From: Shashank Mohan Jain <jain.sm@gmail.com>
To: Eric Dumazet <edumazet@kernel.org>,
Neal Cardwell <ncardwell@google.com>,
Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>, Paolo Abeni <pabeni@redhat.com>,
"David S. Miller" <davem@davemloft.net>
Cc: Kuniyuki Iwashima <kuniyu@google.com>,
Simon Horman <horms@kernel.org>,
netdev@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH net-next v4 1/2] tcp: keep the route window metric when SO_RCVBUF is set before connect
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:27:14 +0530 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20261021155715.30094-2-jain.sm@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20261021155715.30094-1-jain.sm@gmail.com>
Since commit b025461303d8 ("tcp: update window_clamp when SO_RCVBUF is
set"), setsockopt(SO_RCVBUF) writes tp->window_clamp in every socket
state through tcp_set_window_clamp().
tcp_connect_init(), tcp_openreq_init_rwin() and the SYN cookie paths
(cookie_v4_check(), cookie_v6_check()) treat any non-zero window_clamp
as a clamp the user asked for and, in that case, skip the route window
metric (RTAX_WINDOW, "ip route ... window N"). A clamp left behind by an
SO_RCVBUF call therefore has two observable effects:
(1) on a route that carries an RTAX_WINDOW metric, SO_RCVBUF set before
connect() (or on a listener) changes the window and window scale
advertised in the SYN / SYN-ACK, because the route metric is no
longer applied;
(2) a window clamp the application set with setsockopt(TCP_WINDOW_CLAMP)
is overwritten by a later SO_RCVBUF on the still unconnected socket
or on a listener.
Without an RTAX_WINDOW metric and without TCP_WINDOW_CLAMP nothing
changes: before and after this patch the advertised window and scale
are derived from sk_rcvbuf (tcp_full_space()).
Keying the decision off the socket state is not enough, because the
socket is already in TCP_SYN_SENT before tcp_connect_init() runs.
SO_RCVBUF applied in that gap - through TCP_FASTOPEN_CONNECT before the
first write(), or through bpf_setsockopt() in a
BPF_SOCK_OPS_TCP_CONNECT_CB program - still lands before
tcp_connect_init().
Record instead the clamp the user set with TCP_WINDOW_CLAMP, in a new
tp->window_clamp_user field (0 when there is none; TCP_WINDOW_CLAMP=0
and tcp_disconnect() reset it), and use it as follows:
- tcp_connect_init() applies the route metric whenever there is no
user clamp, in any socket state.
- tcp_openreq_init_rwin(), cookie_v4_check() and cookie_v6_check() all
pick the request's clamp with the same new helper,
tcp_req_window_clamp(): the listener's window_clamp if the user set
one, else the route metric. The SYN-ACK and the SYN cookie path must
agree, or the child of a cookie would use a different receive window
scale than the one advertised in the SYN-ACK. The listener is not
locked on these paths, so the field is written with WRITE_ONCE() and
read with READ_ONCE().
- tcp_set_rcvbuf() keeps updating window_clamp from the buffer size,
but caps it at the user's clamp. SO_RCVBUF on an established socket
thus still grows window_clamp, which is what the commit above was
for, also after tcp_init_buffer_space() lowered it below the user's
clamp, but no longer above a clamp set with TCP_WINDOW_CLAMP.
A value is stored, not a flag, so that SO_RCVBUF can raise window_clamp
back up to the user's clamp. The new u32 sits in the cold part of
struct tcp_sock; on x86_64 the size of struct tcp_sock (2432 bytes, with
and without MPTCP) and the fast path cacheline groups do not change.
Example: two netns joined by a veth pair, "ip route ... window 4096" on
the routes between them, SO_RCVBUF set to 1 MiB:
before: SYN win 65535, wscale 5 (SO_RCVBUF before connect())
SYN-ACK win 65535, wscale 5 (SO_RCVBUF on the listener)
after: SYN win 2920, wscale 0
SYN-ACK win 2896, wscale 0
(the window scale option is still sent, with a shift of 0.)
The problem was found by code inspection, assisted by an LLM (Claude
Code, Claude Opus 5.5), while reviewing the commit above. It was
confirmed with a reproducer in a qemu guest (two netns joined by a veth
pair, "ip route ... window 4096", tcpdump of the SYN and SYN-ACK, and
TCP_INFO of both ends, including a SYN cookie case), and with the
packetdrill tests added by the next patch, which fail without this
patch and pass with it.
Fixes: b025461303d8 ("tcp: update window_clamp when SO_RCVBUF is set")
Assisted-by: LLM
Signed-off-by: Shashank Mohan Jain <jain.sm@gmail.com>
---
v4:
- also convert cookie_v4_check() and cookie_v6_check(); the SYN-ACK and
cookie paths now share tcp_req_window_clamp()
- store the user's clamp (u32 window_clamp_user, READ_ONCE/WRITE_ONCE)
instead of a bit, and let SO_RCVBUF raise window_clamp up to it
- add the field to net_cachelines/tcp_sock.rst
- say in the changelog how the bug was found and tested
.../networking/net_cachelines/tcp_sock.rst | 1 +
include/linux/tcp.h | 1 +
include/net/tcp.h | 14 ++++++++++++++
net/ipv4/syncookies.c | 3 +--
net/ipv4/tcp.c | 14 +++++++++++++-
net/ipv4/tcp_minisocks.c | 4 +---
net/ipv4/tcp_output.c | 2 +-
net/ipv6/syncookies.c | 2 +-
8 files changed, 33 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/networking/net_cachelines/tcp_sock.rst b/Documentation/networking/net_cachelines/tcp_sock.rst
index 103328dc409..f317c7154d2 100644
--- a/Documentation/networking/net_cachelines/tcp_sock.rst
+++ b/Documentation/networking/net_cachelines/tcp_sock.rst
@@ -152,6 +152,7 @@ u32 urg_seq
unsigned_int keepalive_time
unsigned_int keepalive_intvl
int linger2
+u32 window_clamp_user
u8 bpf_sock_ops_cb_flags
u8:1 bpf_chg_cc_inprogress
u16 timeout_rehash
diff --git a/include/linux/tcp.h b/include/linux/tcp.h
index e4d1720f49f..4f28fa6c4f4 100644
--- a/include/linux/tcp.h
+++ b/include/linux/tcp.h
@@ -474,6 +474,7 @@ struct tcp_sock {
unsigned int keepalive_intvl; /* time interval between keep alive probes */
int linger2;
+ u32 window_clamp_user; /* TCP_WINDOW_CLAMP set by the user, 0 if none */
/* Sock_ops bpf program related variables */
diff --git a/include/net/tcp.h b/include/net/tcp.h
index 0265c27a5fd..35b64fffd74 100644
--- a/include/net/tcp.h
+++ b/include/net/tcp.h
@@ -1879,6 +1879,20 @@ extern void tcp_openreq_init_rwin(struct request_sock *req,
const struct sock *sk_listener,
const struct dst_entry *dst);
+/* Window clamp for a request socket of listener @tp: the listener's clamp
+ * if the user set one with TCP_WINDOW_CLAMP, else the route window metric.
+ * The SYN-ACK and the SYN cookie paths must make the same choice, or the
+ * child's window scale would not match the one sent in the SYN-ACK.
+ * The listener is not locked here.
+ */
+static inline u32 tcp_req_window_clamp(const struct tcp_sock *tp,
+ const struct dst_entry *dst)
+{
+ if (READ_ONCE(tp->window_clamp_user))
+ return READ_ONCE(tp->window_clamp);
+ return dst_metric(dst, RTAX_WINDOW);
+}
+
void tcp_enter_memory_pressure(struct sock *sk);
void tcp_leave_memory_pressure(struct sock *sk);
diff --git a/net/ipv4/syncookies.c b/net/ipv4/syncookies.c
index 73e12976818..6e78efbdc31 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/syncookies.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/syncookies.c
@@ -472,8 +472,7 @@ struct sock *cookie_v4_check(struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *skb)
}
/* Try to redo what tcp_v4_send_synack did. */
- req->rsk_window_clamp = READ_ONCE(tp->window_clamp) ? :
- dst_metric(&rt->dst, RTAX_WINDOW);
+ req->rsk_window_clamp = tcp_req_window_clamp(tp, &rt->dst);
/* limit the window selection if the user enforce a smaller rx buffer */
full_space = tcp_full_space(sk);
if (sk->sk_userlocks & SOCK_RCVBUF_LOCK &&
diff --git a/net/ipv4/tcp.c b/net/ipv4/tcp.c
index 99d7237a623..64465bc257d 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/tcp.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/tcp.c
@@ -1859,7 +1859,15 @@ int tcp_set_rcvlowat(struct sock *sk, int val)
void tcp_set_rcvbuf(struct sock *sk, int val)
{
- tcp_set_window_clamp(sk, tcp_win_from_space(sk, val));
+ u32 user_clamp = tcp_sk(sk)->window_clamp_user;
+ int win = tcp_win_from_space(sk, val);
+
+ /* window_clamp follows the receive buffer, but never goes above a
+ * clamp the user set with TCP_WINDOW_CLAMP.
+ */
+ if (user_clamp)
+ win = min_t(u32, win, user_clamp);
+ tcp_set_window_clamp(sk, win);
}
#ifdef CONFIG_MMU
@@ -3429,6 +3437,7 @@ int tcp_disconnect(struct sock *sk, int flags)
tp->is_cwnd_limited = 0;
tp->max_packets_out = 0;
tp->window_clamp = 0;
+ WRITE_ONCE(tp->window_clamp_user, 0);
tp->delivered = 0;
tp->delivered_ce = 0;
tp->accecn_fail_mode = 0;
@@ -4058,6 +4067,9 @@ int do_tcp_setsockopt(struct sock *sk, int level, int optname,
case TCP_WINDOW_CLAMP:
err = tcp_set_window_clamp(sk, val);
+ if (!err)
+ WRITE_ONCE(tp->window_clamp_user,
+ val ? tp->window_clamp : 0);
break;
case TCP_QUICKACK:
diff --git a/net/ipv4/tcp_minisocks.c b/net/ipv4/tcp_minisocks.c
index 0ddfd5af6e5..c17dc5c4648 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/tcp_minisocks.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/tcp_minisocks.c
@@ -435,15 +435,13 @@ void tcp_openreq_init_rwin(struct request_sock *req,
struct inet_request_sock *ireq = inet_rsk(req);
const struct tcp_sock *tp = tcp_sk(sk_listener);
int full_space = tcp_full_space(sk_listener);
- u32 window_clamp;
__u8 rcv_wscale;
u32 rcv_wnd;
int mss;
mss = tcp_mss_clamp(tp, tcp_dst_advmss(dst));
- window_clamp = READ_ONCE(tp->window_clamp);
/* Set this up on the first call only */
- req->rsk_window_clamp = window_clamp ? : dst_metric(dst, RTAX_WINDOW);
+ req->rsk_window_clamp = tcp_req_window_clamp(tp, dst);
/* limit the window selection if the user enforce a smaller rx buffer */
if (sk_listener->sk_userlocks & SOCK_RCVBUF_LOCK &&
diff --git a/net/ipv4/tcp_output.c b/net/ipv4/tcp_output.c
index c8865205cdc..21b4ae303dd 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/tcp_output.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/tcp_output.c
@@ -4137,7 +4137,7 @@ static void tcp_connect_init(struct sock *sk)
tcp_ca_dst_init(sk, dst);
- if (!tp->window_clamp)
+ if (!tp->window_clamp_user)
WRITE_ONCE(tp->window_clamp, dst_metric(dst, RTAX_WINDOW));
tp->advmss = tcp_mss_clamp(tp, tcp_dst_advmss(dst));
diff --git a/net/ipv6/syncookies.c b/net/ipv6/syncookies.c
index b581cb1ee2e..d7d61f8d25e 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/syncookies.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/syncookies.c
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ struct sock *cookie_v6_check(struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *skb)
}
}
- req->rsk_window_clamp = READ_ONCE(tp->window_clamp) ? :dst_metric(dst, RTAX_WINDOW);
+ req->rsk_window_clamp = tcp_req_window_clamp(tp, dst);
/* limit the window selection if the user enforce a smaller rx buffer */
full_space = tcp_full_space(sk);
if (sk->sk_userlocks & SOCK_RCVBUF_LOCK &&
--
2.43.0
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-10-21 15:57 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 3+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-10-21 15:57 [PATCH net-next v4 0/2] " Shashank Mohan Jain
2026-10-21 15:57 ` Shashank Mohan Jain [this message]
2026-10-21 15:57 ` [PATCH net-next v4 2/2] selftests/net/packetdrill: cover SO_RCVBUF vs the route window clamp Shashank Mohan Jain
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