Re: [PATCH nf-next 3/4] netfilter: x_tables: do not print specified table

[Pablo Neira Ayuso <pablo@netfilter.org>]

On Tue, Aug 18, 2026 at 02:55:35PM +0200, Jan Engelhardt wrote:
> 
> On Tuesday 2026-08-18 14:27, Pablo Neira Ayuso wrote:
> 
> >This is defensive, possibly this string has been already been sanitized
> >but simply print that this match/target extension can only be used for a
> >given table.
> 
> >@@ -95,8 +95,7 @@ static int rpfilter_check(const struct xt_mtchk_param *par)
> > 
> > 	if (strcmp(par->table, "mangle") != 0 &&
> > 	    strcmp(par->table, "raw") != 0) {
> >-		pr_info_ratelimited("only valid in \'raw\' or \'mangle\' table, not \'%s\'\n",
> >-				    par->table);
> >+		pr_info_ratelimited("only valid in \'raw\' or \'mangle\' table\n");
> > 		return -EINVAL;
> > 	}
> 
> You have now robbed the user of information where the problem
> originated from (and thus removed an avenue on further diagnosis /
> remediation), which is one of the classic UI/UX sins[1].
>
> (There should be countless webpages out there that can explain
> better than me what's a good and what's a bad error message.)

You are right, I will keep this patch back.