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Re: [PATCH 2/2] ipvs: Guard access of HK_TYPE_KTHREAD cpumask with RCU

To: Julian Anastasov <ja@xxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [PATCH 2/2] ipvs: Guard access of HK_TYPE_KTHREAD cpumask with RCU
Cc: Simon Horman <horms@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, "David S. Miller" <davem@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, David Ahern <dsahern@xxxxxxxxxx>, Eric Dumazet <edumazet@xxxxxxxxxx>, Jakub Kicinski <kuba@xxxxxxxxxx>, Paolo Abeni <pabeni@xxxxxxxxxx>, Pablo Neira Ayuso <pablo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Florian Westphal <fw@xxxxxxxxx>, Phil Sutter <phil@xxxxxx>, Frederic Weisbecker <frederic@xxxxxxxxxx>, Chen Ridong <chenridong@xxxxxxxxxx>, Phil Auld <pauld@xxxxxxxxxx>, linux-kernel <linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, netdev@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, lvs-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, netfilter-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, coreteam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, sheviks <sheviks@xxxxxxxxx>
From: Waiman Long <longman@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2026 10:23:44 -0400
On 3/26/26 4:32 AM, Julian Anastasov wrote:
        Hello,

On Tue, 24 Mar 2026, Waiman Long wrote:

The ip_vs_ctl.c file and the associated ip_vs.h file are the only places
in the kernel where HK_TYPE_KTHREAD cpumask is being retrieved and used.
Now that HK_TYPE_KTHREAD/HK_TYPE_DOMAIN cpumask can be changed at run
time. We need to use RCU to guard access to this cpumask to avoid a
potential UAF problem as the returned cpumask may be freed before it
is being used.

Signed-off-by: Waiman Long <longman@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
  include/net/ip_vs.h            | 20 ++++++++++++++++----
  net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c | 13 ++++++++-----
  2 files changed, 24 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/net/ip_vs.h b/include/net/ip_vs.h
index 29a36709e7f3..17c85a575ef4 100644
--- a/include/net/ip_vs.h
+++ b/include/net/ip_vs.h
@@ -1155,7 +1155,7 @@ static inline int sysctl_run_estimation(struct netns_ipvs 
*ipvs)
        return ipvs->sysctl_run_estimation;
  }
-static inline const struct cpumask *sysctl_est_cpulist(struct netns_ipvs *ipvs)
+static inline const struct cpumask *__sysctl_est_cpulist(struct netns_ipvs 
*ipvs)
  {
        if (ipvs->est_cpulist_valid)
                return ipvs->sysctl_est_cpulist;
@@ -1273,7 +1273,7 @@ static inline int sysctl_run_estimation(struct netns_ipvs 
*ipvs)
        return 1;
  }
-static inline const struct cpumask *sysctl_est_cpulist(struct netns_ipvs *ipvs)
+static inline const struct cpumask *__sysctl_est_cpulist(struct netns_ipvs 
*ipvs)
  {
        return housekeeping_cpumask(HK_TYPE_KTHREAD);
  }
@@ -1290,6 +1290,18 @@ static inline int sysctl_est_nice(struct netns_ipvs 
*ipvs)
#endif
        May be there is little fuzz here, due to the recent
changes in the nf-next tree. If this is a bugfix due to the
missing RCU protection, may be you should add Fixes line too
and use the nf tree. Probably, there will be fuzz/collisions with
the changes in the nf-next tree...
Thanks for the suggestion, I will rebase the patches on top of the nf-next tree.

+static inline bool sysctl_est_cpulist_empty(struct netns_ipvs *ipvs)
+{
+       guard(rcu)();
+       return cpumask_empty(__sysctl_est_cpulist(ipvs));
+}
+
+static inline unsigned int sysctl_est_cpulist_weight(struct netns_ipvs *ipvs)
+{
+       guard(rcu)();
+       return cpumask_weight(__sysctl_est_cpulist(ipvs));
+}
+
  /* IPVS core functions
   * (from ip_vs_core.c)
   */
@@ -1604,7 +1616,7 @@ static inline void ip_vs_est_stopped_recalc(struct 
netns_ipvs *ipvs)
        /* Stop tasks while cpulist is empty or if disabled with flag */
        ipvs->est_stopped = !sysctl_run_estimation(ipvs) ||
                            (ipvs->est_cpulist_valid &&
-                            cpumask_empty(sysctl_est_cpulist(ipvs)));
+                            sysctl_est_cpulist_empty(ipvs));
  #endif
  }
@@ -1620,7 +1632,7 @@ static inline bool ip_vs_est_stopped(struct netns_ipvs *ipvs)
  static inline int ip_vs_est_max_threads(struct netns_ipvs *ipvs)
  {
        unsigned int limit = IPVS_EST_CPU_KTHREADS *
-                            cpumask_weight(sysctl_est_cpulist(ipvs));
+                            sysctl_est_cpulist_weight(ipvs);
return max(1U, limit);
  }
diff --git a/net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c b/net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c
index 35642de2a0fe..f38a2e2a9dc5 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c
@@ -1973,11 +1973,14 @@ static int ipvs_proc_est_cpumask_get(const struct 
ctl_table *table,
mutex_lock(&ipvs->est_mutex); - if (ipvs->est_cpulist_valid)
-               mask = *valp;
-       else
-               mask = (struct cpumask *)housekeeping_cpumask(HK_TYPE_KTHREAD);
-       ret = scnprintf(buffer, size, "%*pbl\n", cpumask_pr_args(mask));
+       /* HK_TYPE_KTHREAD cpumask needs RCU protection */
        Can we switch IPVS to use HK_TYPE_DOMAIN? The initial
intention was to follow the code in kthread.c. Then you can
reconsider if HK_TYPE_KTHREAD should be alias to HK_TYPE_DOMAIN,
may be not if there are no other users...

Yes, I can certainly switch to use HK_TYPE_DOMAIN instead. The reason I keep HK_TYPE_KTHREAD is that it may not be obvious to others that kthread is now following the HK_TYPE_DOMAIN cpumask, keeping  HK_TYPE_KTHREAD but making it an alias can make that clear.


+       scoped_guard(rcu) {
+               if (ipvs->est_cpulist_valid)
+                       mask = *valp;
+               else
+                       mask = (struct cpumask 
*)housekeeping_cpumask(HK_TYPE_KTHREAD);
+               ret = scnprintf(buffer, size, "%*pbl\n", cpumask_pr_args(mask));
+       }
mutex_unlock(&ipvs->est_mutex); --
2.53.0
Regards

--
Julian Anastasov <ja@xxxxxx>




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