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Jakub Kicinski 6262acad9d Merge branch 'net-cap-tx_queue_len-at-s16_max-to-prevent-oversized-ring-allocations'
Jamal Hadi Salim says:

====================
net: cap tx_queue_len at S16_MAX to prevent oversized ring allocations

An unprivileged user (via unshare -Urn) can set a huge tx_queue_len
and exhaust global memory through ring allocations sized from it
(pfifo_fast skb_arrays, tun/tap ptr_rings).
The reproducer from vega@nebusec.ai set the following params for
illustration: txqlen of 500000 -> ~32 GiB/ring attempts, 1.6 GB tun,
~960 MB tap. Gets worse when you consider qdiscs like mq.

What we fix: every path an unprivileged user can use to install
an oversized tx_queue_len is rejected with -ERANGE before any ring is
allocated; per-ring memory is bounded at 256 KiB.

This is for you sashikos: What we deliberately _do not fix_
bound the NUMBER of rings. With the cap in place the worst case moves
from "one knob" to the aggregate of ring x queues x devices, example:

  ip link add v0 numtxqueues 4096 txqueuelen 32767 type veth
  tc qdisc add dev v0 root mq
    -> 4096 * 3 * 32767 * 8 = ~3.0 GiB (one command)
  50 tun devices x 256 queues x 32767 x 8 = ~3.1 GiB

Unfortunately tx_queue_len is a bit ambigious in meaning:
In some cases it means a ring size (which is pre-allocated, ex:
tun, tap, and pfifo_fast); a cap of 4096 seems reasonable here.
but in other cases it is used to indicate a queue limit ex:
the qdisc consumers that allocate nothing (pfifo/bfifo/gred/plug/sfb,
htb direct_qlen, qfq, teql). 32767 is a legitimate high-BDP queue
length, so we are going to keep that value.

Getting back to you sashikos, after this is merged and shows up
in net-next we will send followup patches as follows:
this series is not misread as "closes the OOM class"):

a) Per-site ring limits at six identified locations
    - pfifo_fast init/resize,
    - tun attach/resize,
    - tap minor/resize)

   if you can spot more in your review we will take care of those as well.

b) memcg accounting (GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT) for those ring
   allocations: contains a memcg-limited container's ring memory.
   Not GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT has no effect on the unshare attacker
   but will protect against containers  (memory.max in its cgroup)
====================

Link: https://patch.msgid.link/QDISC-2899.v2.20260901233641@mojatatu.com
Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
History 2026-09-04 16:30:53 -07:00
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============

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-----------------------

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