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From: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
To: davem@davemloft.net
Cc: netdev@vger.kernel.org, edumazet@google.com, pabeni@redhat.com,
	andrew+netdev@lunn.ch, horms@kernel.org, corbet@lwn.net,
	vladimir.oltean@nxp.com, willemb@google.com,
	sdf.kernel@gmail.com, ecree.xilinx@gmail.com,
	jesse.brandeburg@intel.com, linux-doc@vger.kernel.org,
	Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
Subject: [PATCH net-next 08/10] docs: net: add Rx notes to the checksum guide
Date: Tue, 26 May 2026 09:01:49 -0700	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260526160151.2793354-9-kuba@kernel.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260526160151.2793354-1-kuba@kernel.org>

The Rx checksum processing gives people pause. The two main questions
in my experience are:
 - what to do with bad IPv4 checksum; and
 - what to do with packets with bad checksum.

Folks often feel the urge to drop the latter, to "avoid overloading
the host".

Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
---
 Documentation/networking/checksum-offloads.rst | 17 ++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 16 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/networking/checksum-offloads.rst b/Documentation/networking/checksum-offloads.rst
index 907aed9f3a3b..d838fe5c1606 100644
--- a/Documentation/networking/checksum-offloads.rst
+++ b/Documentation/networking/checksum-offloads.rst
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ take advantage of checksum offload capabilities of various NICs.
 
 Things that should be documented here but aren't yet:
 
-* RX Checksum Offload
 * CHECKSUM_UNNECESSARY conversion
 
 
@@ -139,3 +138,19 @@ In Linux, RCO is implemented individually in each encapsulation protocol, and
 most tunnel types have flags controlling its use. For instance, VXLAN has the
 configuration flag VXLAN_F_REMCSUM_TX to indicate that RCO should be used when
 transmitting.
+
+
+RX Checksum Offload
+===================
+
+RX checksum offload is controlled via NETIF_F_RXCSUM. When disabled the driver
+must not set skb->ip_summed on ingress packets. As mentioned, IPv4 checksum
+is not offloaded, the RXCSUM feature controls the offload of verification of
+transport layer checksums.
+
+Note that packets with bad TCP/UDP checksums must still be passed
+to the stack. skb->ip_summed of such packets can be set to ``CHECKSUM_COMPLETE``
+or left at ``CHECKSUM_NONE``. Drivers **must not discard** packets with
+bad TCP/UDP checksum and must not configure the device to drop them.
+Checksum validation is relatively inexpensive and having bad packets reflected
+in SNMP counters is crucial for network monitoring.
-- 
2.54.0


  parent reply	other threads:[~2026-05-26 16:02 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 15+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-05-26 16:01 [PATCH net-next 00/10] docs: net: updates for old and cobwebbed docs Jakub Kicinski
2026-05-26 16:01 ` [PATCH net-next 01/10] docs: net: netdevices: small fixes and clarifications Jakub Kicinski
2026-05-26 16:01 ` [PATCH net-next 02/10] docs: net: fix minor issues with driver guide Jakub Kicinski
2026-05-26 16:01 ` [PATCH net-next 03/10] docs: net: statistics: fix kernel-internal stats list Jakub Kicinski
2026-05-26 16:01 ` [PATCH net-next 04/10] docs: net: update devmem code examples Jakub Kicinski
2026-05-26 16:01 ` [PATCH net-next 05/10] docs: net: fix minor issues with the NAPI guide Jakub Kicinski
2026-05-26 16:01 ` [PATCH net-next 06/10] docs: net: refresh netdev feature guidance Jakub Kicinski
2026-05-26 18:41   ` Maxime Chevallier
2026-05-26 16:01 ` [PATCH net-next 07/10] docs: net: fix minor issues with checksum offloads Jakub Kicinski
2026-05-26 16:01 ` Jakub Kicinski [this message]
2026-05-26 18:56   ` [PATCH net-next 08/10] docs: net: add Rx notes to the checksum guide Willem de Bruijn
2026-05-26 16:01 ` [PATCH net-next 09/10] docs: net: render the checksum comment in checksum-offloads.rst Jakub Kicinski
2026-05-26 18:56   ` Willem de Bruijn
2026-05-26 16:01 ` [PATCH net-next 10/10] docs: net: fix minor issues with segmentation offloads Jakub Kicinski
2026-05-26 18:48 ` [PATCH net-next 00/10] docs: net: updates for old and cobwebbed docs Randy Dunlap

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