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[nf,v4,2/3] netfilter: conntrack: add dead flag to helpers

Message ID 20260518191232.1053294-2-pablo@netfilter.org
State Changes Requested, archived
Headers show
Series [nf,v4,1/3] netfilter: nfnetlink_cthelper: use {READ,WRITE}_ONCE for accessing helper flags | expand

Commit Message

Pablo Neira Ayuso May 18, 2026, 7:12 p.m. UTC
Add a new NF_CT_HELPER_F_DEAD helper flag to notify the packet path that
this helper is going away. Thus, helpers are effectively disabled and no
new expectations are created while removing the expectations created by
this helper as well as unhelping the existing conntrack entries.

Add the check for NF_CT_HELPER_F_DEAD in the packet path to:
- Conntrack confirmation path which invokes the helper callback.
- Propagation of helper to conntrack via expectation.
- OVS ct helper invocation.

nf_conntrack_helper_unregister() is only called under nfnl_mutex when
unregistering the helper, else by helper module which already owns this
helper from the module removal path, therefore, concurrent update of
helper flags via nfnetlink_cthelper is not possible, but packet path and
netlink dump path can read these flags locklessly.

Fixes: 12f7a505331e ("netfilter: add user-space connection tracking helper infrastructure")
Reported-by: Florian Westphal <fw@strlen.de>
Signed-off-by: Pablo Neira Ayuso <pablo@netfilter.org>
---
v4: no changes

AI does not understand ct->gen_id check in __nf_ct_ext_find() ensure
access to stale helper area is not possible.

 include/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_helper.h | 8 ++++++++
 net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c           | 2 +-
 net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_helper.c         | 5 ++++-
 net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_ovs.c            | 3 +++
 net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto.c          | 2 +-
 5 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
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Patch

diff --git a/include/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_helper.h b/include/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_helper.h
index de2f956abf34..b6ff7dc65c97 100644
--- a/include/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_helper.h
+++ b/include/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_helper.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@  struct module;
 enum nf_ct_helper_flags {
 	NF_CT_HELPER_F_USERSPACE	= (1 << 0),
 	NF_CT_HELPER_F_CONFIGURED	= (1 << 1),
+	NF_CT_HELPER_F_DEAD		= (1 << 2),
 };
 
 #define NF_CT_HELPER_NAME_LEN	16
@@ -63,6 +64,13 @@  struct nf_conntrack_helper {
 	char nat_mod_name[NF_CT_HELPER_NAME_LEN];
 };
 
+static inline bool nf_ct_helper_alive(const struct nf_conntrack_helper *helper)
+{
+	unsigned int helper_flags = READ_ONCE(helper->flags);
+
+	return likely(!(helper_flags & NF_CT_HELPER_F_DEAD));
+}
+
 /* Must be kept in sync with the classes defined by helpers */
 #define NF_CT_MAX_EXPECT_CLASSES	4
 
diff --git a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
index 8ba5b22a1eef..d54da6babcfe 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
@@ -1818,7 +1818,7 @@  init_conntrack(struct net *net, struct nf_conn *tmpl,
 			/* exp->master safe, refcnt bumped in nf_ct_find_expectation */
 			ct->master = exp->master;
 			assign_helper = rcu_dereference(exp->assign_helper);
-			if (assign_helper) {
+			if (assign_helper && nf_ct_helper_alive(assign_helper)) {
 				help = nf_ct_helper_ext_add(ct, GFP_ATOMIC);
 				if (help)
 					rcu_assign_pointer(help->helper, assign_helper);
diff --git a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_helper.c b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_helper.c
index 17e971bd4c74..9a10b3449957 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_helper.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_helper.c
@@ -418,8 +418,11 @@  void nf_conntrack_helper_unregister(struct nf_conntrack_helper *me)
 	nf_ct_helper_count--;
 	mutex_unlock(&nf_ct_helper_mutex);
 
+	WRITE_ONCE(me->flags, me->flags | NF_CT_HELPER_F_DEAD);
+
 	/* Make sure every nothing is still using the helper unless its a
-	 * connection in the hash.
+	 * connection in the hash, no more expectations are created after
+	 * this rcu grace period.
 	 */
 	synchronize_rcu();
 
diff --git a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_ovs.c b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_ovs.c
index a6988eeb1579..eeeb85c18a84 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_ovs.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_ovs.c
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@  int nf_ct_helper(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nf_conn *ct,
 	if (!helper)
 		return NF_ACCEPT;
 
+	if (!nf_ct_helper_alive(helper))
+		return NF_ACCEPT;
+
 	if (helper->tuple.src.l3num != NFPROTO_UNSPEC &&
 	    helper->tuple.src.l3num != proto)
 		return NF_ACCEPT;
diff --git a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto.c b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto.c
index 50ddd3d613e1..b2ac5bd491cb 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto.c
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@  unsigned int nf_confirm(void *priv,
 
 		/* rcu_read_lock()ed by nf_hook */
 		helper = rcu_dereference(help->helper);
-		if (helper) {
+		if (helper && nf_ct_helper_alive(helper)) {
 			ret = helper->help(skb,
 					   protoff,
 					   ct, ctinfo);