[PATCH net] net_sched: fix skb memory leak in deferred qdisc drops

Fernando Fernandez Mancera
2026-04-07T17:03:28Z

When the network stack cleans up the deferred list via qdisc_run_end(),
it operates on the root qdisc. If the root qdisc do not implement the
TCQ_F_DEQUEUE_DROPS flag the packets queue to free are never freed and
gets stranded on the child's local to_free list.

Fix this by making qdisc_dequeue_drop() aware of the root qdisc. It
fetches the root qdisc and check for the TCQ_F_DEQUEUE_DROPS flag. If
the flag is present, the packet is appended directly to the root's
to_free list. Otherwise, drop it directly as it was done before the
optimization was implemented.

Fixes: a6efc273ab82 ("net_sched: use qdisc_dequeue_drop() in cake, codel, fq_codel")
Reported-by: Damilola Bello <damilola@aterlo.com>
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/CAPgFtOLaedBMU0f_BxV2bXftTJSmJr018Q5uozOo5vVo6b9tjw@mail.gmail.com/
Signed-off-by: Fernando Fernandez Mancera <fmancera@suse.de>
---
include/net/sch_generic.h | 12 +++++++++---
1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/net/sch_generic.h b/include/net/sch_generic.h
index c3d657359a3d..61ba54e909f2 100644
--- a/include/net/sch_generic.h
+++ b/include/net/sch_generic.h
@@ -1170,12 +1170,18 @@ static inline void tcf_kfree_skb_list(struct sk_buff *skb)
static inline void qdisc_dequeue_drop(struct Qdisc *q, struct sk_buff *skb,
enum skb_drop_reason reason)
{
+ struct Qdisc *root = qdisc_root_sleeping(q);
+
DEBUG_NET_WARN_ON_ONCE(!(q->flags & TCQ_F_DEQUEUE_DROPS));
DEBUG_NET_WARN_ON_ONCE(q->flags & TCQ_F_NOLOCK);

- tcf_set_drop_reason(skb, reason);
- skb->next = q->to_free;
- q->to_free = skb;
+ if (root->flags & TCQ_F_DEQUEUE_DROPS) {
+ tcf_set_drop_reason(skb, reason);
+ skb->next = q->to_free;
+ q->to_free = skb;
+ } else {
+ kfree_skb_reason(skb, reason);
+ }
}

/* Instead of calling kfree_skb() while root qdisc lock is held,
--
2.53.0