From: Fernando Fernandez Mancera <fmancera@suse.de>
To: netfilter-devel@vger.kernel.org
Cc: coreteam@netfilter.org, pablo@netfilter.org, fw@strlen.de,
phil@nwl.cc, eric@regit.org,
Fernando Fernandez Mancera <fmancera@suse.de>,
Yu Junzhe <junzheyu1@gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH nf v2] netfilter: nft_reject: prevent unbounded recursion in output hooks
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2026 11:25:03 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260922092503.3238-1-fmancera@suse.de> (raw)
nftables payload-mangling rules can rewrite packet contents (such as TCP
flags) before they are evaluated by reject targets. This defeats the
content-based loop guards, allowing unbounded hook recursion that leads
to kernel stack exhaustion and panics.
Fix this by extracting the per-CPU xmit recursion limit previously used
by the netdev duplication/forwarding paths into a shared header, and
apply it to the inet and inet6 reject transmit functions. It disables BH
while transmitting the skb to address a possible migration to different
CPU leading to imbalanced decrementation of the recursion counters.
Note that the dev_queue_xmit() path used when CONFIG_BRIDGE_NETFILTER is
enabled does not require this recursion guard. In that scenario, the
generated reset packet is transmitted directly at Layer 2. Because the
packet egresses from a different hook, it cannot synchronously loop. In
addition nf_send_unreach() and nf_send_unreach6() are safe as the ICMP
transmit functions are protected against recursion by the
icmp_xmit_lock() and icmpv6_xmit_lock() guards.
Reported-by: Yu Junzhe <junzheyu1@gmail.com>
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/netfilter-devel/20260921061320.543-1-junzheyu1@gmail.com/
Fixes: bee11dc78fc8 ("netfilter: nft_reject: support for IPv6 and TCP reset")
Signed-off-by: Fernando Fernandez Mancera <fmancera@suse.de>
---
include/net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.h | 35 ----------------------
include/net/netfilter/nf_recursion.h | 42 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
net/ipv4/netfilter/nf_reject_ipv4.c | 12 ++++++++
net/ipv6/netfilter/nf_reject_ipv6.c | 13 +++++++++
net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.c | 1 +
net/netfilter/nft_fwd_netdev.c | 1 +
6 files changed, 69 insertions(+), 35 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 include/net/netfilter/nf_recursion.h
diff --git a/include/net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.h b/include/net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.h
index f6b05bd80c3f..a39411264614 100644
--- a/include/net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.h
+++ b/include/net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.h
@@ -9,41 +9,6 @@
void nf_dup_netdev_egress(const struct nft_pktinfo *pkt, int oif);
void nf_fwd_netdev_egress(const struct nft_pktinfo *pkt, int oif);
-#define NF_RECURSION_LIMIT 2
-
-#ifndef CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT
-static inline bool nf_dev_xmit_recursion(void)
-{
- return unlikely(__this_cpu_read(softnet_data.xmit.nf_dup_skb_recursion) >
- NF_RECURSION_LIMIT);
-}
-
-static inline void nf_dev_xmit_recursion_inc(void)
-{
- __this_cpu_inc(softnet_data.xmit.nf_dup_skb_recursion);
-}
-
-static inline void nf_dev_xmit_recursion_dec(void)
-{
- __this_cpu_dec(softnet_data.xmit.nf_dup_skb_recursion);
-}
-#else
-static inline bool nf_dev_xmit_recursion(void)
-{
- return unlikely(current->net_xmit.nf_dup_skb_recursion > NF_RECURSION_LIMIT);
-}
-
-static inline void nf_dev_xmit_recursion_inc(void)
-{
- current->net_xmit.nf_dup_skb_recursion++;
-}
-
-static inline void nf_dev_xmit_recursion_dec(void)
-{
- current->net_xmit.nf_dup_skb_recursion--;
-}
-#endif
-
struct nft_offload_ctx;
struct nft_flow_rule;
diff --git a/include/net/netfilter/nf_recursion.h b/include/net/netfilter/nf_recursion.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3e91b78e21b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/net/netfilter/nf_recursion.h
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 */
+#ifndef _NF_RECURSION_H_
+#define _NF_RECURSION_H_
+
+#include <linux/netdevice.h>
+
+#define NF_RECURSION_LIMIT 2
+
+#ifndef CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT
+static inline bool nf_dev_xmit_recursion(void)
+{
+ return unlikely(__this_cpu_read(softnet_data.xmit.nf_dup_skb_recursion) >
+ NF_RECURSION_LIMIT);
+}
+
+static inline void nf_dev_xmit_recursion_inc(void)
+{
+ __this_cpu_inc(softnet_data.xmit.nf_dup_skb_recursion);
+}
+
+static inline void nf_dev_xmit_recursion_dec(void)
+{
+ __this_cpu_dec(softnet_data.xmit.nf_dup_skb_recursion);
+}
+#else
+static inline bool nf_dev_xmit_recursion(void)
+{
+ return unlikely(current->net_xmit.nf_dup_skb_recursion > NF_RECURSION_LIMIT);
+}
+
+static inline void nf_dev_xmit_recursion_inc(void)
+{
+ current->net_xmit.nf_dup_skb_recursion++;
+}
+
+static inline void nf_dev_xmit_recursion_dec(void)
+{
+ current->net_xmit.nf_dup_skb_recursion--;
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif /* _NF_RECURSION_H_ */
diff --git a/net/ipv4/netfilter/nf_reject_ipv4.c b/net/ipv4/netfilter/nf_reject_ipv4.c
index 59ec465a9df9..3f227a094312 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/netfilter/nf_reject_ipv4.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/netfilter/nf_reject_ipv4.c
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
#include <net/dst.h>
#include <net/dst_metadata.h>
#include <net/netfilter/ipv4/nf_reject.h>
+#include <net/netfilter/nf_recursion.h>
#include <linux/netfilter_ipv4.h>
#include <linux/netfilter_bridge.h>
@@ -336,7 +337,18 @@ void nf_send_reset(struct net *net, struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *oldskb,
dev_queue_xmit(nskb);
} else
#endif
+ {
+ local_bh_disable();
+ if (nf_dev_xmit_recursion()) {
+ local_bh_enable();
+ goto free_nskb;
+ }
+
+ nf_dev_xmit_recursion_inc();
ip_local_out(net, nskb->sk, nskb);
+ nf_dev_xmit_recursion_dec();
+ local_bh_enable();
+ }
return;
diff --git a/net/ipv6/netfilter/nf_reject_ipv6.c b/net/ipv6/netfilter/nf_reject_ipv6.c
index 07cdaa10da0d..f69ddfe72030 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/netfilter/nf_reject_ipv6.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/netfilter/nf_reject_ipv6.c
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
#include <net/ip6_checksum.h>
#include <net/dst_metadata.h>
#include <net/netfilter/ipv6/nf_reject.h>
+#include <net/netfilter/nf_recursion.h>
#include <linux/netfilter_ipv6.h>
#include <linux/netfilter_bridge.h>
@@ -409,7 +410,19 @@ void nf_send_reset6(struct net *net, struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *oldskb,
dev_queue_xmit(nskb);
} else
#endif
+ {
+ local_bh_disable();
+ if (nf_dev_xmit_recursion()) {
+ local_bh_enable();
+ kfree_skb(nskb);
+ return;
+ }
+
+ nf_dev_xmit_recursion_inc();
ip6_local_out(net, sk, nskb);
+ nf_dev_xmit_recursion_dec();
+ local_bh_enable();
+ }
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(nf_send_reset6);
diff --git a/net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.c b/net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.c
index c6bd5c29bed6..918716629c15 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
#include <net/netfilter/nf_tables.h>
#include <net/netfilter/nf_tables_offload.h>
#include <net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.h>
+#include <net/netfilter/nf_recursion.h>
static void nf_do_netdev_egress(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev,
enum nf_dev_hooks hook)
diff --git a/net/netfilter/nft_fwd_netdev.c b/net/netfilter/nft_fwd_netdev.c
index a48c2f765bba..7447da931a95 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nft_fwd_netdev.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nft_fwd_netdev.c
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
#include <net/netfilter/nf_tables.h>
#include <net/netfilter/nf_tables_offload.h>
#include <net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.h>
+#include <net/netfilter/nf_recursion.h>
#include <net/neighbour.h>
#include <net/ip.h>
--
2.55.0
next reply other threads:[~2026-09-22 9:25 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 4+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-09-22 9:25 Fernando Fernandez Mancera [this message]
2026-09-22 10:25 ` [PATCH nf v2] netfilter: nft_reject: prevent unbounded recursion in output hooks Florian Westphal
2026-09-23 21:00 ` kernel test robot
2026-09-23 22:06 ` kernel test robot
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