[PATCH net v3] tcp: prevent cross-family skb processing after disconnect

From: Zhiyu Zhang

Date: Tue Nov 03 2026 - 06:18:17 EST


From: Eric Dumazet <edumazet@xxxxxxxxxx>

A successful connect() of an IPv6 socket to a v4-mapped address switches
icsk_af_ops, sk_backlog_rcv and af_specific to their IPv4-mapped
variants. A later connect(AF_UNSPEC) calls tcp_disconnect(), which does
not restore them.

The socket can then be reused for a native IPv6 connection while
tcp_v4_do_rcv() remains installed. IPv6 packets drained from its backlog
are consequently passed to the IPv4 receive path.

There is also a race in the opposite direction. tcp_v6_rcv() can look up
the socket and initialize TCP_SKB_CB(skb)->header.h6 before taking the
socket lock. If the socket is disconnected and reconnected to a
v4-mapped peer in that window, release_sock() can drain the queued IPv6
skb through the newly installed tcp_v4_do_rcv().

tcp_v4_send_reset() and tcp_v4_send_ack() then interpret header.h6 as
IPv4 options. __ip_options_echo() can consequently overflow its 40-byte
destination buffer.

Commit 8cc3aef0cb19 ("tcp: Do not allow buggy transitions between ehash
and lhash2.") prevents listen() after connect(AF_UNSPEC), but a native
IPv6 connect is still allowed.

Add tcp_v6_disconnect() to restore the IPv6 handlers after disconnecting
a v4-mapped socket, and use the same helper in the connect error path.
Reject non-IPv4 skbs in tcp_v4_do_rcv() before accessing IPv4
control-block data. In the reverse race, the skb belongs to the
disconnected connection, so drop it instead of redirecting it to the
IPv6 receive path.

MPTCP subflows override sk_prot, while two teardown paths call
tcp_disconnect() directly. Route them through the protocol-specific
disconnect operation so IPv6 MPTCP subflows receive the same
restoration.

Tested with TCP and MPTCP by reconnecting an AF_INET6 socket in both
directions after connect(AF_UNSPEC). A socket filter was used to widen
the native-to-mapped race window and verify that the stale IPv6 skb did
not reach tcp_v4_send_reset().

Fixes: 1da177e4c3f4 ("Linux-2.6.12-rc2")
Reported-by: Tong Liu <lyutoon@xxxxxxxxx>
Reported-by: Qi Tang <tpluszz77@xxxxxxxxx>
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/CALf2hKvp0NPVLwr=a3+jUHtPohxbra8gox+aYAfWathJnn-J+Q@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx/
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/CAL4WiiqFJpmcV4=TWRpukCq6q=-729658FwGvieNcPXe97kLvQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx/
Signed-off-by: Eric Dumazet <edumazet@xxxxxxxxxx>
Co-developed-by: Zhiyu Zhang <zhiyuzhang999@xxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Zhiyu Zhang <zhiyuzhang999@xxxxxxxxx>
---
Changes in v3:
- Reject non-IPv4 skbs in tcp_v4_do_rcv() to cover packets queued
across a native IPv6 to v4-mapped reconnect.
- Drop Kuniyuki's Reviewed-by tag due to the code change.

v2: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20261101182736.430733-1-zhiyuzhang999@xxxxxxxxx/
v1: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20261030032314.1978575-1-zhiyuzhang999@xxxxxxxxx/

net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c | 5 +++++
net/ipv6/tcp_ipv6.c | 37 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------
net/mptcp/protocol.c | 4 ++--
3 files changed, 35 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c b/net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c
index a7f9242f1e42..8fa6564d2b60 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c
@@ -1836,6 +1836,11 @@ int tcp_v4_do_rcv(struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *skb)
{
enum skb_drop_reason reason;

+ if (unlikely(skb->protocol != htons(ETH_P_IP))) {
+ reason = SKB_DROP_REASON_INVALID_PROTO;
+ goto err_discard;
+ }
+
reason = psp_sk_rx_policy_check(sk, skb);
if (reason)
goto err_discard;
diff --git a/net/ipv6/tcp_ipv6.c b/net/ipv6/tcp_ipv6.c
index e006a30360ea..a93410aab66e 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/tcp_ipv6.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/tcp_ipv6.c
@@ -130,6 +130,19 @@ static int tcp_v6_pre_connect(struct sock *sk, struct sockaddr_unsized *uaddr,
return BPF_CGROUP_RUN_PROG_INET6_CONNECT(sk, uaddr, &addr_len);
}

+/* Undo the v4-mapped setup done by tcp_v6_connect(). */
+static void tcp_v6_restore_af_ops(struct sock *sk)
+{
+ /* Paired with READ_ONCE() in tcp_(get|set)sockopt() */
+ WRITE_ONCE(inet_csk(sk)->icsk_af_ops, &ipv6_specific);
+ if (sk_is_mptcp(sk))
+ mptcpv6_handle_mapped(sk, false);
+ sk->sk_backlog_rcv = tcp_v6_do_rcv;
+#if defined(CONFIG_TCP_MD5SIG) || defined(CONFIG_TCP_AO)
+ tcp_sk(sk)->af_specific = &tcp_sock_ipv6_specific;
+#endif
+}
+
static int tcp_v6_connect(struct sock *sk, struct sockaddr_unsized *uaddr,
int addr_len)
{
@@ -243,14 +256,7 @@ static int tcp_v6_connect(struct sock *sk, struct sockaddr_unsized *uaddr,

if (err) {
icsk->icsk_ext_hdr_len = exthdrlen;
- /* Paired with READ_ONCE() in tcp_(get|set)sockopt() */
- WRITE_ONCE(icsk->icsk_af_ops, &ipv6_specific);
- if (sk_is_mptcp(sk))
- mptcpv6_handle_mapped(sk, false);
- sk->sk_backlog_rcv = tcp_v6_do_rcv;
-#if defined(CONFIG_TCP_MD5SIG) || defined(CONFIG_TCP_AO)
- tp->af_specific = &tcp_sock_ipv6_specific;
-#endif
+ tcp_v6_restore_af_ops(sk);
goto failure;
}
np->saddr = sk->sk_v6_rcv_saddr;
@@ -2093,6 +2099,19 @@ static int tcp_v6_init_sock(struct sock *sk)
return 0;
}

+static int tcp_v6_disconnect(struct sock *sk, int flags)
+{
+ int ret = tcp_disconnect(sk, flags);
+
+ /* A socket used for a v4-mapped connection must not keep IPv4
+ * handlers when it is reused for listen() or a native IPv6 connect().
+ */
+ if (sk->sk_backlog_rcv == tcp_v4_do_rcv)
+ tcp_v6_restore_af_ops(sk);
+
+ return ret;
+}
+
#ifdef CONFIG_PROC_FS
/* Proc filesystem TCPv6 sock list dumping. */
static void get_openreq6(struct seq_file *seq,
@@ -2283,7 +2302,7 @@ struct proto tcpv6_prot = {
.close = tcp_close,
.pre_connect = tcp_v6_pre_connect,
.connect = tcp_v6_connect,
- .disconnect = tcp_disconnect,
+ .disconnect = tcp_v6_disconnect,
.accept = inet_csk_accept,
.ioctl = tcp_ioctl,
.init = tcp_v6_init_sock,
diff --git a/net/mptcp/protocol.c b/net/mptcp/protocol.c
index 7a22e9388e0e..fdfbc7de2ec0 100644
--- a/net/mptcp/protocol.c
+++ b/net/mptcp/protocol.c
@@ -2608,7 +2608,7 @@ static void __mptcp_subflow_disconnect(struct sock *ssk,
/* The MPTCP code never wait on the subflow sockets, TCP-level
* disconnect should never fail
*/
- WARN_ON_ONCE(tcp_disconnect(ssk, 0));
+ WARN_ON_ONCE(ssk->sk_prot->disconnect(ssk, 0));
mptcp_subflow_ctx_reset(subflow);
} else {
tcp_shutdown(ssk, SEND_SHUTDOWN);
@@ -3287,7 +3287,7 @@ void mptcp_subflow_shutdown(struct sock *sk, struct sock *ssk, int how)
break;
fallthrough;
case TCP_SYN_SENT:
- WARN_ON_ONCE(tcp_disconnect(ssk, O_NONBLOCK));
+ WARN_ON_ONCE(ssk->sk_prot->disconnect(ssk, O_NONBLOCK));
break;
default:
if (__mptcp_check_fallback(mptcp_sk(sk))) {

base-commit: 5838f10563d58afca6711edb5e4eda968ca181d9
--
2.34.1