[PATCH net] netconsole: don't drop the last byte of a full-sized message

From: Breno Leitao

Date: Tue Jun 16 2026 - 12:13:16 EST


nt->buf is exactly MAX_PRINT_CHUNK bytes, but scnprintf() reserves one
byte for its NUL terminator, so a non-fragmented payload of exactly
MAX_PRINT_CHUNK loses its last byte (emitted as a stray NUL in the
release path). Grow nt->buf to MAX_PRINT_CHUNK + 1 and bound the
scnprintf() calls with sizeof(nt->buf); the transmitted length stays
capped at MAX_PRINT_CHUNK.

Alternatively, nt->buf could be left at MAX_PRINT_CHUNK and the NUL byte
reserved by routing exactly-MAX_PRINT_CHUNK payloads to fragmentation
('len < MAX_PRINT_CHUNK'), at the cost of fragmenting those messages.
But it would look less sane, thus the current approach.

Fixes: c62c0a17f9b7 ("netconsole: Append kernel version to message")
Signed-off-by: Breno Leitao <leitao@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/net/netconsole.c | 12 +++++++-----
1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/net/netconsole.c b/drivers/net/netconsole.c
index 57dd6821a8aa9..bfab0a47678c9 100644
--- a/drivers/net/netconsole.c
+++ b/drivers/net/netconsole.c
@@ -184,8 +184,10 @@ struct netconsole_target {
bool extended;
bool release;
struct netpoll np;
- /* protected by target_list_lock */
- char buf[MAX_PRINT_CHUNK];
+ /* protected by target_list_lock; +1 gives scnprintf() room for its
+ * NUL terminator so a full MAX_PRINT_CHUNK payload is not truncated
+ */
+ char buf[MAX_PRINT_CHUNK + 1];
struct work_struct resume_wq;
};

@@ -1692,7 +1694,7 @@ static void send_msg_no_fragmentation(struct netconsole_target *nt,
if (release_len) {
release = init_utsname()->release;

- scnprintf(nt->buf, MAX_PRINT_CHUNK, "%s,%.*s", release,
+ scnprintf(nt->buf, sizeof(nt->buf), "%s,%.*s", release,
msg_len, msg);
msg_len += release_len;
} else {
@@ -1701,12 +1703,12 @@ static void send_msg_no_fragmentation(struct netconsole_target *nt,

if (userdata)
msg_len += scnprintf(&nt->buf[msg_len],
- MAX_PRINT_CHUNK - msg_len, "%s",
+ sizeof(nt->buf) - msg_len, "%s",
userdata);

if (sysdata)
msg_len += scnprintf(&nt->buf[msg_len],
- MAX_PRINT_CHUNK - msg_len, "%s",
+ sizeof(nt->buf) - msg_len, "%s",
sysdata);

send_udp(nt, nt->buf, msg_len);

---
base-commit: fbc6a80cb5d3fd4ac4b56e8c9d791dd17be890c4
change-id: 20260616-max_print_chunk-0a8cea1b1ed7

Best regards,
--
Breno Leitao <leitao@xxxxxxxxxx>