From: netdev-bot+sashiko@kernel.org
To: kuniyu@google.com
Cc: andrew+netdev@lunn.ch, davem@davemloft.net, edumazet@google.com,
kuba@kernel.org, pabeni@redhat.com, dsahern@kernel.org,
idosch@nvidia.com, horms@kernel.org, kuni1840@gmail.com,
netdev@vger.kernel.org, razor@blackwall.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH v6 net-next 08/15] ipv4: Replace &arp_tbl with arp_table(net).
Date: Fri, 04 Sep 2026 03:09:58 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <178849139822.4131868.12725598676678725342@kernel.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260902203722.926528-9-kuniyu@google.com>
Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 3 potential
issue(s) to consider:
Critical: 0 · High: 1 · Medium: 0 (1) · Low: 2
- [High] mlx5e_tc_update_neigh_used_value()
(drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en/tc_tun_encap.c) now…
- [Low] Documentation/networking/switchdev.rst still instructs switchdev
driver authors to resolve nexthops against, and monitor updates to,…
- [Low] The patch introduces new reads of the RCU-protected netns pointer
dev->nd_net via the non-RCU accessor dev_net() in paths that run only…
Pre-existing issues:
- [Medium] The neighbour fallback path in mlx5e_ipsec_init_macs()
(drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_accel/ipsec.c, label…
--
ipv4: Replace &arp_tbl with arp_table(net).
In preparation for per-netns neighbour tables, this converts all users of
the global arp_tbl to the arp_table(net) accessor, makes arp_tbl static in
net/ipv4/arp.c and drops its EXPORT_SYMBOL. It also removes some driver
checks that compared n->tbl against &arp_tbl and &nd_tbl.
A few questions below.
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en/tc_tun_encap.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en/tc_tun_encap.c
> index 8b827201935e..33737a29ab97 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en/tc_tun_encap.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en/tc_tun_encap.c
> @@ -393,20 +393,10 @@ void mlx5e_tc_update_neigh_used_value(struct mlx5e_neigh_hash_entry *nhe)
> struct mlx5e_encap_entry *e = NULL;
> struct mlx5e_tc_flow *flow;
> struct mlx5_fc *counter;
> - struct neigh_table *tbl;
> bool neigh_used = false;
> struct neighbour *n;
> u64 lastuse;
>
> - if (m_neigh->family == AF_INET)
> - tbl = &arp_tbl;
> -#if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_IPV6)
> - else if (m_neigh->family == AF_INET6)
> - tbl = &nd_tbl;
> -#endif
> - else
> - return;
> -
> /* mlx5e_get_next_valid_encap() releases previous encap before returning
> * next one.
> */
> @@ -447,12 +437,23 @@ void mlx5e_tc_update_neigh_used_value(struct mlx5e_neigh_hash_entry *nhe)
> trace_mlx5e_tc_update_neigh_used_value(nhe, neigh_used);
>
> if (neigh_used) {
> + struct net_device *dev = READ_ONCE(nhe->neigh_dev);
> + struct net *net = dev_net(dev);
> + struct neigh_table *tbl;
[Severity: High]
Is nhe->neigh_dev safe to dereference here? As far as I can tell no
reference is taken on it. It is only stored:
drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en/rep/neigh.c:mlx5e_rep_neigh_entry_create() {
...
WRITE_ONCE((*nhe)->neigh_dev, neigh_dev);
...
}
and there is no netdev_hold()/dev_hold() for it anywhere, and no
NETDEV_UNREGISTER handling in the mlx5 rep neigh code that would clear it.
The rest of the driver only ever compares the field, never dereferences it:
drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en/rep/neigh.c:mlx5e_rep_neigh_update() {
...
same_dev = READ_ONCE(nhe->neigh_dev) == n->dev;
...
}
Before this patch the pointer was only handed to neigh_lookup(), which
never loads from the netdev (arp_hashfn() uses hash32_ptr(dev) and the
lookup only compares n->dev == dev), so a stale pointer was harmless.
Now dev_net(dev) reads dev->nd_net and the result is dereferenced again by
arp_table(net) as net->neigh_tables[NEIGH_ARP_TABLE].
If the cached route egress device (for example a vlan or bond on top of the
uplink) was unregistered and freed while the nhe is still alive, does this
read freed memory and then index a garbage struct net? The reachable path
is the periodic work:
drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en/rep/neigh.c:mlx5e_rep_neigh_stats_work() {
...
while ((nhe = mlx5e_get_next_nhe(rpriv, nhe)) != NULL)
mlx5e_tc_update_neigh_used_value(nhe);
...
}
and rtnl_lock() held there does not keep an already-unregistered netdev
alive, since free_netdev() runs from netdev_run_todo() after rtnl_unlock().
Also, note 3 in the changelog says:
"3. mlx5e_tc_update_neigh_used_value() dereferences nhe->neigh_dev
in trace_mlx5e_tc_update_neigh_used_value()."
Does that justification hold? The tracepoint dereference lives in
TP_fast_assign():
drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/diag/en_tc_tracepoint.h:
TP_STRUCT__entry(__string(devname, nhe->neigh_dev->name)
which only runs when the tracepoint is enabled, so it does not show the
pointer is safe to dereference unconditionally.
Would deriving the netns from a refcounted device such as e->out_dev or
priv->netdev work instead?
> nhe->reported_lastuse = jiffies;
>
> +#if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_IPV6)
> + if (m_neigh->family != AF_INET)
> + tbl = &nd_tbl;
> + else
> +#endif
> + tbl = arp_table(net);
> +
> /* find the relevant neigh according to the cached device and
> * dst ip pair
> */
> - n = neigh_lookup(tbl, &m_neigh->dst_ip, READ_ONCE(nhe->neigh_dev));
> + n = neigh_lookup(tbl, &m_neigh->dst_ip, dev);
> if (!n)
> return;
>
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_accel/ipsec.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_accel/ipsec.c
> index db260e3d1412..37a8ddee3ea1 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_accel/ipsec.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_accel/ipsec.c
> @@ -364,9 +365,10 @@ static void mlx5e_ipsec_init_macs(struct mlx5e_ipsec_sa_entry *sa_entry,
> return;
>
> neigh:
> - n = neigh_lookup(&arp_tbl, pkey, netdev);
> + tbl = arp_table(dev_net(netdev));
> + n = neigh_lookup(tbl, pkey, netdev);
> if (!n) {
> - n = neigh_create(&arp_tbl, pkey, netdev);
> + n = neigh_create(tbl, pkey, netdev);
> if (IS_ERR(n))
> return;
> neigh_event_send(n, NULL);
[Severity: Medium]
This isn't a bug introduced by this patch, since the pre-patch code already
used &arp_tbl unconditionally here, but should this fallback pick the table
based on addrs->family?
The AF_INET6 branch above can reach this label with a 16-byte key:
drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_accel/ipsec.c:mlx5e_ipsec_init_macs() {
...
pkey = &addrs->saddr.a6;
...
case AF_INET6:
if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_IPV6) ||
ip6_dst_lookup(dev_net(netdev), NULL, &rt_dst_entry, &fl6))
goto neigh;
...
}
and the ARP table has .family = AF_INET and .key_len = 4, so the lookup
hashes and compares only the first 4 bytes of the IPv6 address. Can
neigh_create() then install a bogus ARP entry and send an ARP request for
an address made from those 4 bytes, leaving the IPv6 packet-offload SA with
attrs->drop set or an unrelated MAC? A separate fix using the netns ND
table for AF_INET6 seems needed.
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/netronome/nfp/flower/tunnel_conf.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/netronome/nfp/flower/tunnel_conf.c
> index ca30702f8878..551db6417405 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/netronome/nfp/flower/tunnel_conf.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/netronome/nfp/flower/tunnel_conf.c
> @@ -235,7 +236,8 @@ void nfp_tunnel_keep_alive(struct nfp_app *app, struct sk_buff *skb)
> if (!netdev)
> continue;
>
> - n = neigh_lookup(&arp_tbl, &ipv4_addr, netdev);
> + tbl = arp_table(dev_net(netdev));
> + n = neigh_lookup(tbl, &ipv4_addr, netdev);
> if (!n)
> continue;
>
[ ... ]
> diff --git a/drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_core.c b/drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_core.c
> index 459f19f7071e..03e932744e3e 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_core.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_core.c
> @@ -1841,11 +1841,12 @@ static int vxlan_err_lookup(struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *skb)
>
> static int arp_reduce(struct net_device *dev, struct sk_buff *skb, __be32 vni)
> {
> + struct neigh_table *tbl = arp_table(dev_net(dev));
> struct vxlan_dev *vxlan = netdev_priv(dev);
> + struct neighbour *n;
> struct arphdr *parp;
> u8 *arpptr, *sha;
> __be32 sip, tip;
> - struct neighbour *n;
[ ... ]
> diff --git a/include/net/arp.h b/include/net/arp.h
> index f8d18b1f8b28..e932def63d62 100644
> --- a/include/net/arp.h
> +++ b/include/net/arp.h
> @@ -7,8 +7,6 @@
> #include <linux/hash.h>
> #include <net/neighbour.h>
>
> -extern struct neigh_table arp_tbl;
> -
> static inline struct neigh_table *arp_table(struct net *net)
> {
> return net->neigh_tables[NEIGH_ARP_TABLE];
> @@ -25,10 +23,12 @@ static inline u32 arp_hashfn(const void *pkey, const struct net_device *dev, u32
> #ifdef CONFIG_INET
> static inline struct neighbour *__ipv4_neigh_lookup_noref(struct net_device *dev, u32 key)
> {
> + struct neigh_table *tbl = arp_table(dev_net(dev));
> +
> if (dev->flags & (IFF_LOOPBACK | IFF_POINTOPOINT))
> key = INADDR_ANY;
>
> - return ___neigh_lookup_noref(&arp_tbl, neigh_key_eq32, arp_hashfn, &key, dev);
> + return ___neigh_lookup_noref(tbl, neigh_key_eq32, arp_hashfn, &key, dev);
> }
[Severity: Low]
Should these new netns reads use dev_net_rcu() instead of dev_net()?
possible_net_t holds a struct net __rcu *net published with
rcu_assign_pointer() via write_pnet(), and the two accessors differ:
include/net/net_namespace.h:
static inline struct net *read_pnet(const possible_net_t *pnet)
{
return rcu_dereference_protected(pnet->net, true);
}
...
static inline struct net *read_pnet_rcu(const possible_net_t *pnet)
{
return rcu_dereference(pnet->net);
}
dev_net() goes through read_pnet(), which asserts unconditionally that the
caller holds RTNL or a device reference, so it silently turns off
lockdep/sparse RCU checking on these new dereferences.
The sites added by this patch that run under rcu_read_lock() only are
__ipv4_neigh_lookup_noref() and ip_neigh_gw4() (reached from
ip_finish_output2()), br_do_proxy_suppress_arp(), the vxlan
arp_reduce()/route_shortcircuit() xmit paths, and nfp_tunnel_keep_alive(),
which is called inside its own rcu_read_lock(). None of them held RTNL or
a netns reference before, and none of them read dev->nd_net at all before
this patch.
The dev_net() uses in inetdev_init(), inetdev_destroy() and arp_ifdown()
look fine since RTNL is held there.
> diff --git a/include/net/route.h b/include/net/route.h
> index 45290177a33c..6b55de2e4df8 100644
> --- a/include/net/route.h
> +++ b/include/net/route.h
> @@ -405,8 +405,11 @@ static inline struct neighbour *ip_neigh_gw4(struct net_device *dev,
> struct neighbour *neigh;
>
> neigh = __ipv4_neigh_lookup_noref(dev, (__force u32)daddr);
> - if (unlikely(!neigh))
> - neigh = __neigh_create(&arp_tbl, &daddr, dev, false);
> + if (unlikely(!neigh)) {
> + struct neigh_table *tbl = arp_table(dev_net(dev));
> +
> + neigh = __neigh_create(tbl, &daddr, dev, false);
> + }
>
> return neigh;
> }
> diff --git a/net/bridge/br_arp_nd_proxy.c b/net/bridge/br_arp_nd_proxy.c
> index 87a40e2f1c50..92a3abb1e357 100644
> --- a/net/bridge/br_arp_nd_proxy.c
> +++ b/net/bridge/br_arp_nd_proxy.c
> @@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ void br_do_proxy_suppress_arp(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_bridge *br,
> return;
> }
>
> - n = neigh_lookup(&arp_tbl, &tip, vlandev);
> + n = neigh_lookup(arp_table(dev_net(vlandev)), &tip, vlandev);
> if (n) {
> struct net_bridge_fdb_entry *f;
> u8 ha[ETH_ALEN] __aligned(2);
> diff --git a/net/ipv4/arp.c b/net/ipv4/arp.c
> index 824c65c70408..a44fa68fdd07 100644
> --- a/net/ipv4/arp.c
> +++ b/net/ipv4/arp.c
> @@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ static const struct neigh_ops arp_direct_ops = {
> .connected_output = neigh_direct_output,
> };
>
> -struct neigh_table arp_tbl = {
> +static struct neigh_table arp_tbl = {
> .family = AF_INET,
> .key_len = 4,
> .protocol = cpu_to_be16(ETH_P_IP),
> @@ -182,7 +182,6 @@ struct neigh_table arp_tbl = {
> .gc_thresh2 = 512,
> .gc_thresh3 = 1024,
> };
> -EXPORT_SYMBOL(arp_tbl);
[Severity: Low]
Should Documentation/networking/switchdev.rst be updated in this patch too?
Its Nexthop Resolution section still tells switchdev driver authors to use
the symbol that becomes file-local here, in four places:
"address discovery comes via the ARP (or ND) process and is available via
the arp_tbl neighbor table."
"The driver can monitor for updates to arp_tbl using the netevent notifier
NETEVENT_NEIGH_UPDATE. ... The driver implements ndo_neigh_destroy to know
when arp_tbl neighbor entries are purged from the port."
At this commit, git grep arp_tbl matches only net/ipv4/arp.c and
Documentation/networking/switchdev.rst, and the doc points at rocker as the
reference implementation while rocker itself is converted to
arp_table(&init_net) here. The doc also never mentions arp_table(net) or
the new requirement to pick the table belonging to the device's netns (or
init_net for netns-immutable devices). The text is still unchanged at the
end of the series (d4be111038a59be6217f9b018ec033041ab7bf2a).
[ ... ]
--
Sashiko AI review · https://netdev-ai.bots.linux.dev/sashiko/#/patchset/20260902203722.926528-1-kuniyu%40google.com
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-09-04 3:09 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 25+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-09-02 20:36 [PATCH v6 net-next 00/15] neighbour: Namespacify arp_tbl and nd_tbl Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 01/15] selftest: net: Deflake Periodic GC test in test_neigh.sh Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-04 3:09 ` netdev-bot+sashiko
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 02/15] neighbour: Remove __neigh_for_each_release() Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 03/15] neighbour: Remove lock dance for neigh_update_{gc,managed}_list() Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 04/15] neighbour: Remove unnecessary EXPORT_SYMBOL() Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 05/15] neighbour: Remove __rcu from neigh_tables[] Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 06/15] neighbour: Store arp_tbl and nd_tbl in net->neigh_tables[] Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-04 3:09 ` netdev-bot+sashiko
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 07/15] neighbour: Remove neigh_tables[] Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 08/15] ipv4: Replace &arp_tbl with arp_table(net) Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-04 3:09 ` netdev-bot+sashiko [this message]
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 09/15] ipv6: Replace &nd_tbl with nd_table(net) Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-04 3:09 ` netdev-bot+sashiko
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 10/15] neighbour: Clean up neigh_table_init() and neigh_table_clear() Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-04 3:10 ` netdev-bot+sashiko
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 11/15] neighbour: Convert neigh_table.entries to refcount_t Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-04 3:10 ` netdev-bot+sashiko
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 12/15] neighbour: Namespacify neigh_tables Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-04 3:10 ` netdev-bot+sashiko
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 13/15] neighbour: Don't store net in struct pneigh_entry Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 14/15] neighbour: Remove unnecessary net_eq() Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-02 20:36 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 15/15] selftest: net: Specify netns for ip ntable in test_neigh.sh Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-09-04 3:10 ` netdev-bot+sashiko
2026-09-03 12:46 ` [PATCH v6 net-next 00/15] neighbour: Namespacify arp_tbl and nd_tbl Ido Schimmel
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