[PATCH 6.1 139/481] net: ipv6: fix panic when IPv4 route references loopback IPv6 nexthop

Greg Kroah-Hartman
2026-03-23T16:14:24Z

6.1-stable review patch. If anyone has any objections, please let me know.

------------------

From: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@shopee.com>

[ Upstream commit 21ec92774d1536f71bdc90b0e3d052eff99cf093 ]

When a standalone IPv6 nexthop object is created with a loopback device
(e.g., "ip -6 nexthop add id 100 dev lo"), fib6_nh_init() misclassifies
it as a reject route. This is because nexthop objects have no destination
prefix (fc_dst=::), causing fib6_is_reject() to match any loopback
nexthop. The reject path skips fib_nh_common_init(), leaving
nhc_pcpu_rth_output unallocated. If an IPv4 route later references this
nexthop, __mkroute_output() dereferences NULL nhc_pcpu_rth_output and
panics.

Simplify the check in fib6_nh_init() to only match explicit reject
routes (RTF_REJECT) instead of using fib6_is_reject(). The loopback
promotion heuristic in fib6_is_reject() is handled separately by
ip6_route_info_create_nh(). After this change, the three cases behave
as follows:

1. Explicit reject route ("ip -6 route add unreachable 2001:db8::/64"):
RTF_REJECT is set, enters reject path, skips fib_nh_common_init().
No behavior change.

2. Implicit loopback reject route ("ip -6 route add 2001:db8::/32 dev lo"):
RTF_REJECT is not set, takes normal path, fib_nh_common_init() is
called. ip6_route_info_create_nh() still promotes it to reject
afterward. nhc_pcpu_rth_output is allocated but unused, which is
harmless.

3. Standalone nexthop object ("ip -6 nexthop add id 100 dev lo"):
RTF_REJECT is not set, takes normal path, fib_nh_common_init() is
called. nhc_pcpu_rth_output is properly allocated, fixing the crash
when IPv4 routes reference this nexthop.

Suggested-by: Ido Schimmel <idosch@nvidia.com>
Fixes: 493ced1ac47c ("ipv4: Allow routes to use nexthop objects")
Reported-by: syzbot+334190e097a98a1b81bb@syzkaller.appspotmail.com
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/all/698f8482.a70a0220.2c38d7.00ca.GAE@google.com/T/
Signed-off-by: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@shopee.com>
Reviewed-by: Ido Schimmel <idosch@nvidia.com>
Reviewed-by: David Ahern <dsahern@kernel.org>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260304113817.294966-2-jiayuan.chen@linux.dev
Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin <sashal@kernel.org>
---
net/ipv6/route.c | 8 +++-----
1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/net/ipv6/route.c b/net/ipv6/route.c
index 5aa5390da1095..987ef0954e2ea 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/route.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/route.c
@@ -3558,7 +3558,6 @@ int fib6_nh_init(struct net *net, struct fib6_nh *fib6_nh,
{
struct net_device *dev = NULL;
struct inet6_dev *idev = NULL;
- int addr_type;
int err;

fib6_nh->fib_nh_family = AF_INET6;
@@ -3599,11 +3598,10 @@ int fib6_nh_init(struct net *net, struct fib6_nh *fib6_nh,

fib6_nh->fib_nh_weight = 1;

- /* We cannot add true routes via loopback here,
- * they would result in kernel looping; promote them to reject routes
+ /* Reset the nexthop device to the loopback device in case of reject
+ * routes.
*/
- addr_type = ipv6_addr_type(&cfg->fc_dst);
- if (fib6_is_reject(cfg->fc_flags, dev, addr_type)) {
+ if (cfg->fc_flags & RTF_REJECT) {
/* hold loopback dev/idev if we haven't done so. */
if (dev != net->loopback_dev) {
if (dev) {
--
2.51.0