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From: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@linux.dev>
To: netdev@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@linux.dev>,
	Eric Dumazet <edumazet@google.com>,
	Neal Cardwell <ncardwell@google.com>,
	Kuniyuki Iwashima <kuniyu@google.com>,
	"David S. Miller" <davem@davemloft.net>,
	David Ahern <dsahern@kernel.org>,
	Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>, Paolo Abeni <pabeni@redhat.com>,
	Simon Horman <horms@kernel.org>, Shuah Khan <shuah@kernel.org>,
	linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-kselftest@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH net v2 1/2] tcp: send a challenge ACK on SEG.ACK > SND.NXT
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:41:00 +0800	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260421014128.289362-2-jiayuan.chen@linux.dev> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260421014128.289362-1-jiayuan.chen@linux.dev>

RFC 5961 Section 5.2 validates an incoming segment's ACK value
against the range [SND.UNA - MAX.SND.WND, SND.NXT] and states:

  "All incoming segments whose ACK value doesn't satisfy the above
   condition MUST be discarded and an ACK sent back."

Commit 354e4aa391ed ("tcp: RFC 5961 5.2 Blind Data Injection Attack
Mitigation") opted Linux into this mitigation and implements the
challenge ACK on the lower side (SEG.ACK < SND.UNA - MAX.SND.WND),
but the symmetric upper side (SEG.ACK > SND.NXT) still takes the
pre-RFC-5961 path and silently returns
SKB_DROP_REASON_TCP_ACK_UNSENT_DATA, even though RFC 793 Section 3.9
(now RFC 9293 Section 3.10.7.4) has always required:

  "If the ACK acknowledges something not yet sent (SEG.ACK > SND.NXT)
   then send an ACK, drop the segment, and return."

Complete the mitigation by sending a challenge ACK on that branch,
reusing the existing tcp_send_challenge_ack() path which already
enforces the per-socket RFC 5961 Section 7 rate limit via
__tcp_oow_rate_limited().  FLAG_NO_CHALLENGE_ACK is honoured for
symmetry with the lower-edge case.

Update the existing tcp_ts_recent_invalid_ack.pkt selftest, which
drives this exact path, to consume the new challenge ACK.

Fixes: 354e4aa391ed ("tcp: RFC 5961 5.2 Blind Data Injection Attack Mitigation")
Signed-off-by: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@linux.dev>
Reviewed-by: Eric Dumazet <edumazet@google.com>
---
 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c                                   | 10 +++++++---
 .../net/packetdrill/tcp_ts_recent_invalid_ack.pkt      |  4 +++-
 2 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c b/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c
index 021f745747c5..c2b6f05acdfa 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c
@@ -4284,11 +4284,15 @@ static int tcp_ack(struct sock *sk, const struct sk_buff *skb, int flag)
 		goto old_ack;
 	}
 
-	/* If the ack includes data we haven't sent yet, discard
-	 * this segment (RFC793 Section 3.9).
+	/* If the ack includes data we haven't sent yet, drop the
+	 * segment.  RFC 793 Section 3.9 and RFC 5961 Section 5.2
+	 * require us to send an ACK back in that case.
 	 */
-	if (after(ack, tp->snd_nxt))
+	if (after(ack, tp->snd_nxt)) {
+		if (!(flag & FLAG_NO_CHALLENGE_ACK))
+			tcp_send_challenge_ack(sk, false);
 		return -SKB_DROP_REASON_TCP_ACK_UNSENT_DATA;
+	}
 
 	if (after(ack, prior_snd_una)) {
 		flag |= FLAG_SND_UNA_ADVANCED;
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/net/packetdrill/tcp_ts_recent_invalid_ack.pkt b/tools/testing/selftests/net/packetdrill/tcp_ts_recent_invalid_ack.pkt
index 174ce9a1bfc0..ee6baf7c36cf 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/net/packetdrill/tcp_ts_recent_invalid_ack.pkt
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/net/packetdrill/tcp_ts_recent_invalid_ack.pkt
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@
 
 // bad packet with high tsval (its ACK sequence is above our sndnxt)
    +0 < F. 1:1(0) ack 9999 win 20000 <nop,nop,TS val 200000 ecr 100>
-
+// Challenge ACK for SEG.ACK > SND.NXT (RFC 5961 5.2 / RFC 793 3.9).
+// ecr=200 (not 200000) proves ts_recent was not updated from the bad packet.
+   +0 > . 1:1(0) ack 1 <nop,nop,TS val 200 ecr 200>
 
    +0 < . 1:1001(1000) ack 1 win 20000 <nop,nop,TS val 201 ecr 100>
    +0 > . 1:1(0) ack 1001 <nop,nop,TS val 200 ecr 201>
-- 
2.43.0


  reply	other threads:[~2026-04-21  1:41 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 3+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-04-21  1:40 [PATCH net v2 0/2] tcp: symmetric challenge ACK for SEG.ACK > SND.NXT Jiayuan Chen
2026-04-21  1:41 ` Jiayuan Chen [this message]
2026-04-21  1:41 ` [PATCH net v2 2/2] selftests/net: packetdrill: cover RFC 5961 5.2 challenge ACK on both edges Jiayuan Chen

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