[PATCH net] ipvs: reject negative sync_refresh_period values

From: Yingjie Wang

Date: Mon Nov 02 2026 - 04:40:15 EST


net.ipv4.vs.sync_refresh_period is documented as an unsigned number of
seconds. proc_dointvec_jiffies() accepts a signed integer and converts
it to jiffies before storing it in an unsigned int field. Consequently,
writing -1 stores UINT_MAX - HZ + 1 jiffies and bypasses the finite
bound applied to ordinary positive writes.

This changes the behavior of ip_vs_sync_conn_needed(). With
sync_threshold="0 1" (threshold 0, period 1) and
sync_refresh_period=-1, only the first of twelve packets requests a
sync message; the zero-refresh control requests all twelve.

Store the value in seconds, as documented, and convert it at the single
consumer. Use proc_douintvec_minmax() to reject negative input. Cap the
value at INT_MAX / HZ to preserve the prior jiffies range and avoid
overflow in secs_to_jiffies().

The issue was reproduced on an affected 7.0 distribution kernel in a
temporary network namespace. A patched target kernel was built with W=1
and exercised in QEMU; -1 is now rejected with EINVAL, zero and positive
values retain their behavior, and the HZ=1000 boundary accepts 2147483
while rejecting 2147484.

Fixes: 749c42b620a9 ("ipvs: reduce sync rate with time thresholds")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Yingjie Wang <1075151112@xxxxxx>
---
include/net/ip_vs.h | 7 ++++---
net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c | 8 ++++++--
2 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/net/ip_vs.h b/include/net/ip_vs.h
index 9a83bff32569..66f26c3d1f75 100644
--- a/include/net/ip_vs.h
+++ b/include/net/ip_vs.h
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@

#include <linux/compiler.h>
#include <linux/timer.h>
+#include <linux/jiffies.h>
#include <linux/bug.h>

#include <net/checksum.h>
@@ -1267,7 +1268,7 @@ struct netns_ipvs {
int sysctl_sloppy_sctp;
int sysctl_expire_quiescent_template;
int sysctl_sync_threshold[2];
- unsigned int sysctl_sync_refresh_period;
+ unsigned int sysctl_sync_refresh_period; /* seconds */
int sysctl_sync_retries;
int sysctl_nat_icmp_send;
int sysctl_pmtu_disc;
@@ -1335,7 +1336,7 @@ struct netns_ipvs {
#define DEFAULT_SYNC_VER 1
#define DEFAULT_SLOPPY_TCP 0
#define DEFAULT_SLOPPY_SCTP 0
-#define DEFAULT_SYNC_REFRESH_PERIOD (0U * HZ)
+#define DEFAULT_SYNC_REFRESH_PERIOD 0U
#define DEFAULT_SYNC_RETRIES 0
#define IPVS_SYNC_WAKEUP_RATE 8
#define IPVS_SYNC_QLEN_MAX (IPVS_SYNC_WAKEUP_RATE * 4)
@@ -1363,7 +1364,7 @@ static inline int sysctl_sync_period(struct netns_ipvs *ipvs)

static inline unsigned int sysctl_sync_refresh_period(struct netns_ipvs *ipvs)
{
- return READ_ONCE(ipvs->sysctl_sync_refresh_period);
+ return secs_to_jiffies(READ_ONCE(ipvs->sysctl_sync_refresh_period));
}

static inline int sysctl_sync_retries(struct netns_ipvs *ipvs)
diff --git a/net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c b/net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c
index ce9fe20d6106..82726b6b5e3a 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c
@@ -2369,6 +2369,8 @@ static int ip_vs_zero_all(struct netns_ipvs *ipvs)

#ifdef CONFIG_SYSCTL

+static unsigned int sync_refresh_period_max = INT_MAX / HZ;
+
static int
proc_do_conn_max(const struct ctl_table *table, int write,
void *buffer, size_t *lenp, loff_t *ppos)
@@ -2824,9 +2826,11 @@ static struct ctl_table vs_vars[] = {
},
{
.procname = "sync_refresh_period",
- .maxlen = sizeof(int),
+ .maxlen = sizeof(unsigned int),
.mode = 0644,
- .proc_handler = proc_dointvec_jiffies,
+ .proc_handler = proc_douintvec_minmax,
+ .extra1 = SYSCTL_ZERO,
+ .extra2 = &sync_refresh_period_max,
},
{
.procname = "sync_retries",

base-commit: cb284914e749388eef402938bdb3115fe1f6d337
--
2.43.0