[PATCH bpf] bpf: Fix netns reference imbalance in conntrack kfuncs

Chengfeng Ye <[email protected]> Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:31:41 +0800
Newsgroups gmane.linux.network,gmane.comp.security.firewalls.netfilter.devel,gmane.linux.kernel,gmane.linux.kernel.bpf
Message-ID <[email protected]>
The opts argument of the BPF conntrack kfuncs can point to a shared map
value.  __bpf_nf_ct_lookup() and __bpf_nf_ct_alloc_entry() read
opts->netns_id separately when acquiring and releasing the network
namespace reference.

The reference imbalance can occur as follows:

  CPU 0                                  CPU 1
  read opts->netns_id (-1)
  skip get_net_ns_by_id()
                                         write opts->netns_id (id)
  read opts->netns_id (id)
  put_net(net) /* no matching get */

The reverse transition leaks the reference.  Repeating the unmatched put
can destroy a live namespace and crash later users.

The kernel reported:

  Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address
  KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x00000000000000e8-0x00000000000000ef]
  RIP: 0010:bpf_prog_test_run_xdp+0x52c/0x1700
  Call Trace:
   __sys_bpf+0x1662/0x50c0
   __x64_sys_bpf+0x73/0xb0
   do_syscall_64+0xf9/0x540
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
  Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception

Read netns_id once with READ_ONCE() and use that value for validation
and the matching get/put pair.  Each invocation then consistently uses
either the calling namespace or a referenced namespace.

Fixes: aed8ee7feb44 ("net: netfilter: Deduplicate code in bpf_{xdp,skb}_ct_lookup")
Fixes: d7e79c97c00c ("net: netfilter: Add kfuncs to allocate and insert CT")
Signed-off-by: Chengfeng Ye <[email protected]>
---
Please queue this fix for stable kernels.

 net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_bpf.c | 20 ++++++++++++--------
 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_bpf.c b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_bpf.c
index f98d1d4b42c3..8b540846f299 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_bpf.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_bpf.c
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ __bpf_nf_ct_alloc_entry(struct net *net, struct bpf_sock_tuple *bpf_tuple,
 	struct nf_conntrack_tuple otuple, rtuple;
 	struct nf_conntrack_zone ct_zone;
 	struct nf_conn *ct;
+	s32 netns_id;
 	int err;
 
 	if (!(opts_len == NF_BPF_CT_OPTS_SZ || opts_len == 12))
@@ -134,7 +135,8 @@ __bpf_nf_ct_alloc_entry(struct net *net, struct bpf_sock_tuple *bpf_tuple,
 			return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
 	}
 
-	if (unlikely(opts->netns_id < BPF_F_CURRENT_NETNS))
+	netns_id = READ_ONCE(opts->netns_id);
+	if (unlikely(netns_id < BPF_F_CURRENT_NETNS))
 		return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
 
 	err = bpf_nf_ct_tuple_parse(bpf_tuple, tuple_len, opts->l4proto,
@@ -147,8 +149,8 @@ __bpf_nf_ct_alloc_entry(struct net *net, struct bpf_sock_tuple *bpf_tuple,
 	if (err < 0)
 		return ERR_PTR(err);
 
-	if (opts->netns_id >= 0) {
-		net = get_net_ns_by_id(net, opts->netns_id);
+	if (netns_id >= 0) {
+		net = get_net_ns_by_id(net, netns_id);
 		if (unlikely(!net))
 			return ERR_PTR(-ENONET);
 	}
@@ -171,7 +173,7 @@ __bpf_nf_ct_alloc_entry(struct net *net, struct bpf_sock_tuple *bpf_tuple,
 	__nf_ct_set_timeout(ct, timeout * HZ);
 
 out:
-	if (opts->netns_id >= 0)
+	if (netns_id >= 0)
 		put_net(net);
 
 	return ct;
@@ -186,6 +188,7 @@ static struct nf_conn *__bpf_nf_ct_lookup(struct net *net,
 	struct nf_conntrack_tuple tuple;
 	struct nf_conntrack_zone ct_zone;
 	struct nf_conn *ct;
+	s32 netns_id;
 	int err;
 
 	if (!opts || !bpf_tuple)
@@ -201,7 +204,8 @@ static struct nf_conn *__bpf_nf_ct_lookup(struct net *net,
 	}
 	if (unlikely(opts->l4proto != IPPROTO_TCP && opts->l4proto != IPPROTO_UDP))
 		return ERR_PTR(-EPROTO);
-	if (unlikely(opts->netns_id < BPF_F_CURRENT_NETNS))
+	netns_id = READ_ONCE(opts->netns_id);
+	if (unlikely(netns_id < BPF_F_CURRENT_NETNS))
 		return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
 
 	err = bpf_nf_ct_tuple_parse(bpf_tuple, tuple_len, opts->l4proto,
@@ -209,8 +213,8 @@ static struct nf_conn *__bpf_nf_ct_lookup(struct net *net,
 	if (err < 0)
 		return ERR_PTR(err);
 
-	if (opts->netns_id >= 0) {
-		net = get_net_ns_by_id(net, opts->netns_id);
+	if (netns_id >= 0) {
+		net = get_net_ns_by_id(net, netns_id);
 		if (unlikely(!net))
 			return ERR_PTR(-ENONET);
 	}
@@ -225,7 +229,7 @@ static struct nf_conn *__bpf_nf_ct_lookup(struct net *net,
 	}
 
 	hash = nf_conntrack_find_get(net, &ct_zone, &tuple);
-	if (opts->netns_id >= 0)
+	if (netns_id >= 0)
 		put_net(net);
 	if (!hash)
 		return ERR_PTR(-ENOENT);
-- 
2.43.0