Re: [PATCH net] net: ethtool: keep rtnl_lock for ops using ethtool_op_get_link()

Harshitha Ramamurthy <[email protected]>
Newsgroups org.kernel.vger.linux-hyperv,org.kernel.vger.linux-rdma,org.kernel.vger.netdev
Message-ID <CAEAWyHfDMjZ7b9LphcUn_Xrz2yWXdSD9cDj3bwW57+=2y+UsmA@mail.gmail.com>
On Wed, Jun 24, 2026 at 12:04 PM Jakub Kicinski <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Breno reports following splats on mlx5:
>
>   RTNL: assertion failed at net/core/dev.c (2241)
>   WARNING: net/core/dev.c:2241 at netif_state_change+0xed/0x130, CPU#5: ethtool/1335
>   RIP: 0010:netif_state_change+0xf9/0x130
>   Call Trace:
>     <TASK>
>      __linkwatch_sync_dev+0xea/0x120
>      ethtool_op_get_link+0xe/0x20
>      __ethtool_get_link+0x26/0x40
>      linkstate_prepare_data+0x51/0x200
>      ethnl_default_doit+0x213/0x470
>      genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0xdd/0x110
>
> Looks like I missed ethtool_op_get_link() trying to sync linkwatch,
> which needs rtnl_lock. Not all drivers do this - bnxt doesn't,
> it just returns the link state, so add an opt-in bit.
>
> Reported-by: Breno Leitao <[email protected]>
> Fixes: 45079e00133e ("net: ethtool: optionally skip rtnl_lock on Netlink path for GET ops")
> Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <[email protected]>
> ---
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> ---
>  include/linux/ethtool.h                                 | 2 ++
>  net/ethtool/common.h                                    | 4 ++++
>  drivers/net/ethernet/google/gve/gve_ethtool.c           | 3 ++-
>  drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_ethtool.c          | 1 +
>  drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_ethtool.c    | 3 ++-
>  drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rep.c        | 3 ++-
>  drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/ipoib/ethtool.c | 4 +++-
>  drivers/net/ethernet/meta/fbnic/fbnic_ethtool.c         | 3 ++-
>  drivers/net/ethernet/microsoft/mana/mana_ethtool.c      | 3 ++-
>  9 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/ethtool.h b/include/linux/ethtool.h
> index 1b834e2a522e..5d491a98265e 100644
> --- a/include/linux/ethtool.h
> +++ b/include/linux/ethtool.h
> @@ -942,6 +942,7 @@ struct kernel_ethtool_ts_info {
>  #define ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GPAUSEPARAM      BIT(5)
>  #define ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SPAUSEPARAM      BIT(6)
>  #define ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_RSS              BIT(7)
> +#define ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK            BIT(8)
>
>  /**
>   * struct ethtool_ops - optional netdev operations
> @@ -978,6 +979,7 @@ struct kernel_ethtool_ts_info {
>   *      - phylink helpers (note that phydev is currently unsupported!)
>   *      - netdev_update_features()
>   *      - netif_set_real_num_tx_queues()
> + *      - ethtool_op_get_link() (syncs link watch under rtnl_lock)
>   *
>   * @get_drvinfo: Report driver/device information. Modern drivers no
>   *     longer have to implement this callback. Most fields are
> diff --git a/net/ethtool/common.h b/net/ethtool/common.h
> index 2b3847f00801..4e5356e26f40 100644
> --- a/net/ethtool/common.h
> +++ b/net/ethtool/common.h
> @@ -113,6 +113,8 @@ ethtool_nl_msg_needs_rtnl(const struct net_device *dev, u8 cmd)
>                 return ops->op_needs_rtnl & ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SPAUSEPARAM;
>         case ETHTOOL_MSG_RSS_SET:
>                 return ops->op_needs_rtnl & ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_RSS;
> +       case ETHTOOL_MSG_LINKSTATE_GET:
> +               return ops->op_needs_rtnl & ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK;
>         case ETHTOOL_MSG_TSCONFIG_GET:
>         case ETHTOOL_MSG_TSCONFIG_SET:
>                 /* tsconfig calls ndos (ndo_hwtstamp_set/get), not ethtool ops.
> @@ -159,6 +161,8 @@ ethtool_ioctl_needs_rtnl(const struct net_device *dev, u32 ethcmd)
>         case ETHTOOL_SRXFH:
>         case ETHTOOL_SRXFHINDIR:
>                 return ops->op_needs_rtnl & ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_RSS;
> +       case ETHTOOL_GLINK:
> +               return ops->op_needs_rtnl & ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK;
>         }
>         return false;
>  }
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/google/gve/gve_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/google/gve/gve_ethtool.c
> index 7cc22916852f..8199738ba979 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/google/gve/gve_ethtool.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/google/gve/gve_ethtool.c
> @@ -984,7 +984,8 @@ const struct ethtool_ops gve_ethtool_ops = {
>         .supported_ring_params = ETHTOOL_RING_USE_TCP_DATA_SPLIT |
>                                  ETHTOOL_RING_USE_RX_BUF_LEN,
>         .op_needs_rtnl = ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SCHANNELS |
> -                        ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM,
> +                        ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM |
> +                        ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,

Acked-by: Harshitha Ramamurthy <[email protected]>

Thanks for the fix!
>         .get_drvinfo = gve_get_drvinfo,
>         .get_strings = gve_get_strings,
>         .get_sset_count = gve_get_sset_count,
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_ethtool.c
> index a615d599b88e..e7cf12eaa268 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_ethtool.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_ethtool.c
> @@ -1855,6 +1855,7 @@ static const struct ethtool_ops iavf_ethtool_ops = {
>         .supported_coalesce_params = ETHTOOL_COALESCE_USECS |
>                                      ETHTOOL_COALESCE_USE_ADAPTIVE,
>         .supported_input_xfrm   = RXH_XFRM_SYM_XOR,
> +       .op_needs_rtnl          = ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
>         .get_drvinfo            = iavf_get_drvinfo,
>         .get_link               = ethtool_op_get_link,
>         .get_ringparam          = iavf_get_ringparam,
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_ethtool.c
> index 2f5b626ba33f..112926d07634 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_ethtool.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_ethtool.c
> @@ -2721,7 +2721,8 @@ const struct ethtool_ops mlx5e_ethtool_ops = {
>         .rxfh_max_num_contexts  = MLX5E_MAX_NUM_RSS,
>         .op_needs_rtnl          = ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SCHANNELS |
>                                   ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM |
> -                                 ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SPFLAGS,
> +                                 ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SPFLAGS |
> +                                 ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
>         .supported_coalesce_params = ETHTOOL_COALESCE_USECS |
>                                      ETHTOOL_COALESCE_MAX_FRAMES |
>                                      ETHTOOL_COALESCE_USE_ADAPTIVE |
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rep.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rep.c
> index 1a8a19f980d3..c8b76d301c92 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rep.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rep.c
> @@ -419,7 +419,8 @@ static const struct ethtool_ops mlx5e_rep_ethtool_ops = {
>                                      ETHTOOL_COALESCE_MAX_FRAMES |
>                                      ETHTOOL_COALESCE_USE_ADAPTIVE,
>         .op_needs_rtnl     = ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SCHANNELS |
> -                            ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM,
> +                            ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM |
> +                            ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
>         .get_drvinfo       = mlx5e_rep_get_drvinfo,
>         .get_link          = ethtool_op_get_link,
>         .get_strings       = mlx5e_rep_get_strings,
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/ipoib/ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/ipoib/ethtool.c
> index 9b3b32408c64..01ddc3def9ac 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/ipoib/ethtool.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/ipoib/ethtool.c
> @@ -286,7 +286,8 @@ const struct ethtool_ops mlx5i_ethtool_ops = {
>                                      ETHTOOL_COALESCE_MAX_FRAMES |
>                                      ETHTOOL_COALESCE_USE_ADAPTIVE,
>         .op_needs_rtnl      = ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SCHANNELS |
> -                             ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM,
> +                             ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM |
> +                             ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
>         .get_drvinfo        = mlx5i_get_drvinfo,
>         .get_strings        = mlx5i_get_strings,
>         .get_sset_count     = mlx5i_get_sset_count,
> @@ -309,6 +310,7 @@ const struct ethtool_ops mlx5i_ethtool_ops = {
>  };
>
>  const struct ethtool_ops mlx5i_pkey_ethtool_ops = {
> +       .op_needs_rtnl      = ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
>         .get_drvinfo        = mlx5i_get_drvinfo,
>         .get_link           = ethtool_op_get_link,
>         .get_ts_info        = mlx5i_get_ts_info,
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/meta/fbnic/fbnic_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/meta/fbnic/fbnic_ethtool.c
> index cb34fc166ef9..0e47088ec44b 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/meta/fbnic/fbnic_ethtool.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/meta/fbnic/fbnic_ethtool.c
> @@ -2024,7 +2024,8 @@ static const struct ethtool_ops fbnic_ethtool_ops = {
>                                           ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GPAUSEPARAM |
>                                           ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SPAUSEPARAM |
>                                           ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SCHANNELS |
> -                                         ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM,
> +                                         ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM |
> +                                         ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
>         .get_drvinfo                    = fbnic_get_drvinfo,
>         .get_regs_len                   = fbnic_get_regs_len,
>         .get_regs                       = fbnic_get_regs,
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/microsoft/mana/mana_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/microsoft/mana/mana_ethtool.c
> index 94e658d07a27..881df597d7f9 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/microsoft/mana/mana_ethtool.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/microsoft/mana/mana_ethtool.c
> @@ -597,7 +597,8 @@ static int mana_get_link_ksettings(struct net_device *ndev,
>  const struct ethtool_ops mana_ethtool_ops = {
>         .supported_coalesce_params = ETHTOOL_COALESCE_RX_CQE_FRAMES,
>         .op_needs_rtnl          = ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SCHANNELS |
> -                                 ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM,
> +                                 ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_SRINGPARAM |
> +                                 ETHTOOL_OP_NEEDS_RTNL_GLINK,
>         .get_ethtool_stats      = mana_get_ethtool_stats,
>         .get_sset_count         = mana_get_sset_count,
>         .get_strings            = mana_get_strings,
> --
> 2.54.0
>
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