[PATCH net-next 0/3] ipv6: tie the dst cookie to the lookup that returned the dst

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* [PATCH net-next 0/3] ipv6: tie the dst cookie to the lookup that returned the dst
@ 2026-11-04 15:53 Ralf Lici
  2026-11-04 15:53 ` [PATCH net-next 1/3] ipv6: stamp the default route node with a fresh serial on link failure Ralf Lici
                   ` (2 more replies)
  0 siblings, 3 replies; 4+ messages in thread
From: Ralf Lici @ 2026-11-04 15:53 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: netdev
  Cc: David Ahern, Ido Schimmel, David S. Miller, Eric Dumazet,
	Jakub Kicinski, Paolo Abeni, Simon Horman, Neal Cardwell,
	Kuniyuki Iwashima, Steffen Klassert, Herbert Xu, Florian Westphal,
	Sabrina Dubroca, Antonio Quartulli

Hi,

This series implements a first part of the model proposed in [1] to
address the late cookie sampling race: a dst can be stored together with
a cookie read after a FIB change that its lookup did not see, and then
passes dst_check until the next change.

The case that made me post it as a series is xfrm. Adding a policy
restamps every fib6 node, so a socket whose lookup ran just before the
insertion keeps its plain dst and leaks plaintext although the policy
matches. I reproduced it for TCP connect and connected UDP, and the same
window lets a more specific blackhole route be bypassed for routes using
nexthop objects. The ovpn patch [2] hit the same pattern in
dst_cache_set_ip6.

The conversion is initially limited to tcp_v6_connect,
ip6_datagram_dst_update and ip6_sk_dst_lookup_flow. Other TCP TX cache
paths, including established-socket route refills, header rebuilds and
accepted-socket setup, still use late cookie sampling. This gives the
lookup-cookie API a small set of users and concrete fixes to review. If
the approach is accepted, I plan to follow up with a broader conversion
across the networking core and drivers.

Compared to [1], the fallback cookie is 0 instead of the pre-lookup
generation, so fib6_flush_trees is left alone, and nexthop-object dsts
are checked in ip6_dst_check instead of passing the generation down to
ip6_rt_pcpu_alloc. The other cache users (dst_cache, sctp, ipvs,
flowtable, sk_rx_dst, the xfrm bundle cookies) are not converted and
behave as before.

I tested it in a VM with lockdep, PROVE_RCU and DEBUG_ATOMIC_SLEEP,
using a debug-only delay after the lookup to hit the window: no
warnings, and the plaintext and blackhole bypass are gone in these test
cases.

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20260901122501.482920-1-ralf@mandelbit.com/
[2] https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/cover.1789639346.git.ralf@mandelbit.com/

Thanks,

Ralf Lici
Mandelbit Srl

---
Ralf Lici (3):
  ipv6: stamp the default route node with a fresh serial on link failure
  ipv6: add ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie
  ipv6: use the lookup cookie when caching the dst in sockets

 include/net/ip6_route.h | 18 ++++++++++----
 include/net/ipv6.h      | 13 ++++++++++
 net/ipv6/datagram.c     |  6 +++--
 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c   | 55 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 net/ipv6/route.c        | 24 +++++++++---------
 net/ipv6/tcp_ipv6.c     |  5 ++--
 6 files changed, 98 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-)

base-commit: 7b6ab4dbc156e2f96419715130b3d5738a306c93
-- 
2.56.0

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread

* [PATCH net-next 1/3] ipv6: stamp the default route node with a fresh serial on link failure
  2026-11-04 15:53 [PATCH net-next 0/3] ipv6: tie the dst cookie to the lookup that returned the dst Ralf Lici
@ 2026-11-04 15:53 ` Ralf Lici
  2026-11-04 15:53 ` [PATCH net-next 2/3] ipv6: add ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie Ralf Lici
  2026-11-04 15:53 ` [PATCH net-next 3/3] ipv6: use the lookup cookie when caching the dst in sockets Ralf Lici
  2 siblings, 0 replies; 4+ messages in thread
From: Ralf Lici @ 2026-11-04 15:53 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: netdev
  Cc: David Ahern, Ido Schimmel, David S. Miller, Eric Dumazet,
	Jakub Kicinski, Paolo Abeni, Simon Horman, Neal Cardwell,
	Kuniyuki Iwashima, Steffen Klassert, Herbert Xu, Florian Westphal,
	Sabrina Dubroca

ip6_link_failure invalidates the cached dsts of an RTF_DEFAULT route by
writing -1 into the node's fn_sernum. Unlike every other fn_sernum
update, this does not allocate from net->ipv6.fib6_sernum, so the change
is invisible to anyone watching the generation, and a cookie sampled
from the node after the write simply reads -1 and matches it.

The write is also a no-op when the node already holds -1, so dsts cached
after one link failure survive the next one. dsts of nexthop objects are
validated against the generation and ignore fn_sernum, so a link failure
never invalidated them.

Allocate a fresh serial under tb6_lock instead, as for any other FIB
change. A link failure now invalidates the nexthop-object dsts of the
namespace too, as a route insertion does.

Signed-off-by: Ralf Lici <ralf@mandelbit.com>
---
 net/ipv6/route.c | 10 +++++-----
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/net/ipv6/route.c b/net/ipv6/route.c
index 616b86f89f63..fa2b9033be6a 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/route.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/route.c
@@ -2853,13 +2853,13 @@ static void ip6_link_failure(struct sk_buff *skb)
 			rt6_remove_exception_rt(rt);
 		} else {
 			struct fib6_info *from;
-			struct fib6_node *fn;

 			from = rcu_dereference(rt->from);
-			if (from) {
-				fn = rcu_dereference(from->fib6_node);
-				if (fn && (rt->rt6i_flags & RTF_DEFAULT))
-					WRITE_ONCE(fn->fn_sernum, -1);
+			if (from && from->fib6_table &&
+			    (rt->rt6i_flags & RTF_DEFAULT)) {
+				spin_lock_bh(&from->fib6_table->tb6_lock);
+				fib6_update_sernum(rt6_exception_net(rt), from);
+				spin_unlock_bh(&from->fib6_table->tb6_lock);
 			}
 		}
 		rcu_read_unlock();
-- 
2.56.0

^ permalink raw reply related	[flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread

* [PATCH net-next 2/3] ipv6: add ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie
  2026-11-04 15:53 [PATCH net-next 0/3] ipv6: tie the dst cookie to the lookup that returned the dst Ralf Lici
  2026-11-04 15:53 ` [PATCH net-next 1/3] ipv6: stamp the default route node with a fresh serial on link failure Ralf Lici
@ 2026-11-04 15:53 ` Ralf Lici
  2026-11-04 15:53 ` [PATCH net-next 3/3] ipv6: use the lookup cookie when caching the dst in sockets Ralf Lici
  2 siblings, 0 replies; 4+ messages in thread
From: Ralf Lici @ 2026-11-04 15:53 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: netdev
  Cc: David Ahern, Ido Schimmel, David S. Miller, Eric Dumazet,
	Jakub Kicinski, Paolo Abeni, Simon Horman, Neal Cardwell,
	Kuniyuki Iwashima, Steffen Klassert, Herbert Xu, Florian Westphal,
	Sabrina Dubroca

Callers that keep a dst in a persistent cache read its validation cookie
with rt6_get_cookie once the lookup has returned. For a route without
its own sernum that is the current fn_sernum of the node, so a FIB
change landing in between, or an xfrm policy insertion, which restamps
every node, pairs the old dst with the new serial. dst_check then keeps
accepting it until the next change.

Add ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie, which returns the cookie together with
the dst. The cookie is taken between two reads of the IPv6 generation:
if it moved during the lookup the cookie is 0, which is never a node
serial, so a route dst can still be used for the packet at hand but is
not accepted again. An xfrm bundle ignores the cookie and is validated
against its own route and path cookies, which this patch does not
change.

dsts of nexthop objects are validated against the global generation and
ignore the cookie. For them the helper returns the generation read
before the lookup, and ip6_dst_check now requires it to match
rt->sernum, so a dst allocated after a FIB change is rejected for a
lookup that began before it. Callers that read the cookie from the dst
keep passing rt->sernum and are not affected.

Signed-off-by: Ralf Lici <ralf@mandelbit.com>
---
 include/net/ipv6.h    | 13 ++++++++++++
 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c | 49 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 net/ipv6/route.c      |  2 +-
 3 files changed, 63 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/include/net/ipv6.h b/include/net/ipv6.h
index 3de07e738538..aca14bd5f78b 100644
--- a/include/net/ipv6.h
+++ b/include/net/ipv6.h
@@ -1062,6 +1062,11 @@ int ip6_dst_lookup(struct net *net, struct sock *sk, struct dst_entry **dst,
 #if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_IPV6)
 struct dst_entry *ip6_dst_lookup_flow(struct net *net, const struct sock *sk, struct flowi6 *fl6,
 				      const struct in6_addr *final_dst);
+struct dst_entry *ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie(struct net *net,
+					     const struct sock *sk,
+					     struct flowi6 *fl6,
+					     const struct in6_addr *final_dst,
+					     u32 *cookie);
 #else
 static inline struct dst_entry *ip6_dst_lookup_flow(struct net *net, const struct sock *sk,
 						    struct flowi6 *fl6,
@@ -1069,6 +1074,14 @@ static inline struct dst_entry *ip6_dst_lookup_flow(struct net *net, const struc
 {
 	return ERR_PTR(-EAFNOSUPPORT);
 }
+
+static inline struct dst_entry *
+ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie(struct net *net, const struct sock *sk,
+			   struct flowi6 *fl6, const struct in6_addr *final_dst,
+			   u32 *cookie)
+{
+	return ERR_PTR(-EAFNOSUPPORT);
+}
 #endif
 
 struct dst_entry *ip6_sk_dst_lookup_flow(struct sock *sk, struct flowi6 *fl6,
diff --git a/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c b/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
index 25fe0ba98b1a..a2bee762e825 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
@@ -1300,6 +1300,55 @@ struct dst_entry *ip6_dst_lookup_flow(struct net *net, const struct sock *sk, st
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(ip6_dst_lookup_flow);
 
+/**
+ *	ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie - perform route lookup on flow with ipsec
+ *				     and return the matching dst cookie
+ *	@net: Network namespace to perform lookup in
+ *	@sk: socket which provides route info
+ *	@fl6: flow to lookup
+ *	@final_dst: final destination address for ipsec lookup
+ *	@cookie: where to store the cookie for the returned dst
+ *
+ *	Same as ip6_dst_lookup_flow(), but also returns the cookie describing
+ *	the routing state the dst was obtained from. A caller caching the dst
+ *	should use this cookie when validating it with dst_check(). If the
+ *	IPv6 FIB changed during the lookup, a route dst no longer validates
+ *	with it. An xfrm bundle is validated by xfrm and ignores the cookie.
+ *
+ *	It returns a valid dst pointer on success, or a pointer encoded
+ *	error code.
+ */
+struct dst_entry *ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie(struct net *net,
+					     const struct sock *sk,
+					     struct flowi6 *fl6,
+					     const struct in6_addr *final_dst,
+					     u32 *cookie)
+{
+	const struct rt6_info *rt;
+	struct dst_entry *dst;
+	int gen0, gen1;
+
+	gen0 = rt_genid_ipv6(net);
+	/* read the generation before looking at the FIB or xfrm policies */
+	smp_rmb();
+
+	dst = ip6_dst_lookup_flow(net, sk, fl6, final_dst);
+	if (IS_ERR(dst))
+		return dst;
+
+	rt = dst_rt6_info(dst);
+	*cookie = rt->sernum ? gen0 : rt6_get_cookie(rt);
+
+	/* keep the FIB and cookie reads before the final generation read */
+	smp_rmb();
+	gen1 = rt_genid_ipv6(net);
+	if (unlikely(gen0 != gen1))
+		*cookie = 0;
+
+	return dst;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie);
+
 /**
  *	ip6_sk_dst_lookup_flow - perform socket cached route lookup on flow
  *	@sk: socket which provides the dst cache and route info
diff --git a/net/ipv6/route.c b/net/ipv6/route.c
index fa2b9033be6a..b04ba79ce3ea 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/route.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/route.c
@@ -2797,7 +2797,7 @@ INDIRECT_CALLABLE_SCOPE struct dst_entry *ip6_dst_check(struct dst_entry *dst,
 	rt = dst_rt6_info(dst);
 
 	if (rt->sernum)
-		return rt6_is_valid(rt) ? dst : NULL;
+		return (rt6_is_valid(rt) && cookie == rt->sernum) ? dst : NULL;
 
 	rcu_read_lock();
 
-- 
2.56.0


^ permalink raw reply related	[flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread

* [PATCH net-next 3/3] ipv6: use the lookup cookie when caching the dst in sockets
  2026-11-04 15:53 [PATCH net-next 0/3] ipv6: tie the dst cookie to the lookup that returned the dst Ralf Lici
  2026-11-04 15:53 ` [PATCH net-next 1/3] ipv6: stamp the default route node with a fresh serial on link failure Ralf Lici
  2026-11-04 15:53 ` [PATCH net-next 2/3] ipv6: add ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie Ralf Lici
@ 2026-11-04 15:53 ` Ralf Lici
  2 siblings, 0 replies; 4+ messages in thread
From: Ralf Lici @ 2026-11-04 15:53 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: netdev
  Cc: David Ahern, Ido Schimmel, David S. Miller, Eric Dumazet,
	Jakub Kicinski, Paolo Abeni, Simon Horman, Neal Cardwell,
	Kuniyuki Iwashima, Steffen Klassert, Herbert Xu, Florian Westphal,
	Sabrina Dubroca

tcp_v6_connect, ip6_datagram_dst_update and ip6_sk_dst_lookup_flow store
the dst in the socket and read its cookie afterwards. If an xfrm policy
matching the flow is added after the route and policy lookup but before
the cookie is read, the plain route found without the policy is cached
with a post-insertion serial. Later packets pass the validation in
__sk_dst_check and skip xfrm, so a socket that should be using IPsec
keeps sending plaintext until the FIB changes again. It affects TCP and
connected UDP sockets alike.

Store the cookie returned by ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie instead. Add
ip6_dst_store_cookie for this and keep ip6_dst_store for callers that
have no lookup cookie.

Signed-off-by: Ralf Lici <ralf@mandelbit.com>
---
 include/net/ip6_route.h | 18 +++++++++++++-----
 net/ipv6/datagram.c     |  6 ++++--
 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c   |  6 ++++--
 net/ipv6/route.c        | 12 ++++++------
 net/ipv6/tcp_ipv6.c     |  5 +++--
 5 files changed, 30 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/net/ip6_route.h b/include/net/ip6_route.h
index 95f936be32c6..2684f6069a5e 100644
--- a/include/net/ip6_route.h
+++ b/include/net/ip6_route.h
@@ -252,13 +252,13 @@ static inline const struct rt6_info *skb_rt6_info(const struct sk_buff *skb)
 /*
  *	Store a destination cache entry in a socket
  */
-static inline void ip6_dst_store(struct sock *sk, struct dst_entry *dst,
-				 bool daddr_set,
-				 bool saddr_set)
+static inline void ip6_dst_store_cookie(struct sock *sk, struct dst_entry *dst,
+					u32 cookie, bool daddr_set,
+					bool saddr_set)
 {
 	struct ipv6_pinfo *np = inet6_sk(sk);
 
-	np->dst_cookie = rt6_get_cookie(dst_rt6_info(dst));
+	np->dst_cookie = cookie;
 	sk_setup_caps(sk, dst);
 	np->daddr_cache = daddr_set;
 #ifdef CONFIG_IPV6_SUBTREES
@@ -266,8 +266,16 @@ static inline void ip6_dst_store(struct sock *sk, struct dst_entry *dst,
 #endif
 }
 
+static inline void ip6_dst_store(struct sock *sk, struct dst_entry *dst,
+				 bool daddr_set,
+				 bool saddr_set)
+{
+	ip6_dst_store_cookie(sk, dst, rt6_get_cookie(dst_rt6_info(dst)),
+			     daddr_set, saddr_set);
+}
+
 void ip6_sk_dst_store_flow(struct sock *sk, struct dst_entry *dst,
-			   const struct flowi6 *fl6);
+			   const struct flowi6 *fl6, u32 cookie);
 
 static inline bool ipv6_unicast_destination(const struct sk_buff *skb)
 {
diff --git a/net/ipv6/datagram.c b/net/ipv6/datagram.c
index 191c9733ff9f..5797bf3e1333 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/datagram.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/datagram.c
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ int ip6_datagram_dst_update(struct sock *sk, bool fix_sk_saddr)
 	struct in6_addr *final_p;
 	struct dst_entry *dst;
 	struct flowi6 *fl6;
+	u32 cookie;
 	int err = 0;
 
 	if (inet6_test_bit(SNDFLOW, sk) &&
@@ -94,7 +95,8 @@ int ip6_datagram_dst_update(struct sock *sk, bool fix_sk_saddr)
 	final_p = fl6_update_dst(fl6, opt, &np->final);
 	rcu_read_unlock();
 
-	dst = ip6_dst_lookup_flow(sock_net(sk), sk, fl6, final_p);
+	dst = ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie(sock_net(sk), sk, fl6, final_p,
+					 &cookie);
 	if (IS_ERR(dst)) {
 		err = PTR_ERR(dst);
 		goto out;
@@ -112,7 +114,7 @@ int ip6_datagram_dst_update(struct sock *sk, bool fix_sk_saddr)
 		}
 	}
 
-	ip6_sk_dst_store_flow(sk, dst, fl6);
+	ip6_sk_dst_store_flow(sk, dst, fl6, cookie);
 
 out:
 	fl6_sock_release(flowlabel);
diff --git a/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c b/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
index a2bee762e825..0e5089f2a7a7 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
@@ -1372,14 +1372,16 @@ struct dst_entry *ip6_sk_dst_lookup_flow(struct sock *sk, struct flowi6 *fl6,
 					 bool connected)
 {
 	struct dst_entry *dst = sk_dst_check(sk, inet6_sk(sk)->dst_cookie);
+	u32 cookie;
 
 	dst = ip6_sk_dst_check(sk, dst, fl6);
 	if (dst)
 		return dst;
 
-	dst = ip6_dst_lookup_flow(sock_net(sk), sk, fl6, final_dst);
+	dst = ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie(sock_net(sk), sk, fl6, final_dst,
+					 &cookie);
 	if (connected && !IS_ERR(dst))
-		ip6_sk_dst_store_flow(sk, dst_clone(dst), fl6);
+		ip6_sk_dst_store_flow(sk, dst_clone(dst), fl6, cookie);
 
 	return dst;
 }
diff --git a/net/ipv6/route.c b/net/ipv6/route.c
index b04ba79ce3ea..4107e54c7a1c 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/route.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/route.c
@@ -3028,19 +3028,19 @@ void ip6_sk_update_pmtu(struct sk_buff *skb, struct sock *sk, __be32 mtu)
 }
 
 void ip6_sk_dst_store_flow(struct sock *sk, struct dst_entry *dst,
-			   const struct flowi6 *fl6)
+			   const struct flowi6 *fl6, u32 cookie)
 {
 #ifdef CONFIG_IPV6_SUBTREES
 	struct ipv6_pinfo *np = inet6_sk(sk);
 #endif
 
-	ip6_dst_store(sk, dst,
-		      ipv6_addr_equal(&fl6->daddr, &sk->sk_v6_daddr),
+	ip6_dst_store_cookie(sk, dst, cookie,
+			     ipv6_addr_equal(&fl6->daddr, &sk->sk_v6_daddr),
 #ifdef CONFIG_IPV6_SUBTREES
-		      ipv6_addr_equal(&fl6->saddr, &np->saddr) ?
-		      true :
+			     ipv6_addr_equal(&fl6->saddr, &np->saddr) ?
+			     true :
 #endif
-		      false);
+			     false);
 }
 
 static bool ip6_redirect_nh_match(const struct fib6_result *res,
diff --git a/net/ipv6/tcp_ipv6.c b/net/ipv6/tcp_ipv6.c
index e006a30360ea..e45001602446 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/tcp_ipv6.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/tcp_ipv6.c
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ static int tcp_v6_connect(struct sock *sk, struct sockaddr_unsized *uaddr,
 	struct dst_entry *dst;
 	struct flowi6 *fl6;
 	int addr_type;
+	u32 cookie;
 	int err;
 
 	if (addr_len < SIN6_LEN_RFC2133)
@@ -288,7 +289,7 @@ static int tcp_v6_connect(struct sock *sk, struct sockaddr_unsized *uaddr,
 	 */
 	ip6_ecmp_set_mp_hash(net, fl6, sk->sk_txhash);
 
-	dst = ip6_dst_lookup_flow(net, sk, fl6, final_p);
+	dst = ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie(net, sk, fl6, final_p, &cookie);
 	if (IS_ERR(dst)) {
 		err = PTR_ERR(dst);
 		goto failure;
@@ -312,7 +313,7 @@ static int tcp_v6_connect(struct sock *sk, struct sockaddr_unsized *uaddr,
 	inet->inet_rcv_saddr = LOOPBACK4_IPV6;
 
 	sk->sk_gso_type = SKB_GSO_TCPV6;
-	ip6_dst_store(sk, dst, false, false);
+	ip6_dst_store_cookie(sk, dst, cookie, false, false);
 
 	icsk->icsk_ext_hdr_len = 0;
 	if (opt)
-- 
2.56.0


^ permalink raw reply related	[flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2026-11-04 15:54 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 4+ messages (download: mbox.gz follow: Atom feed
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2026-11-04 15:53 [PATCH net-next 0/3] ipv6: tie the dst cookie to the lookup that returned the dst Ralf Lici
2026-11-04 15:53 ` [PATCH net-next 1/3] ipv6: stamp the default route node with a fresh serial on link failure Ralf Lici
2026-11-04 15:53 ` [PATCH net-next 2/3] ipv6: add ip6_dst_lookup_flow_cookie Ralf Lici
2026-11-04 15:53 ` [PATCH net-next 3/3] ipv6: use the lookup cookie when caching the dst in sockets Ralf Lici

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