[PATCH nf] netfilter: nft_fib: bail out if input device is missing

[PATCH nf] netfilter: nft_fib: bail out if input device is missing

[Xiang Mei (Microsoft)]

nft_fib_can_skip() dereferences the input device (indev->ifindex, and
in->flags via nft_fib_is_loopback()) without a NULL check, assuming the
hook switch only admits PRE_ROUTING/INGRESS/LOCAL_IN. But NF_NETDEV_EGRESS
== NF_INET_LOCAL_IN == 1, so a netdev-family base chain on the egress hook
passes both the switch and nft_fib_validate() (which also keys only on the
hook number). Egress packets have no input device, so nft_fib_can_skip()
dereferences NULL.

  KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x00000000000000b0-0x00000000000000b7]
  RIP: 0010:nft_fib4_eval (net/netfilter/nft_fib.h:19)
   nft_do_chain (net/netfilter/nf_tables_core.c:285)
   nft_do_chain_netdev (net/netfilter/nft_chain_filter.c:307)
   nf_hook_slow (net/netfilter/core.c:619)
   __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4799)
   ...
  Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt

The eval path touched the device only via l3mdev_master_ifindex_rcu(),
which tolerates NULL, until
commit eaaff9b6702e ("netfilter: fib: avoid lookup if socket is available")
added the sk/indev dereference. Restore the old behaviour by returning
early when indev is NULL, so the packet takes the regular FIB lookup.
Receive-side hooks always have an input device and are unaffected.

Fixes: eaaff9b6702e ("netfilter: fib: avoid lookup if socket is available")
Reported-by: AutonomousCodeSecurity@microsoft.com
Signed-off-by: Xiang Mei (Microsoft) <xmei5@asu.edu>
---
 include/net/netfilter/nft_fib.h | 3 +++
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+)

diff --git a/include/net/netfilter/nft_fib.h b/include/net/netfilter/nft_fib.h
index e0422456f27b..d53e5a5214fe 100644
--- a/include/net/netfilter/nft_fib.h
+++ b/include/net/netfilter/nft_fib.h
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ static inline bool nft_fib_can_skip(const struct nft_pktinfo *pkt)
 		return false;
 	}
 
+	if (!indev)
+		return false;
+
 	sk = pkt->skb->sk;
 	if (sk && sk_fullsock(sk))
 	       return sk->sk_rx_dst_ifindex == indev->ifindex;
-- 
2.43.0

Re: [PATCH nf] netfilter: nft_fib: bail out if input device is missing

[Pablo Neira Ayuso]

Hi,

On Mon, Jul 13, 2026 at 06:36:14PM +0000, Xiang Mei (Microsoft) wrote:
> nft_fib_can_skip() dereferences the input device (indev->ifindex, and
> in->flags via nft_fib_is_loopback()) without a NULL check, assuming the
> hook switch only admits PRE_ROUTING/INGRESS/LOCAL_IN. But NF_NETDEV_EGRESS
> == NF_INET_LOCAL_IN == 1, so a netdev-family base chain on the egress hook
> passes both the switch and nft_fib_validate() (which also keys only on the
> hook number). Egress packets have no input device, so nft_fib_can_skip()
> dereferences NULL.

By reading your description, does your kernel include this patch?

commit d07955dd34ecae17d35d8c7d0a273a3fba653a8c
Author: Theodor Arsenij Larionov-Trichkine <theodorlarionov@gmail.com>
Date:   Mon Jun 29 12:53:11 2026 +0200
 
    netfilter: nft_fib: reject fib expression on the netdev egress hook

Re: [PATCH nf] netfilter: nft_fib: bail out if input device is missing

[Xiang Mei]

On Mon, Jul 13, 2026 at 2:11 PM Pablo Neira Ayuso <pablo@netfilter.org> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> On Mon, Jul 13, 2026 at 06:36:14PM +0000, Xiang Mei (Microsoft) wrote:
> > nft_fib_can_skip() dereferences the input device (indev->ifindex, and
> > in->flags via nft_fib_is_loopback()) without a NULL check, assuming the
> > hook switch only admits PRE_ROUTING/INGRESS/LOCAL_IN. But NF_NETDEV_EGRESS
> > == NF_INET_LOCAL_IN == 1, so a netdev-family base chain on the egress hook
> > passes both the switch and nft_fib_validate() (which also keys only on the
> > hook number). Egress packets have no input device, so nft_fib_can_skip()
> > dereferences NULL.
>
> By reading your description, does your kernel include this patch?
>
Thanks for pointing this out. I just rechecked my verification script
and found a bug that failed to pull the latest version of nf.
(I wrongly assumed it succeeded and checked on a code-based one month older).

Sorry for the false alarm. Nvm about this email; I fixed the issue,
and it won't happen again.

Xiang

> commit d07955dd34ecae17d35d8c7d0a273a3fba653a8c
> Author: Theodor Arsenij Larionov-Trichkine <theodorlarionov@gmail.com>
> Date:   Mon Jun 29 12:53:11 2026 +0200
>
>     netfilter: nft_fib: reject fib expression on the netdev egress hook
>