Re: [PATCH net] net/packet: reset the MAC header on the packet-socket transmit path
From: Willem de Bruijn
Date: Thu Jul 23 2026 - 16:52:26 EST
Doruk Tan Ozturk wrote:
> packet_parse_headers() resets the MAC header only for a SOCK_RAW frame
> whose socket did not bind a protocol:
>
> if ((!skb->protocol || skb->protocol == htons(ETH_P_ALL)) &&
> sock->type == SOCK_RAW) {
> skb_reset_mac_header(skb);
> skb->protocol = dev_parse_header_protocol(skb);
> }
>
> Every other outgoing packet-socket frame therefore reaches
> ndo_start_xmit() with the MAC header unset: a SOCK_RAW socket bound to a
The normal __dev_queue_xmit calls skb_reset_mac_header.
This therefore only applies to the dev_direct_xmit path.
> specific protocol (for example socket(AF_PACKET, SOCK_RAW,
> htons(ETH_P_IP))), any SOCK_DGRAM frame (its header is built by
> dev_hard_header(), which does not set mac_header), and the legacy
> SOCK_PACKET path. A driver that reads eth_hdr(skb) on transmit then
> dereferences skb->head + (u16)~0, an out-of-bounds access about 64 KiB
> past the head.
This is not currently an expected invariant, but I see from a comment
below the --- that this approach is proposed instead of fixing up the
buggy drivers.
>
> This is the same class fixed for one consumer in commit f5089008f90c
> ("macsec: do not read an unset MAC header in macsec_encrypt()"); other
> TX .xmit paths that read eth_hdr(skb)->h_dest (several DSA taggers,
> ibmveth, sja1105, the atlantic PTP path) have the same problem.
>
> packet_parse_headers() runs only on the transmit path
> (packet_sendmsg_spkt(), tpacket_fill_skb(), packet_snd()), and there
> skb->data is the start of the L2 header for every packet-socket type.
There are some subtle points with variable length L2 protocols that
need to be reviewed.
> Reset the MAC header unconditionally so it is anchored for all of them,
> fixing the class at the source rather than hardening each consumer.
>
> The protocol probe is unchanged. A CONFIG_DEBUG_NET build stops warning
> about an unset mac header in skb_mac_header() on these paths, and the
> out-of-bounds eth_hdr() read no longer occurs.
>
> Found by 0sec (https://0sec.ai) using automated source analysis;
> verified against source and matched to the macsec KASAN report in
> f5089008f90c. Compile-tested.
>
> Fixes: 75c65772c3d1 ("net/packet: Ask driver for protocol if not provided by user")
> Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Assisted-by: 0sec:multi-model
> Signed-off-by: Doruk Tan Ozturk <doruk@xxxxxxx>
> ---
> This supersedes the per-consumer series "[PATCH net 0/3] net: dont read
> an unset MAC header on the raw/qdisc-bypass TX path"
> (https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20260713194010.54642-1-doruk@xxxxxxx/),
> per Jakubs suggestion to fix the problem at the source rather than
> hardening each driver. Vladimir Oltean had reviewed 2/3 of that series;
> this is a different (source) fix, so I have not carried the tags.
> net/packet/af_packet.c | 16 +++++++++++++---
> 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/net/packet/af_packet.c b/net/packet/af_packet.c
> index e75d2932475a..adfb9c19a3ca 100644
> --- a/net/packet/af_packet.c
> +++ b/net/packet/af_packet.c
> @@ -1924,11 +1924,21 @@ static void packet_parse_headers(struct sk_buff *skb, struct socket *sock)
> {
> int depth;
>
> + /*
> + * packet_parse_headers() runs only on the transmit path
> + * (packet_sendmsg_spkt(), tpacket_fill_skb(), packet_snd()), where
> + * skb->data is the start of the L2 header for every packet-socket
> + * type: SOCK_RAW and SOCK_PACKET carry a user-supplied header and
> + * SOCK_DGRAM has one built by dev_hard_header(). Anchor the MAC
> + * header for all of them so a frame does not reach ndo_start_xmit()
> + * with the MAC header unset, where a driver reading eth_hdr(skb) on
> + * TX would dereference an out-of-bounds offset (skb->head + (u16)~0).
> + */
This is too verbose. Better captured in the commit message.
> + skb_reset_mac_header(skb);
> +
> if ((!skb->protocol || skb->protocol == htons(ETH_P_ALL)) &&
> - sock->type == SOCK_RAW) {
> - skb_reset_mac_header(skb);
> + sock->type == SOCK_RAW)
> skb->protocol = dev_parse_header_protocol(skb);
> - }
>
> /* Move network header to the right position for VLAN tagged packets */
> if (likely(skb->dev->type == ARPHRD_ETHER) &&
> --
> 2.43.0
>