[PATCH] ipv6: add `do_forwarding` sysctl to enable per-interface forwarding

[PATCH] ipv6: add `do_forwarding` sysctl to enable per-interface forwarding

[Gabriel Goller]

It is currently impossible to enable ipv6 forwarding on a per-interface
basis like in ipv4. To enable forwarding on an ipv6 interface we need to
enable it on all interfaces and disable it on the other interfaces using
a netfilter rule. This is especially cumbersome if you have lots of
interface and only want to enable forwarding on a few. According to the
sysctl docs [0] the `net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding` enables forwarding
for all interfaces, while the interface-specific
`net.ipv6.conf.<interface>.forwarding` configures the interface
Host/Router configuration.

Introduce a new sysctl flag `do_forwarding`, which can be set on every
interface. The ip6_forwarding function will then check if the global
forwarding flag OR the do_forwarding flag is active and forward the
packet. To preserver backwards-compatibility also reset the flag on all
interfaces when setting the global forwarding flag to 0.

[0]: https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.txt

Signed-off-by: Gabriel Goller <g.goller@proxmox.com>
---

* I don't have any hard feelings about the naming, Nicolas Dichtel
  proposed `fwd_per_iface` but I think `do_forwarding` is a better fit.
* I'm also not sure about the reset when setting the global forwarding
  flag; don't know if I did that right. Feedback is welcome!
* Thanks for the help!

 Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst |  5 +++++
 include/linux/ipv6.h                   |  1 +
 include/uapi/linux/ipv6.h              |  1 +
 include/uapi/linux/sysctl.h            |  1 +
 net/ipv6/addrconf.c                    | 21 +++++++++++++++++++++
 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c                  |  3 ++-
 6 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst b/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst
index 0f1251cce314..fa966a710e21 100644
--- a/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst
+++ b/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst
@@ -2292,6 +2292,11 @@ conf/all/forwarding - BOOLEAN
 proxy_ndp - BOOLEAN
 	Do proxy ndp.
 
+do_forwarding - BOOLEAN
+	Enable forwarding on this interface only -- regardless of the setting on
+	``conf/all/forwarding``. When setting ``conf.all.forwarding`` to 0,
+	the `do_forwarding` flag will be reset on all interfaces.
+
 fwmark_reflect - BOOLEAN
 	Controls the fwmark of kernel-generated IPv6 reply packets that are not
 	associated with a socket for example, TCP RSTs or ICMPv6 echo replies).
diff --git a/include/linux/ipv6.h b/include/linux/ipv6.h
index 5aeeed22f35b..74d7cfbb8f83 100644
--- a/include/linux/ipv6.h
+++ b/include/linux/ipv6.h
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ struct ipv6_devconf {
 	__s32		forwarding;
 	__s32		disable_policy;
 	__s32		proxy_ndp;
+	__u8		do_forwarding;
 	__cacheline_group_end(ipv6_devconf_read_txrx);
 
 	__s32		accept_ra;
diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/ipv6.h b/include/uapi/linux/ipv6.h
index cf592d7b630f..66147838bb83 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/ipv6.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/ipv6.h
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ enum {
 	DEVCONF_NDISC_EVICT_NOCARRIER,
 	DEVCONF_ACCEPT_UNTRACKED_NA,
 	DEVCONF_ACCEPT_RA_MIN_LFT,
+	DEVCONF_DO_FORWARDING,
 	DEVCONF_MAX
 };
 
diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/sysctl.h b/include/uapi/linux/sysctl.h
index 8981f00204db..d540689910ec 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/sysctl.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/sysctl.h
@@ -573,6 +573,7 @@ enum {
 	NET_IPV6_ACCEPT_RA_FROM_LOCAL=26,
 	NET_IPV6_ACCEPT_RA_RT_INFO_MIN_PLEN=27,
 	NET_IPV6_RA_DEFRTR_METRIC=28,
+	NET_IPV6_DO_FORWARDING=29,
 	__NET_IPV6_MAX
 };
 
diff --git a/net/ipv6/addrconf.c b/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
index ba2ec7c870cc..2f0c68428f63 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
@@ -239,6 +239,7 @@ static struct ipv6_devconf ipv6_devconf __read_mostly = {
 	.ndisc_evict_nocarrier	= 1,
 	.ra_honor_pio_life	= 0,
 	.ra_honor_pio_pflag	= 0,
+	.do_forwarding		= 0,
 };
 
 static struct ipv6_devconf ipv6_devconf_dflt __read_mostly = {
@@ -303,6 +304,7 @@ static struct ipv6_devconf ipv6_devconf_dflt __read_mostly = {
 	.ndisc_evict_nocarrier	= 1,
 	.ra_honor_pio_life	= 0,
 	.ra_honor_pio_pflag	= 0,
+	.do_forwarding		= 0,
 };
 
 /* Check if link is ready: is it up and is a valid qdisc available */
@@ -857,6 +859,15 @@ static void addrconf_forward_change(struct net *net, __s32 newf)
 		idev = __in6_dev_get_rtnl_net(dev);
 		if (idev) {
 			int changed = (!idev->cnf.forwarding) ^ (!newf);
+			/*
+			 * With the introduction of do_forwarding, we need to be backwards
+			 * compatible, so that means we need to set the do_forwarding flag
+			 * on every interface to 0 if net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding is set to 0.
+			 * This allows the global forwarding flag to disable forwarding for
+			 * all interfaces.
+			 */
+			if (newf == 0)
+				WRITE_ONCE(idev->cnf.do_forwarding, newf);
 
 			WRITE_ONCE(idev->cnf.forwarding, newf);
 			if (changed)
@@ -5719,6 +5730,7 @@ static void ipv6_store_devconf(const struct ipv6_devconf *cnf,
 	array[DEVCONF_ACCEPT_UNTRACKED_NA] =
 		READ_ONCE(cnf->accept_untracked_na);
 	array[DEVCONF_ACCEPT_RA_MIN_LFT] = READ_ONCE(cnf->accept_ra_min_lft);
+	array[DEVCONF_DO_FORWARDING] = READ_ONCE(cnf->do_forwarding);
 }
 
 static inline size_t inet6_ifla6_size(void)
@@ -7217,6 +7229,15 @@ static const struct ctl_table addrconf_sysctl[] = {
 		.extra1		= SYSCTL_ZERO,
 		.extra2		= SYSCTL_TWO,
 	},
+	{
+		.procname	= "do_forwarding",
+		.data		= &ipv6_devconf.do_forwarding,
+		.maxlen		= sizeof(u8),
+		.mode		= 0644,
+		.proc_handler	= proc_dou8vec_minmax,
+		.extra1		= SYSCTL_ZERO,
+		.extra2		= SYSCTL_ONE,
+	},
 };
 
 static int __addrconf_sysctl_register(struct net *net, char *dev_name,
diff --git a/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c b/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
index 7bd29a9ff0db..a75bbf54157e 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
@@ -509,7 +509,8 @@ int ip6_forward(struct sk_buff *skb)
 	u32 mtu;
 
 	idev = __in6_dev_get_safely(dev_get_by_index_rcu(net, IP6CB(skb)->iif));
-	if (READ_ONCE(net->ipv6.devconf_all->forwarding) == 0)
+	if ((idev && READ_ONCE(idev->cnf.do_forwarding) == 0) &&
+	    READ_ONCE(net->ipv6.devconf_all->forwarding) == 0)
 		goto error;
 
 	if (skb->pkt_type != PACKET_HOST)
-- 
2.39.5

Re: [PATCH] ipv6: add `do_forwarding` sysctl to enable per-interface forwarding

[Nicolas Dichtel]

Le 25/06/2025 à 16:26, Gabriel Goller a écrit :
> It is currently impossible to enable ipv6 forwarding on a per-interface
> basis like in ipv4. To enable forwarding on an ipv6 interface we need to
> enable it on all interfaces and disable it on the other interfaces using
> a netfilter rule. This is especially cumbersome if you have lots of
> interface and only want to enable forwarding on a few. According to the
> sysctl docs [0] the `net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding` enables forwarding
> for all interfaces, while the interface-specific
> `net.ipv6.conf.<interface>.forwarding` configures the interface
> Host/Router configuration.
> 
> Introduce a new sysctl flag `do_forwarding`, which can be set on every
> interface. The ip6_forwarding function will then check if the global
> forwarding flag OR the do_forwarding flag is active and forward the
> packet. To preserver backwards-compatibility also reset the flag on all
> interfaces when setting the global forwarding flag to 0.
> 
> [0]: https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.txt
> 
> Signed-off-by: Gabriel Goller <g.goller@proxmox.com>
Please, export this sysctl via a NETCONFA_DO_FORWARDING attribute also.

> ---
> 
> * I don't have any hard feelings about the naming, Nicolas Dichtel
>   proposed `fwd_per_iface` but I think `do_forwarding` is a better fit.
What about force_forwarding?

> * I'm also not sure about the reset when setting the global forwarding
>   flag; don't know if I did that right. Feedback is welcome!
It seems correct to me.

> * Thanks for the help!
Maybe you could align ipv6.all.do_forwarding on ipv4.all.forwarding, ie setting
all existing ipv6.*.do_forwarding.

https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/net/ipv4/devinet.c#n2423

Regards,
Nicolas

Re: [PATCH] ipv6: add `do_forwarding` sysctl to enable per-interface forwarding

[Gabriel Goller]

On 26.06.2025 16:51, Nicolas Dichtel wrote:
>Le 25/06/2025 à 16:26, Gabriel Goller a écrit :
>> It is currently impossible to enable ipv6 forwarding on a per-interface
>> basis like in ipv4. To enable forwarding on an ipv6 interface we need to
>> enable it on all interfaces and disable it on the other interfaces using
>> a netfilter rule. This is especially cumbersome if you have lots of
>> interface and only want to enable forwarding on a few. According to the
>> sysctl docs [0] the `net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding` enables forwarding
>> for all interfaces, while the interface-specific
>> `net.ipv6.conf.<interface>.forwarding` configures the interface
>> Host/Router configuration.
>>
>> Introduce a new sysctl flag `do_forwarding`, which can be set on every
>> interface. The ip6_forwarding function will then check if the global
>> forwarding flag OR the do_forwarding flag is active and forward the
>> packet. To preserver backwards-compatibility also reset the flag on all
>> interfaces when setting the global forwarding flag to 0.
>>
>> [0]: https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.txt
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Gabriel Goller <g.goller@proxmox.com>
>Please, export this sysctl via a NETCONFA_DO_FORWARDING attribute also.

Yep, will do.

>> ---
>>
>> * I don't have any hard feelings about the naming, Nicolas Dichtel
>>   proposed `fwd_per_iface` but I think `do_forwarding` is a better fit.
>What about force_forwarding?

I Agree!

>> * I'm also not sure about the reset when setting the global forwarding
>>   flag; don't know if I did that right. Feedback is welcome!
>It seems correct to me.
>
>> * Thanks for the help!
>Maybe you could align ipv6.all.do_forwarding on ipv4.all.forwarding, ie setting
>all existing ipv6.*.do_forwarding.
>https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/net/ipv4/devinet.c#n2423

Also done!

>Regards,
>Nicolas

Sent a new patch just now, thanks for reviewing!

Re: [PATCH] ipv6: add `do_forwarding` sysctl to enable per-interface forwarding

[Nicolas Dichtel]

Le 27/06/2025 à 16:47, Gabriel Goller a écrit :
[snip]
> 
> Sent a new patch just now, thanks for reviewing!
> 
FWIW, I didn't see any new patch from you.


Regards,
Nicolas

Re: [PATCH] ipv6: add `do_forwarding` sysctl to enable per-interface forwarding

[Gabriel Goller]

On 30.06.2025 16:53, Nicolas Dichtel wrote:
>Le 27/06/2025 à 16:47, Gabriel Goller a écrit :
>[snip]
>>
>> Sent a new patch just now, thanks for reviewing!
>>
>FWIW, I didn't see any new patch from you.

It's out now, forgot to actually send it -_-

>Regards,
>Nicolas