From: Willem de Bruijn <willemdebruijn.kernel@gmail.com>
To: Norbert Szetei <norbert@doyensec.com>, netdev@vger.kernel.org
Cc: "David S. Miller" <davem@davemloft.net>,
Eric Dumazet <edumazet@google.com>,
Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>,
Paolo Abeni <pabeni@redhat.com>,
Simon Horman <horms@kernel.org>,
Aaron Conole <aconole@redhat.com>,
Eelco Chaudron <echaudro@redhat.com>,
Ilya Maximets <i.maximets@ovn.org>,
Steffen Klassert <steffen.klassert@secunet.com>,
Kuan-Ting Chen <h3xrabbit@gmail.com>,
"Michael S. Tsirkin" <mst@redhat.com>,
Willem de Bruijn <willemb@google.com>,
linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, dev@openvswitch.org,
Jongmin Jang <payload.jang@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH net v4 3/3] net: skbuff: don't touch shared zerocopy state in skb_tx_error()
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2026 14:26:51 -0400 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <willemdebruijn.kernel.18d6500676cf5@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <CFAB292A-674B-4C14-BB2C-BB8830AD5659@doyensec.com>
Norbert Szetei wrote:
> skb_tx_error() completes the zerocopy uarg and clears
> SKBFL_ALL_ZEROCOPY, and skb_zcopy_downgrade_managed() clears
> SKBFL_MANAGED_FRAG_REFS. Both live in skb_shinfo(), which every clone
> shares, while the caller only owns the reference it is about to drop.
> Through a clone it tells the producer its pages are free and drops
> SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG for an skb that is still in flight.
>
> Open vSwitch reaches this with a non-last OVS_ACTION_ATTR_RECIRC:
> clone_execute() sends a skb_clone() into ovs_dp_process_packet() while
> do_execute_actions() keeps forwarding the original, and skb_clone()
> does not privatise the frags here -- skb_orphan_frags() returns early
> on SKBFL_DONT_ORPHAN. A flow miss on the clone then strips the marker
> from the packet still being forwarded, and a later local ESP delivery
> decrypts in place over frags it does not own privately.
>
> Skip it for a cloned skb. Nothing is lost: skb_release_data() clears
> the zerocopy state once the last reference to the shared data goes.
>
> Fixes: 25121173f7b1 ("skb: api to report errors for zero copy skbs")
> Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
> Suggested-by: Ilya Maximets <i.maximets@ovn.org>
> Signed-off-by: Norbert Szetei <norbert@doyensec.com>
> Reviewed-by: Ilya Maximets <i.maximets@ovn.org>
> Tested-by: Jongmin Jang <payload.jang@gmail.com>
Reviewed-by: Willem de Bruijn <willemb@google.com>
Took me some time to wrap my head around this one, because
There are two independent types of zerocopy in this context:
1. skb_zerocopy(), used by nfqueue and ovs to create a derived skb
2. skb_zcopy(), skbs with "zerocopy" page frags
And there second has two variants:
2A. original, such as vhost-net, that do not support refcounting and
thus must be downgraded on skb_clone() and such
2B. SKBFL_DONT_ORPHAN, that support clones through refcounting
The bug here is modifying shared shinfo fields of cloned skbs, so
affects type 2B skbs only.
skb_tx_error was introduced for type 2A skbs, predates refcounting.
For type 2B, the signal is indeed generated at skb_release_data.
So LGTM.
> ---
> net/core/skbuff.c | 5 ++++-
> 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/net/core/skbuff.c b/net/core/skbuff.c
> index ab3d161247b9..b9541329f1a7 100644
> --- a/net/core/skbuff.c
> +++ b/net/core/skbuff.c
> @@ -1417,10 +1417,13 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(skb_dump);
> *
> * Report xmit error if a device callback is tracking this skb.
> * skb must be freed afterwards.
> + *
> + * Does nothing for a cloned skb: the zerocopy state lives in
> + * skb_shinfo(), which the clones share.
> */
> void skb_tx_error(struct sk_buff *skb)
> {
> - if (skb) {
> + if (skb && !skb_cloned(skb)) {
> skb_zcopy_downgrade_managed(skb);
> skb_zcopy_clear(skb, true);
> }
> --
> 2.55.0
>
prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-08-23 18:26 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 6+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-08-22 9:10 [PATCH net v4 0/3] net: don't strip zerocopy frag markers from a forwarded skb Norbert Szetei
2026-08-22 9:12 ` [PATCH net v4 1/3] openvswitch: only skb_tx_error() a packet we are about to drop Norbert Szetei
2026-08-22 9:13 ` [PATCH net v4 2/3] net: skbuff: don't skb_tx_error() the source skb in skb_zerocopy() Norbert Szetei
2026-08-22 20:58 ` Willem de Bruijn
2026-08-22 9:15 ` [PATCH net v4 3/3] net: skbuff: don't touch shared zerocopy state in skb_tx_error() Norbert Szetei
2026-08-23 18:26 ` Willem de Bruijn [this message]
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