linux-kernel - ipv4: cipso potential BUG()

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Message-ID: <aW6YMA11KFzSkgfw@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2026 13:46:40 -0700
From: Will Rosenberg <whrosenb@....edu>
To: whrosenb@....edu
Cc: Paul Moore <paul@...l-moore.com>,
	"David S. Miller" <davem@...emloft.net>,
	David Ahern <dsahern@...nel.org>,
	Eric Dumazet <edumazet@...gle.com>,
	Jakub Kicinski <kuba@...nel.org>, Paolo Abeni <pabeni@...hat.com>,
	Simon Horman <horms@...nel.org>, Huw Davies <huw@...eweavers.com>,
	netdev@...r.kernel.org, linux-security-module@...r.kernel.org,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: ipv4: cipso potential BUG()

Previously, it was discussed that skb_cow() has a bug due to implicit
integer casting that can lead to a BUG when headroom < -NET_SKB_PAD. We
concluded that it was not worthwhile to fix the root cause and to
instead fix the symptom found in calipso. The thread for this issue can
be found here:

https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/CAHC9VhQmR8A2vz0W-VrrhYNQ2wgCYxHbAmdgmM2yTL-uh4qiOg@mail.gmail.com/

I recently reviewed the use cases of skb_cow() throughout the kernel and
found that cipso_v4_skbuff_setattr() comes very close to triggering the
same BUG. However, I concluded this was not triggerable. Even though
len_delta can become negative, leading to a negative headroom passed to
skb_cow(), we do not satisfy the condition headroom < -NET_SKB_PAD.

Nonetheless, I believe cipso is using skb_cow() dangerously, but since
the issue is not triggerable, would it still make sense to patch it?
I figured I would throw out a quick email. Please let me know and I can
make a similar patch for cipso if necessary.

--
Will Rosenberg