Re: [PATCH net] xfrm_output: Force software GSO only in tunnel mode

[Leon Romanovsky <leon@kernel.org>]

On Wed, Feb 19, 2025 at 12:52:48PM +0200, Cosmin Ratiu wrote:
> The cited commit fixed a software GSO bug with VXLAN + IPSec in tunnel
> mode. Unfortunately, it is slightly broader than necessary, as it also
> severely affects performance for Geneve + IPSec transport mode over a
> device capable of both HW GSO and IPSec crypto offload. In this case,
> xfrm_output unnecessarily triggers software GSO instead of letting the
> HW do it. In simple iperf3 tests over Geneve + IPSec transport mode over
> a back-2-back pair of NICs with MTU 1500, the performance was observed
> to be up to 6x worse when doing software GSO compared to leaving it to
> the hardware.
> 
> This commit makes xfrm_output only trigger software GSO in crypto
> offload cases for already encapsulated packets in tunnel mode, as not
> doing so would then cause the inner tunnel skb->inner_networking_header
> to be overwritten and break software GSO for that packet later if the
> device turns out to not be capable of HW GSO.
> 
> Taking a closer look at the conditions for the original bug, to better
> understand the reasons for this change:
> - vxlan_build_skb -> iptunnel_handle_offloads sets inner_protocol and
>   inner network header.
> - then, udp_tunnel_xmit_skb -> ip_tunnel_xmit adds outer transport and
>   network headers.
> - later in the xmit path, xfrm_output -> xfrm_outer_mode_output ->
>   xfrm4_prepare_output -> xfrm4_tunnel_encap_add overwrites the inner
>   network header with the one set in ip_tunnel_xmit before adding the
>   second outer header.
> - __dev_queue_xmit -> validate_xmit_skb checks whether GSO segmentation
>   needs to happen based on dev features. In the original bug, the hw
>   couldn't segment the packets, so skb_gso_segment was invoked.
> - deep in the .gso_segment callback machinery, __skb_udp_tunnel_segment
>   tries to use the wrong inner network header, expecting the one set in
>   iptunnel_handle_offloads but getting the one set by xfrm instead.
> - a bit later, ipv6_gso_segment accesses the wrong memory based on that
>   wrong inner network header.
> 
> With the new change, the original bug (or similar ones) cannot happen
> again, as xfrm will now trigger software GSO before applying a tunnel.
> This concern doesn't exist in packet offload mode, when the HW adds
> encapsulation headers. For the non-offloaded packets (crypto in SW),
> software GSO is still done unconditionally in the else branch.
> 
> Reviewed-by: Dragos Tatulea <dtatulea@nvidia.com>
> Reviewed-by: Yael Chemla <ychemla@nvidia.com>
> Fixes: a204aef9fd77 ("xfrm: call xfrm_output_gso when inner_protocol is set in xfrm_output")
> Signed-off-by: Cosmin Ratiu <cratiu@nvidia.com>
> ---
>  net/xfrm/xfrm_output.c | 2 +-
>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

Thanks,
Reviewed-by: Leon Romanovsky <leonro@nvidia.com>