diff --git a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/controllers/OPNsense/Base/ApiMutableModelControllerBase.php b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/controllers/OPNsense/Base/ApiMutableModelControllerBase.php
index 47b5f29c6..c45f5f899 100644
--- a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/controllers/OPNsense/Base/ApiMutableModelControllerBase.php
+++ b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/controllers/OPNsense/Base/ApiMutableModelControllerBase.php
@@ -106,6 +106,22 @@ abstract class ApiMutableModelControllerBase extends ApiControllerBase
         return $this->modelHandle;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * validate and save model after update or insertion.
+     * Use the reference node and tag to rename validation output for a specific node to a new offset, which makes
+     * it easier to reference specific uuids without having to use them in the frontend descriptions.
+     * @param $node reference node, to use as relative offset
+     * @return array result / validation output
+     */
+    protected function validateAndSave($node = null)
+    {
+        $result = $this->validate();
+        if (empty($result['result'])) {
+            return $this->save();
+        }
+        return $result;
+    }
+
     /**
      * validate this model
      * @param $node reference node, to use as relative offset