[PATCH net v2 1/2] ipv6: serialize address publication with device teardown

From: Daehyeon Ko

Date: Sun Oct 04 2026 - 14:37:54 EST


ipv6_add_addr() checks idev state before allocating an ifaddr, but
publishes the object later. addrconf_ifdown() can mark and detach the
idev between the check and publication.

This happens when a non-loopback device MTU falls below IPV6_MIN_MTU. A
forced interleaving published an address on a dead idev, and later device
deletion waited indefinitely for the leaked references.

Protect the dead indication with idev->lock and keep that lock across
both hash and device-list publication. Recheck both dead and
disable_ipv6 before publishing. If teardown wins, reject the unpublished
object.

Fixes: 8814c4b53381 ("[IPV6] ADDRCONF: Convert addrconf_lock to RCU.")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Suggested-by: Ido Schimmel <idosch@xxxxxxxxxx>
Assisted-by: LLM
Signed-off-by: Daehyeon Ko <4ncienth@xxxxxxxxx>
---
net/ipv6/addrconf.c | 14 +++++++++++---
1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/net/ipv6/addrconf.c b/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
index c90ee6dd7446cd..426739abb07440 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
@@ -1168,14 +1168,20 @@ ipv6_add_addr(struct inet6_dev *idev, struct ifa6_config *cfg,

rcu_read_lock();

- err = ipv6_add_addr_hash(idev->dev, ifa);
+ write_lock_bh(&idev->lock);
+
+ if (idev->dead)
+ err = -ENODEV;
+ else if (READ_ONCE(idev->cnf.disable_ipv6))
+ err = -EACCES;
+ else
+ err = ipv6_add_addr_hash(idev->dev, ifa);
if (err < 0) {
+ write_unlock_bh(&idev->lock);
rcu_read_unlock();
goto out;
}

- write_lock_bh(&idev->lock);
-
/* Add to inet6_dev unicast addr list. */
ipv6_link_dev_addr(idev, ifa);

@@ -3897,7 +3903,9 @@ static int addrconf_ifdown(struct net_device *dev, bool unregister)
* Do not dev_put!
*/
if (unregister) {
+ write_lock_bh(&idev->lock);
WRITE_ONCE(idev->dead, 1);
+ write_unlock_bh(&idev->lock);

/* protected by rtnl_lock */
RCU_INIT_POINTER(dev->ip6_ptr, NULL);
--
2.55.0