[PATCH nf] netfilter: ipset: fix double free on kernel-side delete during resize

[PATCH nf] netfilter: ipset: fix double free on kernel-side delete during resize

[Xue Boyang]

A kernel-side delete, i.e. a delete triggered by the SET target while
the set is being resized, is applied to the current table and saved in
the resize backlog, to be replayed against the new table when the
resize finished. Both tables share the element extensions: the resize
copies the element to the new table, keeping the pointer to the
extension data, e.g. to the comment. Deleting the element in the
current table calls ip_set_ext_destroy() and releases the shared
extension. The replay then deletes the copy from the new table and
releases the same extension again, i.e. the same rcu_head is queued
twice. With CONFIG_DEBUG_OBJECTS_RCU_HEAD (and slub_debug=F, which
keeps kfree_rcu() off the sheaf fast path):

  ODEBUG: activate active (active state 1) object type: rcu_head
  WARNING: lib/debugobjects.c:629 at debug_print_object+0x7b/0x100
  kvfree_call_rcu(): Double-freed call. rcu_head ffff88810474ce40
  WARNING: mm/slab_common.c:2041 at kvfree_call_rcu+0x10b/0x140
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   debug_object_activate (lib/debugobjects.c:905)
   kvfree_call_rcu (mm/slab_common.c:2039)
   hash_ip4_del (net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_gen.h:1226)
   hash_ip4_kadt (net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_ip.c:96)
   ip_set_del (net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_core.c:820)
   set_target_v3 (net/netfilter/xt_set.c:411)
   ipt_do_table (net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_tables.c:345)
   nf_hook_slow (net/netfilter/core.c:619)
   raw_sendmsg (net/ipv4/raw.c:652)
   __sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2281)

The double free is reachable from an unprivileged user namespace and
permits local privilege escalation.

Fix this by deferring the delete when a resize is in progress: the
element is not deleted in the current table, only saved in the backlog,
like it is done for kernel-side adds. The resize copies the element
including its extension pointers, and the replayed delete releases the
extension exactly once. This also avoids updating the cidr counters
twice for the same element.

Deferred deletes of a failed resize are replayed against the original
table, which stays the live table, instead of being dropped.

Fixes: f66ee0410b1c ("netfilter: ipset: Fix "INFO: rcu detected stall in hash_xxx" reports")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Xue Boyang <fuchen.dust@gmail.com>
Assisted-by: LLM DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash
---

The reproducer (SET --del-set rule plus a userspace add triggering the
resize) was run against v7.3-rc5 (mainline tree at 6d25ffca055a):
before the patch the double free shows up as the warning quoted in the
commit message and as duplicate objects in the SLUB RCU sheaves; with
the patch applied it no longer reproduces in repeated runs. The
reproducer is not attached; it is available and can be shared privately
upon request. Note: the replay of deferred deletes on a resize abort
(allocation failure in the copy loop) is covered by review only.

Found with AI assistance (DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, see Assisted-by); the
patch was reviewed, reproduced and tested by hand.

 net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_gen.h | 48 +++++++++++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 31 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)

diff --git a/net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_gen.h b/net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_gen.h
index 80ca523f304b..d94db604ed6b 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_gen.h
+++ b/net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_gen.h
@@ -764,6 +764,7 @@ mtype_resize(struct ip_set *set, bool retried)
 	struct hbucket *n, *m;
 	struct list_head *l, *lt;
 	struct mtype_resize_ad *x;
+	LIST_HEAD(backlog);
 	u32 i, j, r, nr, key;
 	int ret;
 
@@ -934,13 +935,21 @@ mtype_resize(struct ip_set *set, bool retried)
 	if (ret == -EAGAIN)
 		goto retry;
 
-	/* Cleanup the backlog of ADD/DEL elements */
+	/* Cleanup the backlog of ADD/DEL elements: kernel-side adds were
+	 * applied to the original table, which is still the live table,
+	 * so they are simply dropped. Kernel-side deletes were deferred,
+	 * replay them against the original table.
+	 */
 	spin_lock_bh(&set->lock);
-	list_for_each_safe(l, lt, &orig->ad) {
+	list_splice_init(&orig->ad, &backlog);
+	spin_unlock_bh(&set->lock);
+	list_for_each_safe(l, lt, &backlog) {
+		x = list_entry(l, struct mtype_resize_ad, list);
 		list_del(l);
-		kfree(l);
+		if (x->ad == IPSET_DEL)
+			mtype_del(set, &x->d, NULL, NULL, 0);
+		kfree(x);
 	}
-	spin_unlock_bh(&set->lock);
 	goto out;
 
 hbwarn:
@@ -1217,6 +1226,24 @@ mtype_del(struct ip_set *set, void *value, const struct ip_set_ext *ext,
 			goto out;
 
 		ret = 0;
+		if (t->resizing && ext && ext->target) {
+			/* Resize is in process and kernel side del: do not
+			 * delete the element and free its extensions here,
+			 * the extensions may be shared with the copy in
+			 * the new table. Save the values, the resize replays
+			 * the delete against the new table.
+			 */
+			x = kzalloc_obj(struct mtype_resize_ad, GFP_ATOMIC);
+			if (!x)
+				/* Don't bother, deleting the element here
+				 * could free the shared extensions twice.
+				 */
+				goto out;
+			x->ad = IPSET_DEL;
+			memcpy(&x->d, value, sizeof(struct mtype_elem));
+			x->flags = flags;
+			goto out;
+		}
 		clear_bit(i, n->used);
 		smp_mb__after_atomic();
 		if (i + 1 == pos)
@@ -1224,19 +1251,6 @@ mtype_del(struct ip_set *set, void *value, const struct ip_set_ext *ext,
 		t->hregion[r].elements--;
 		mtype_del_cidr_all(set, h, d);
 		ip_set_ext_destroy(set, data);
-
-		if (t->resizing && ext && ext->target) {
-			/* Resize is in process and kernel side del,
-			 * save values
-			 */
-			x = kzalloc_obj(struct mtype_resize_ad, GFP_ATOMIC);
-			if (x) {
-				x->ad = IPSET_DEL;
-				memcpy(&x->d, value,
-				       sizeof(struct mtype_elem));
-				x->flags = flags;
-			}
-		}
 		for (; i < pos; i++) {
 			if (!test_bit(i, n->used))
 				k++;
-- 
2.53.0

Re: [PATCH nf] netfilter: ipset: fix double free on kernel-side delete during resize

[Jozsef Kadlecsik]

Hi,

On Mon, 12 Oct 2026, Xue Boyang wrote:

> A kernel-side delete, i.e. a delete triggered by the SET target while
> the set is being resized, is applied to the current table and saved in
> the resize backlog, to be replayed against the new table when the
> resize finished. Both tables share the element extensions: the resize
> copies the element to the new table, keeping the pointer to the
> extension data, e.g. to the comment. Deleting the element in the
> current table calls ip_set_ext_destroy() and releases the shared
> extension. The replay then deletes the copy from the new table and
> releases the same extension again, i.e. the same rcu_head is queued
> twice. With CONFIG_DEBUG_OBJECTS_RCU_HEAD (and slub_debug=F, which
> keeps kfree_rcu() off the sheaf fast path):
>
>  ODEBUG: activate active (active state 1) object type: rcu_head
>  WARNING: lib/debugobjects.c:629 at debug_print_object+0x7b/0x100
>  kvfree_call_rcu(): Double-freed call. rcu_head ffff88810474ce40
>  WARNING: mm/slab_common.c:2041 at kvfree_call_rcu+0x10b/0x140
>  Call Trace:
>   <TASK>
>   debug_object_activate (lib/debugobjects.c:905)
>   kvfree_call_rcu (mm/slab_common.c:2039)
>   hash_ip4_del (net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_gen.h:1226)
>   hash_ip4_kadt (net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_ip.c:96)
>   ip_set_del (net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_core.c:820)
>   set_target_v3 (net/netfilter/xt_set.c:411)
>   ipt_do_table (net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_tables.c:345)
>   nf_hook_slow (net/netfilter/core.c:619)
>   raw_sendmsg (net/ipv4/raw.c:652)
>   __sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2281)
>
> The double free is reachable from an unprivileged user namespace and
> permits local privilege escalation.
>
> Fix this by deferring the delete when a resize is in progress: the
> element is not deleted in the current table, only saved in the backlog,
> like it is done for kernel-side adds. The resize copies the element
> including its extension pointers, and the replayed delete releases the
> extension exactly once. This also avoids updating the cidr counters
> twice for the same element.
>
> Deferred deletes of a failed resize are replayed against the original
> table, which stays the live table, instead of being dropped.

Thank you for your patch! Could you address the issues sashiko raised at 
https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20261012163353.4093-1-fuchen.dust%40gmail.com 
about it?

Best regards,
Jozsef

> Fixes: f66ee0410b1c ("netfilter: ipset: Fix "INFO: rcu detected stall in hash_xxx" reports")
> Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
> Signed-off-by: Xue Boyang <fuchen.dust@gmail.com>
> Assisted-by: LLM DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash
> ---
>
> The reproducer (SET --del-set rule plus a userspace add triggering the
> resize) was run against v7.3-rc5 (mainline tree at 6d25ffca055a):
> before the patch the double free shows up as the warning quoted in the
> commit message and as duplicate objects in the SLUB RCU sheaves; with
> the patch applied it no longer reproduces in repeated runs. The
> reproducer is not attached; it is available and can be shared privately
> upon request. Note: the replay of deferred deletes on a resize abort
> (allocation failure in the copy loop) is covered by review only.
>
> Found with AI assistance (DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, see Assisted-by); the
> patch was reviewed, reproduced and tested by hand.
>
> net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_gen.h | 48 +++++++++++++++++----------
> 1 file changed, 31 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_gen.h b/net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_gen.h
> index 80ca523f304b..d94db604ed6b 100644
> --- a/net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_gen.h
> +++ b/net/netfilter/ipset/ip_set_hash_gen.h
> @@ -764,6 +764,7 @@ mtype_resize(struct ip_set *set, bool retried)
> 	struct hbucket *n, *m;
> 	struct list_head *l, *lt;
> 	struct mtype_resize_ad *x;
> +	LIST_HEAD(backlog);
> 	u32 i, j, r, nr, key;
> 	int ret;
>
> @@ -934,13 +935,21 @@ mtype_resize(struct ip_set *set, bool retried)
> 	if (ret == -EAGAIN)
> 		goto retry;
>
> -	/* Cleanup the backlog of ADD/DEL elements */
> +	/* Cleanup the backlog of ADD/DEL elements: kernel-side adds were
> +	 * applied to the original table, which is still the live table,
> +	 * so they are simply dropped. Kernel-side deletes were deferred,
> +	 * replay them against the original table.
> +	 */
> 	spin_lock_bh(&set->lock);
> -	list_for_each_safe(l, lt, &orig->ad) {
> +	list_splice_init(&orig->ad, &backlog);
> +	spin_unlock_bh(&set->lock);
> +	list_for_each_safe(l, lt, &backlog) {
> +		x = list_entry(l, struct mtype_resize_ad, list);
> 		list_del(l);
> -		kfree(l);
> +		if (x->ad == IPSET_DEL)
> +			mtype_del(set, &x->d, NULL, NULL, 0);
> +		kfree(x);
> 	}
> -	spin_unlock_bh(&set->lock);
> 	goto out;
>
> hbwarn:
> @@ -1217,6 +1226,24 @@ mtype_del(struct ip_set *set, void *value, const struct ip_set_ext *ext,
> 			goto out;
>
> 		ret = 0;
> +		if (t->resizing && ext && ext->target) {
> +			/* Resize is in process and kernel side del: do not
> +			 * delete the element and free its extensions here,
> +			 * the extensions may be shared with the copy in
> +			 * the new table. Save the values, the resize replays
> +			 * the delete against the new table.
> +			 */
> +			x = kzalloc_obj(struct mtype_resize_ad, GFP_ATOMIC);
> +			if (!x)
> +				/* Don't bother, deleting the element here
> +				 * could free the shared extensions twice.
> +				 */
> +				goto out;
> +			x->ad = IPSET_DEL;
> +			memcpy(&x->d, value, sizeof(struct mtype_elem));
> +			x->flags = flags;
> +			goto out;
> +		}
> 		clear_bit(i, n->used);
> 		smp_mb__after_atomic();
> 		if (i + 1 == pos)
> @@ -1224,19 +1251,6 @@ mtype_del(struct ip_set *set, void *value, const struct ip_set_ext *ext,
> 		t->hregion[r].elements--;
> 		mtype_del_cidr_all(set, h, d);
> 		ip_set_ext_destroy(set, data);
> -
> -		if (t->resizing && ext && ext->target) {
> -			/* Resize is in process and kernel side del,
> -			 * save values
> -			 */
> -			x = kzalloc_obj(struct mtype_resize_ad, GFP_ATOMIC);
> -			if (x) {
> -				x->ad = IPSET_DEL;
> -				memcpy(&x->d, value,
> -				       sizeof(struct mtype_elem));
> -				x->flags = flags;
> -			}
> -		}
> 		for (; i < pos; i++) {
> 			if (!test_bit(i, n->used))
> 				k++;
> -- 
> 2.53.0
>
>