FAILED: patch "[PATCH] tcp: challenge ACK for non-exact RST in SYN-RECEIVED" failed to apply to 5.15-stable tree

The patch below does not apply to the 5.15-stable tree.
If someone wants it applied there, or to any other stable or longterm tree, then please email the backport, including the original git commit id to <[email protected]>.

To reproduce the conflict and resubmit, you may use the following commands:

git fetch https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/ linux-5.15.y
git checkout FETCH_HEAD
git cherry-pick -x a28c4fcbf774e23b4779cae468e3497a5ad1f4a1
# <resolve conflicts, build, test, etc.>
git commit -s
git send-email --to '<[email protected]>' --in-reply-to '2026072946-computer-musky-491c@gregkh' --subject-prefix 'PATCH 5.15.y' 'HEAD^..'

Possible dependencies:

thanks,

greg k-h

------------------ original commit in Linus's tree ------------------

From a28c4fcbf774e23b4779cae468e3497a5ad1f4a1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Yuxiang Yang <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2026 08:14:42 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] tcp: challenge ACK for non-exact RST in SYN-RECEIVED

The SYN-RECEIVED request-socket path in tcp_check_req() accepts an in-window RST without requiring SEG.SEQ to exactly match RCV.NXT. A non-exact RST therefore removes the request instead of eliciting a challenge ACK.

RFC 9293 section 3.10.7.4 applies the RFC 5961 reset check in
SYN-RECEIVED: an exact RST resets the connection, while a non-exact in-window RST must trigger a challenge ACK and be dropped.

Apply that check before the ACK-field validation, following the RFC sequence-number, RST, then ACK processing order. Factor the per-netns challenge ACK quota out of tcp_send_challenge_ack() so request sockets can share it. Use the request socket's send_ack() callback and its own out-of-window ACK timestamp to send and rate-limit the response.

index 6d376ea4d1c0..2c5b889530b5 100644
@@ -1974,6 +1974,8 @@ static inline void tcp_fast_path_check(struct sock *sk)
 
 bool tcp_oow_rate_limited(struct net *net, const struct sk_buff *skb,
 			  int mib_idx, u32 *last_oow_ack_time);
+void tcp_reqsk_send_challenge_ack(struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *skb,
+				  struct request_sock *req);
 
 static inline void tcp_mib_init(struct net *net)
 {

index ddc4b17a826b..6ab3e3a0b431 100644
@@ -833,7 +833,7 @@ struct sock *tcp_check_req(struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *skb,
 	 * elsewhere and is checked directly against the child socket rather
 	 * than req because user data may have been sent out.
 	 */
-	if ((flg & TCP_FLAG_ACK) && !fastopen &&
+	if ((flg & TCP_FLAG_ACK) && !(flg & TCP_FLAG_RST) && !fastopen &&
 	    (TCP_SKB_CB(skb)->ack_seq !=
 	     tcp_rsk(req)->snt_isn + 1))
 		return sk;

@@ -872,6 +872,16 @@ struct sock *tcp_check_req(struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *skb,
 		flg &= ~TCP_FLAG_SYN;
 	}
 
+	/* RFC 5961 section 3.2, as clarified by RFC 9293 section
+	 * 3.10.7.4, requires a challenge ACK for a non-exact
+	 * in-window RST in SYN-RECEIVED.
+	 */
+	if ((flg & TCP_FLAG_RST) &&
+	    TCP_SKB_CB(skb)->seq != tcp_rsk(req)->rcv_nxt) {
+		tcp_reqsk_send_challenge_ack(sk, skb, req);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	/* RFC793: "second check the RST bit" and
 	 *	   "fourth, check the SYN bit"
 	 */