[PATCH net v2] macvlan: require init-userns CAP_NET_ADMIN to raise bc_queue_len

[PATCH net v2] macvlan: require init-userns CAP_NET_ADMIN to raise bc_queue_len

[Xiang Mei (Microsoft)]

IFLA_MACVLAN_BC_QUEUE_LEN accepts any u32 and becomes
port->bc_queue_len_used, the only bound on port->bc_queue. rtnetlink checks
CAP_NET_ADMIN against the target netns only, so a user who unshares a
user+net namespace, creates a veth and puts a macvlan on it can set the
backlog to 0xffffffff and flood broadcast frames until the host dies:

  Out of memory: Killed process 141 (su) UID:0
  Kernel panic - not syncing: System is deadlocked on memory
  Call Trace:
   vpanic (kernel/panic.c:650)
   panic (kernel/panic.c:787)
   out_of_memory (mm/oom_kill.c:1166)
   __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof (mm/page_alloc.c:4914)
   alloc_pages_mpol (mm/mempolicy.c:2490)
   folio_alloc_noprof (mm/mempolicy.c:2591)
   filemap_fault (mm/filemap.c:3565)

A fixed upper bound does not work. Deployments carrying 600-800 real-time
audio streams run bc_queue_len=100000, and no constant serves both cases:
the queue counts skbs, not bytes, and the frame size is attacker-chosen too
(up to ETH_MAX_MTU on a veth the caller creates).

Gate the elevated range on CAP_NET_ADMIN in the initial user namespace
instead. A backlog of that size is a host-wide tuning decision, and an
unprivileged owner of a namespace it created itself should not be able to
make it; privileged configurations keep working unchanged..

Fixes: d4bff72c8401 ("macvlan: Support for high multicast packet rate")
Reported-by: AutonomousCodeSecurity@microsoft.com
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260706212556.3199234-1-xmei5@asu.edu
Signed-off-by: Xiang Mei (Microsoft) <xmei5@asu.edu>
---
 drivers/net/macvlan.c | 9 +++++++++
 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+)

diff --git a/drivers/net/macvlan.c b/drivers/net/macvlan.c
index c40fa331836b..fc95654abca8 100644
--- a/drivers/net/macvlan.c
+++ b/drivers/net/macvlan.c
@@ -1335,6 +1335,15 @@ static int macvlan_validate(struct nlattr *tb[], struct nlattr *data[],
 	if (!data)
 		return 0;
 
+	if (data[IFLA_MACVLAN_BC_QUEUE_LEN] &&
+	    nla_get_u32(data[IFLA_MACVLAN_BC_QUEUE_LEN]) >
+			MACVLAN_DEFAULT_BC_QUEUE_LEN &&
+	    !capable(CAP_NET_ADMIN)) {
+		NL_SET_ERR_MSG_ATTR(extack, data[IFLA_MACVLAN_BC_QUEUE_LEN],
+				    "bc_queue_len above the default requires CAP_NET_ADMIN in the initial user namespace");
+		return -EPERM;
+	}
+
 	if (data[IFLA_MACVLAN_FLAGS] &&
 	    nla_get_u16(data[IFLA_MACVLAN_FLAGS]) & ~(MACVLAN_FLAG_NOPROMISC |
 						      MACVLAN_FLAG_NODST))
-- 
2.43.0

Re: [PATCH net v2] macvlan: require init-userns CAP_NET_ADMIN to raise bc_queue_len

[patchwork-bot+netdevbpf]

Hello:

This patch was applied to netdev/net-next.git (main)
by Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>:

On Wed, 29 Jul 2026 20:06:21 +0000 you wrote:
> IFLA_MACVLAN_BC_QUEUE_LEN accepts any u32 and becomes
> port->bc_queue_len_used, the only bound on port->bc_queue. rtnetlink checks
> CAP_NET_ADMIN against the target netns only, so a user who unshares a
> user+net namespace, creates a veth and puts a macvlan on it can set the
> backlog to 0xffffffff and flood broadcast frames until the host dies:
> 
>   Out of memory: Killed process 141 (su) UID:0
>   Kernel panic - not syncing: System is deadlocked on memory
>   Call Trace:
>    vpanic (kernel/panic.c:650)
>    panic (kernel/panic.c:787)
>    out_of_memory (mm/oom_kill.c:1166)
>    __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof (mm/page_alloc.c:4914)
>    alloc_pages_mpol (mm/mempolicy.c:2490)
>    folio_alloc_noprof (mm/mempolicy.c:2591)
>    filemap_fault (mm/filemap.c:3565)
> 
> [...]

Here is the summary with links:
  - [net,v2] macvlan: require init-userns CAP_NET_ADMIN to raise bc_queue_len
    https://git.kernel.org/netdev/net-next/c/1a930d5734b7

You are awesome, thank you!
-- 
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