net: skbuff: propagate shared-frag marker through frag-transfer helpers

Two frag-transfer helpers (__pskb_copy_fclone() and skb_shift()) fail to propagate the SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG bit in skb_shinfo()->flags when moving frags from source to destination. __pskb_copy_fclone() defers the rest of the shinfo metadata to skb_copy_header() after copying frag descriptors, but that helper only carries over gso_{size,segs, type} and never touches skb_shinfo()->flags; skb_shift() moves frag descriptors directly and leaves flags untouched. As a result, the destination skb keeps a reference to the same externally-owned or page-cache-backed pages while reporting skb_has_shared_frag() as false.

The mismatch is harmful in any in-place writer that uses skb_has_shared_frag() to decide whether shared pages must be detoured through skb_cow_data(). ESP input is one such writer (esp4.c, esp6.c), and a single nft 'dup to <local>' rule -- or any other nf_dup_ipv4() / xt_TEE caller -- is enough to land a pskb_copy()'d skb in esp_input() with the marker stripped, letting an unprivileged user write into the page cache of a root-owned read-only file via authencesn-ESN stray writes.

Set SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG on the destination whenever frag descriptors were actually moved from the source. skb_copy() and skb_copy_expand() share skb_copy_header() too but linearize all paged data into freshly allocated head storage and emerge with nr_frags == 0, so skb_has_shared_frag() returns false on its own; they need no change.

The same omission exists in skb_gro_receive() and skb_gro_receive_list(). The former moves the incoming skb's frag descriptors into the accumulator's last sub-skb via two paths (a direct frag-move loop and the head_frag + memcpy path); the latter chains the incoming skb whole onto p's frag_list. Downstream skb_segment() reads only skb_shinfo(p)->flags, and skb_segment_list() reuses each sub-skb's shinfo as the nskb -- both p and lp must carry the marker.

The same omission also exists in tcp_clone_payload(), which builds an MTU probe skb by moving frag descriptors from skbs on sk_write_queue into a freshly allocated nskb. The helper falls into the same family and warrants the same fix for consistency; no TCP TX-side in-place writer is currently known to reach a user page through this gap, but a future consumer depending on the marker would regress silently.

The same omission exists in skb_segment(): the per-iteration flag merge takes only head_skb's flag, and the inner switch that rebinds frag_skb to list_skb on head_skb-frags exhaustion does not fold the new frag_skb's flag into nskb. Fold frag_skb's flag at both sites so segments drawing frags from frag_list members carry the marker.

---
Changes in v5:
- Propagate SHARED_FRAG in skb_segment()
- v4: https://lore.kernel.org/all/aga1VyHpHaUhnGZa@v4bel/

Changes in v4:
- Include the tcp_clone_payload() propagation suggested by Sabrina
- Drop the skb_try_coalesce() change; addressed by commit f84eca581739.
- v3: https://lore.kernel.org/all/agW4vC0r8QOUKtRT@v4bel/

Changes in v3:
- Include the skb_gro_receive() audit patch suggested by Sultan
- v2: https://lore.kernel.org/all/agToIEDI4TaTNLRb@v4bel/

Changes in v2:
- Also propagate SHARED_FRAG in skb_try_coalesce() and skb_shift()
- v1: https://lore.kernel.org/all/agRfuVOeMI5pbHhY@v4bel/

---
 net/core/gro.c        | 4 ++++
 net/core/skbuff.c     | 9 ++++++++-
 net/ipv4/tcp_output.c | 1 +
 3 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

index 31d21de5b15a..9f8960789b2c 100644
@@ -213,10 +213,12 @@ int skb_gro_receive(struct sk_buff *p, struct sk_buff *skb)
 	p->data_len += len;
 	p->truesize += delta_truesize;
 	p->len += len;
+	skb_shinfo(p)->flags |= skbinfo->flags & SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG;
 	if (lp != p) {
 		lp->data_len += len;
 		lp->truesize += delta_truesize;
 		lp->len += len;
+		skb_shinfo(lp)->flags |= skbinfo->flags & SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG;
 	}
 	NAPI_GRO_CB(skb)->same_flow = 1;
 	return 0;

@@ -244,6 +246,8 @@ int skb_gro_receive_list(struct sk_buff *p, struct sk_buff *skb)
 	p->truesize += skb->truesize;
 	p->len += skb->len;
 
+	skb_shinfo(p)->flags |= skb_shinfo(skb)->flags & SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG;
+
 	NAPI_GRO_CB(skb)->same_flow = 1;
 
 	return 0;

index 9c4e8d331d6d..44ac121cfccb 100644
@@ -2248,6 +2248,7 @@ struct sk_buff *__pskb_copy_fclone(struct sk_buff *skb, int headroom,
 			skb_frag_ref(skb, i);
 		}
 		skb_shinfo(n)->nr_frags = i;
+		skb_shinfo(n)->flags |= skb_shinfo(skb)->flags & SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG;
 	}
 
 	if (skb_has_frag_list(skb)) {

@@ -4349,6 +4350,8 @@ int skb_shift(struct sk_buff *tgt, struct sk_buff *skb, int shiftlen)
 	tgt->ip_summed = CHECKSUM_PARTIAL;
 	skb->ip_summed = CHECKSUM_PARTIAL;
 
+	skb_shinfo(tgt)->flags |= skb_shinfo(skb)->flags & SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG;
+
 	skb_len_add(skb, -shiftlen);
 	skb_len_add(tgt, shiftlen);
 

@@ -4959,7 +4962,8 @@ struct sk_buff *skb_segment(struct sk_buff *head_skb,
 		skb_copy_from_linear_data_offset(head_skb, offset,
 						 skb_put(nskb, hsize), hsize);
 
-		skb_shinfo(nskb)->flags |= skb_shinfo(head_skb)->flags &
+		skb_shinfo(nskb)->flags |= (skb_shinfo(head_skb)->flags |
+					    skb_shinfo(frag_skb)->flags) &
 					   SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG;
 
 		if (skb_zerocopy_clone(nskb, frag_skb, GFP_ATOMIC))

@@ -4976,6 +4980,9 @@ struct sk_buff *skb_segment(struct sk_buff *head_skb,
 				nfrags = skb_shinfo(list_skb)->nr_frags;
 				frag = skb_shinfo(list_skb)->frags;
 				frag_skb = list_skb;
+
+				skb_shinfo(nskb)->flags |= skb_shinfo(frag_skb)->flags & SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG;
+
 				if (!skb_headlen(list_skb)) {
 					BUG_ON(!nfrags);
 				} else {

index f9d8755705f7..6e4bb411dc04 100644
@@ -2626,6 +2626,7 @@ static int tcp_clone_payload(struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *to,
 			todo = min_t(int, skb_frag_size(fragfrom),
 				     probe_size - len);
 			len += todo;
+			skb_shinfo(to)->flags |= skb_shinfo(skb)->flags & SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG;
 			if (lastfrag &&
 			    skb_frag_page(fragfrom) == skb_frag_page(lastfrag) &&
 			    skb_frag_off(fragfrom) == skb_frag_off(lastfrag) +

2.43.0

The skb_gro_receive() and skb_shift() fixes look correct -- we independently reported both to [email protected] with working LPE exploits confirming they are exploitable from unprivileged user namespaces.

Could you add the following tags when respinning or applying?

Thanks,
Rajat

Thank you for testing. When did you report it? The two PoCs were already public.

Best regards,
Hyunwoo Kim

These issues have already received many duplicate reports to [email protected], and your report was not consulted in the preparation of this patch.

A Reported-by tag is therefore not appropriate.

Best regards,
Hyunwoo Kim