The sit driver's packet transmission path calls: sit_tunnel_xmit() -> update_or_create_fnhe(), which lead to fnhe_remove_oldest() being called to delete entries exceeding FNHE_RECLAIM_DEPTH+random.
The race window is between fnhe_remove_oldest() selecting fnheX for deletion and the subsequent kfree_rcu(). During this time, the concurrent path's __mkroute_output() -> find_exception() can fetch the soon-to-be-deleted fnheX, and rt_bind_exception() then binds it with a new dst using a dst_hold(). When the original fnheX is freed via RCU, the dst reference remains permanently leaked.
CPU 0 CPU 1 __mkroute_output() find_exception() [fnheX] update_or_create_fnhe() fnhe_remove_oldest() [fnheX] rt_bind_exception() [bind dst] RCU callback [fnheX freed, dst leak]
This issue manifests as a device reference count leak and a warning in dmesg when unregistering the net device:
unregister_netdevice: waiting for sitX to become free. Usage count = N
Ido Schimmel provided the simple test validation method [1].
The fix clears 'oldest->fnhe_daddr' before calling fnhe_flush_routes(). Since rt_bind_exception() checks this field, setting it to zero prevents the stale fnhe from being reused and bound to a new dst just before it is freed.
[1] ip netns add ns1 ip -n ns1 link set dev lo up ip -n ns1 address add 192.0.2.1/32 dev lo ip -n ns1 link add name dummy1 up type dummy ip -n ns1 route add 192.0.2.2/32 dev dummy1 ip -n ns1 link add name gretap1 up arp off type gretap \ local 192.0.2.1 remote 192.0.2.2 ip -n ns1 route add 198.51.0.0/16 dev gretap1 taskset -c 0 ip netns exec ns1 mausezahn gretap1 \ -A 198.51.100.1 -B 198.51.0.0/16 -t udp -p 1000 -c 0 -q & taskset -c 2 ip netns exec ns1 mausezahn gretap1 \ -A 198.51.100.1 -B 198.51.0.0/16 -t udp -p 1000 -c 0 -q & sleep 10 ip netns pids ns1 | xargs kill ip netns del ns1
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org Fixes: 67d6d681e15b ("ipv4: make exception cache less predictible") Signed-off-by: Chuang Wang nashuiliang@gmail.com --- v0 -> v1: - Expanded commit description to fully document the race condition, including the sit driver's call chain and stack trace. - Added Ido Schimmel's validation method. ---
net/ipv4/route.c | 5 +++++ 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+)
diff --git a/net/ipv4/route.c b/net/ipv4/route.c index 6d27d3610c1c..b549d6a57307 100644 --- a/net/ipv4/route.c +++ b/net/ipv4/route.c @@ -607,6 +607,11 @@ static void fnhe_remove_oldest(struct fnhe_hash_bucket *hash) oldest_p = fnhe_p; } } + + /* Clear oldest->fnhe_daddr to prevent this fnhe from being + * rebound with new dsts in rt_bind_exception(). + */ + oldest->fnhe_daddr = 0; fnhe_flush_routes(oldest); *oldest_p = oldest->fnhe_next; kfree_rcu(oldest, rcu);
On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 02:43:24PM +0800, Chuang Wang wrote:
The sit driver's packet transmission path calls: sit_tunnel_xmit() -> update_or_create_fnhe(), which lead to fnhe_remove_oldest() being called to delete entries exceeding FNHE_RECLAIM_DEPTH+random.
The race window is between fnhe_remove_oldest() selecting fnheX for deletion and the subsequent kfree_rcu(). During this time, the concurrent path's __mkroute_output() -> find_exception() can fetch the soon-to-be-deleted fnheX, and rt_bind_exception() then binds it with a new dst using a dst_hold(). When the original fnheX is freed via RCU, the dst reference remains permanently leaked.
CPU 0 CPU 1 __mkroute_output() find_exception() [fnheX] update_or_create_fnhe() fnhe_remove_oldest() [fnheX] rt_bind_exception() [bind dst] RCU callback [fnheX freed, dst leak]
This issue manifests as a device reference count leak and a warning in dmesg when unregistering the net device:
unregister_netdevice: waiting for sitX to become free. Usage count = N
Ido Schimmel provided the simple test validation method [1].
The fix clears 'oldest->fnhe_daddr' before calling fnhe_flush_routes(). Since rt_bind_exception() checks this field, setting it to zero prevents the stale fnhe from being reused and bound to a new dst just before it is freed.
[1] ip netns add ns1 ip -n ns1 link set dev lo up ip -n ns1 address add 192.0.2.1/32 dev lo ip -n ns1 link add name dummy1 up type dummy ip -n ns1 route add 192.0.2.2/32 dev dummy1 ip -n ns1 link add name gretap1 up arp off type gretap \ local 192.0.2.1 remote 192.0.2.2 ip -n ns1 route add 198.51.0.0/16 dev gretap1 taskset -c 0 ip netns exec ns1 mausezahn gretap1 \ -A 198.51.100.1 -B 198.51.0.0/16 -t udp -p 1000 -c 0 -q & taskset -c 2 ip netns exec ns1 mausezahn gretap1 \ -A 198.51.100.1 -B 198.51.0.0/16 -t udp -p 1000 -c 0 -q & sleep 10 ip netns pids ns1 | xargs kill ip netns del ns1
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org Fixes: 67d6d681e15b ("ipv4: make exception cache less predictible") Signed-off-by: Chuang Wang nashuiliang@gmail.com
Reviewed-by: Ido Schimmel idosch@nvidia.com
On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 11:28 PM Ido Schimmel idosch@idosch.org wrote:
On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 02:43:24PM +0800, Chuang Wang wrote:
The sit driver's packet transmission path calls: sit_tunnel_xmit() -> update_or_create_fnhe(), which lead to fnhe_remove_oldest() being called to delete entries exceeding FNHE_RECLAIM_DEPTH+random.
...
Reviewed-by: Ido Schimmel idosch@nvidia.com
Thanks !
Reviewed-by: Eric Dumazet edumazet@google.com
Hello:
This patch was applied to netdev/net.git (main) by Jakub Kicinski kuba@kernel.org:
On Tue, 11 Nov 2025 14:43:24 +0800 you wrote:
The sit driver's packet transmission path calls: sit_tunnel_xmit() -> update_or_create_fnhe(), which lead to fnhe_remove_oldest() being called to delete entries exceeding FNHE_RECLAIM_DEPTH+random.
The race window is between fnhe_remove_oldest() selecting fnheX for deletion and the subsequent kfree_rcu(). During this time, the concurrent path's __mkroute_output() -> find_exception() can fetch the soon-to-be-deleted fnheX, and rt_bind_exception() then binds it with a new dst using a dst_hold(). When the original fnheX is freed via RCU, the dst reference remains permanently leaked.
[...]
Here is the summary with links: - [net,v1] ipv4: route: Prevent rt_bind_exception() from rebinding stale fnhe https://git.kernel.org/netdev/net/c/ac1499fcd40f
You are awesome, thank you!
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Ido Schimmel -
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