/netconfig.proto
index dab1e19..38891f1 100644
--- a/proto/config/netconfig.proto
+++ b/proto/config/netconfig.proto
@@ -70,6 +70,23 @@ message NetworkAdapter {
   // allow AppInstance to discover other AppInstances
   // attached to this network instance. Default is false
   bool allow_to_discover = 42;
+
+  // Optionally defines the network interface order relative to other virtual
+  // network adapters and directly assigned network devices (see `interface_order`
+  // in Adapter, file `devcommon.proto`).
+  // Interface with a lower order value will appear inside the application before
+  // interface with a higher order value.
+  // The implementation of this ordering may depend on the hypervisor. For example,
+  // the hypervisor might virtualize the PCI bus and assign lower PCI addresses to
+  // interfaces with lower order values.
+  // Two network interfaces (virtual or physical) assigned to the same application
+  // cannot share the same order value, except for the value `0`, which represents
+  // an undefined interface order.
+  // Since this field was introduced in later versions, older versions of EVE do not
+  // support user-defined interface ordering. For backward compatibility, the user-defined
+  // order is applied only if "enforce_network_interface_order" is enabled for the given
+  // application (see "AppInstanceConfig", file "appconfig.proto").
+  uint32 interface_order = 50;
 }
 
 message WirelessConfig {
diff --git a/proto/info/info.proto b/proto/info/info.proto
index 2bd5876..cfc1582 100644
--- a/proto/info/info.proto
+++ b/proto/info/info.proto
@@ -677,6 +677,7 @@ enum APICapability {
   API_CAPABILITY_BOOT_MODE = 7; // Support different boot modes for Edge Applications (VMs)
   API_CAPABILITY_MTU = 8; // Allows to set MTU for network adapters and network instances
   API_CAPABILITY_ADAPTER_USER_LABELS = 9; // Supports user-defined shared network adapter labels
+  API_CAPABILITY_ENFORCED_NET_INTERFACE_ORDER = 10; // Is able to enforce the user-defined order of application network interfaces
   // Add new values as new EdgeDevConfig API features are implemented
 }