From: "Bartłomiej Dmitruk" <bartlomiej.dmitruk@isec.pl>
To: Bryan Tan <bryan-bt.tan@broadcom.com>,
Vishnu Dasa <vishnu.dasa@broadcom.com>,
Stefano Garzarella <sgarzare@redhat.com>
Cc: bcm-kernel-feedback-list@broadcom.com,
"David S . Miller" <davem@davemloft.net>,
Eric Dumazet <edumazet@google.com>,
Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>, Paolo Abeni <pabeni@redhat.com>,
Simon Horman <horms@kernel.org>,
"Michael S . Tsirkin" <mst@redhat.com>,
virtualization@lists.linux.dev, netdev@vger.kernel.org,
linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH v2 1/2] vsock/vmci: make the cached_peer dgram decision race-safe
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2026 14:31:56 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260919123208.29032-1-bartlomiej.dmitruk@isec.pl> (raw)
vmci_transport_allow_dgram() cached its result in vsock->cached_peer and
vsock->cached_peer_allow_dgram with an unsynchronized check-then-set. The
function runs both in the lockless receive tasklet
(vmci_transport_recv_dgram_cb(), no socket lock) and in the lock_sock() send
path; lock_sock() does not exclude bottom halves, so the two contexts race on
those fields and can return a stale 'allow' for a VMCI_PRIVILEGE_FLAG_RESTRICTED
peer. It is also a plain data race. The in-code comment claiming the fields
are never modified outside create/destruct is contradicted by the send path.
Keep the O(1) cache -- it avoids an O(N) vmci_ctx_get() lookup on every
datagram in the bottom-half receive path -- but pack the peer CID and the
decision into a single word accessed with READ_ONCE()/WRITE_ONCE(). A race
then only forces a recompute and can never return a stale allow.
This was found by code inspection; I do not have VMCI hardware to test on
(compile-tested only).
Fixes: d021c344051a ("VSOCK: Introduce VM Sockets")
Signed-off-by: Bartłomiej Dmitruk <bartlomiej.dmitruk@isec.pl>
Assisted-by: Claude (Anthropic)
---
v2: keep an O(1) cache made race-safe rather than dropping it entirely; an
earlier revision removed the cache, which the Sashiko AI review flagged as
an O(N)-per-datagram fast-path regression. Split out per Stefano
Garzarella; independent of namespace support.
v1: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20260917220225.56200-1-bartlomiej.dmitruk@isec.pl/
diff --git a/include/net/af_vsock.h b/include/net/af_vsock.h
index 5549298c1..97968ac53 100644
--- a/include/net/af_vsock.h
+++ b/include/net/af_vsock.h
@@ -39,10 +39,13 @@ struct vsock_sock {
* modified outsided of socket create or destruct.
*/
bool trusted;
- bool cached_peer_allow_dgram; /* Dgram communication allowed to
- * cached peer?
- */
- u32 cached_peer; /* Context ID of last dgram destination check. */
+ /* Cached dgram access decision for the last peer, packed as
+ * (cid << 32) | VALID | ALLOW and accessed via READ_ONCE()/
+ * WRITE_ONCE() so the lockless receive tasklet and the
+ * lock_sock() send path cannot race to a stale decision.
+ * See vmci_transport_allow_dgram().
+ */
+ u64 cached_peer_access;
const struct cred *owner;
/* Rest are SOCK_STREAM only. */
long connect_timeout;
diff --git a/net/vmw_vsock/vmci_transport.c b/net/vmw_vsock/vmci_transport.c
--- a/net/vmw_vsock/vmci_transport.c
+++ b/net/vmw_vsock/vmci_transport.c
@@ -524,23 +524,38 @@
* only if it is trusted as described in vmci_transport_is_trusted.
*/
+/* Packing for vsk->cached_peer_access. */
+#define VMCI_DGRAM_ACCESS_VALID BIT_ULL(0)
+#define VMCI_DGRAM_ACCESS_ALLOW BIT_ULL(1)
+#define VMCI_DGRAM_ACCESS_CID_SHIFT 32
+
static bool vmci_transport_allow_dgram(struct vsock_sock *vsock, u32 peer_cid)
{
+ u64 access;
+
if (VMADDR_CID_HYPERVISOR == peer_cid)
return true;
- if (vsock->cached_peer != peer_cid) {
- vsock->cached_peer = peer_cid;
- if (!vmci_transport_is_trusted(vsock, peer_cid) &&
- (vmci_context_get_priv_flags(peer_cid) &
- VMCI_PRIVILEGE_FLAG_RESTRICTED)) {
- vsock->cached_peer_allow_dgram = false;
- } else {
- vsock->cached_peer_allow_dgram = true;
- }
- }
+ /* Cache the trusted/restricted decision for the last peer to avoid the
+ * O(N) vmci_ctx_get() lookup on every datagram. Read/update it through
+ * a single word so a race between the lockless receive tasklet and the
+ * lock_sock() send path only forces a recompute -- it can never return a
+ * stale allow for a restricted peer.
+ */
+ access = READ_ONCE(vsock->cached_peer_access);
+ if ((access & VMCI_DGRAM_ACCESS_VALID) &&
+ (u32)(access >> VMCI_DGRAM_ACCESS_CID_SHIFT) == peer_cid)
+ return !!(access & VMCI_DGRAM_ACCESS_ALLOW);
- return vsock->cached_peer_allow_dgram;
+ access = VMCI_DGRAM_ACCESS_VALID |
+ ((u64)peer_cid << VMCI_DGRAM_ACCESS_CID_SHIFT);
+ if (vmci_transport_is_trusted(vsock, peer_cid) ||
+ !(vmci_context_get_priv_flags(peer_cid) &
+ VMCI_PRIVILEGE_FLAG_RESTRICTED))
+ access |= VMCI_DGRAM_ACCESS_ALLOW;
+
+ WRITE_ONCE(vsock->cached_peer_access, access);
+ return !!(access & VMCI_DGRAM_ACCESS_ALLOW);
}
static int
next reply other threads:[~2026-09-19 12:32 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 7+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-09-19 12:31 Bartłomiej Dmitruk [this message]
2026-09-19 12:31 ` [PATCH v2 2/2] vsock/vmci: enforce per-netns mode on the datagram receive path Bartłomiej Dmitruk
2026-09-22 12:49 ` Stefano Garzarella
2026-09-22 17:54 ` Vishnu Dasa
2026-09-23 12:56 ` netdev-bot+sashiko
2026-09-22 12:47 ` [PATCH v2 1/2] vsock/vmci: make the cached_peer dgram decision race-safe Stefano Garzarella
2026-09-23 12:56 ` netdev-bot+sashiko
Reply instructions:
You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:
* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
and reply-to-all from there: mbox
Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style
* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
switches of git-send-email(1):
git send-email \
--in-reply-to=20260919123208.29032-1-bartlomiej.dmitruk@isec.pl \
--to=bartlomiej.dmitruk@isec.pl \
--cc=bcm-kernel-feedback-list@broadcom.com \
--cc=bryan-bt.tan@broadcom.com \
--cc=davem@davemloft.net \
--cc=edumazet@google.com \
--cc=horms@kernel.org \
--cc=kuba@kernel.org \
--cc=linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=mst@redhat.com \
--cc=netdev@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=pabeni@redhat.com \
--cc=sgarzare@redhat.com \
--cc=virtualization@lists.linux.dev \
--cc=vishnu.dasa@broadcom.com \
/path/to/YOUR_REPLY
https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html
* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line
before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox