Re: [PATCH 2.6.14-rc2] aoe [1/2]: explicitly set minimum packetlength to ETH_ZLEN

[Randy.Dunlap]

On Mon, 26 Sep 2005 Valdis.Kletnieks@xxxxxx wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Sep 2005 12:50:28 EDT, Ed L Cashin said:
> > "Ed L. Cashin" <ecashin@xxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> >
> > ...
> > > Explicitly set the minimum packet length to ETH_ZLEN.
> > >
> > > Index: 2.6.14-rc2-aoe/drivers/block/aoe/aoecmd.c
> > > ===================================================================
> > > --- 2.6.14-rc2-aoe.orig/drivers/block/aoe/aoecmd.c	2005-09-26 12:20:34.000000000 -0400
> > > +++ 2.6.14-rc2-aoe/drivers/block/aoe/aoecmd.c	2005-09-26 12:27:49.000000000 -0400
> > > @@ -20,6 +20,9 @@
> > >  {
> > >  	struct sk_buff *skb;
> > >
> > > +	if (len < ETH_ZLEN)
> > > +		len = ETH_ZLEN;
> > > +
> > >  	skb = alloc_skb(len, GFP_ATOMIC);
> >
> > This change fixes some strange problems observed on a system that was
> > using the e1000 network driver.  Is the network driver supposed to
> > ensure that ethernet packets are up to spec, at least 60 bytes long?
>
> I haven't chased through the code in detail - will this change ensure that
> all ETH_ZLEN bytes are initialized?  We had a bunch of drivers a few years
> ago that set the length to the legal min, but then only copied some smaller
> number of bytes in, resulting in leakage of kernel memory contents....

Good point.

On Ed's other question (which I have already trashed -- sorry),
I am familiar with some NICs that automatically pad packets to
ensure min packet size packets, and they know to do so with
a safe data pattern.  However, it's been a few years since I
worked on NIC drivers, so I don't know the current state of
affairs.

-- 
~Randy
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