Linux kernel source tree
Go to file
Ido Schimmel d25e7e9d8a ipv6: Honor oif when choosing nexthop for locally generated traffic
Commit 741a11d9e4 ("net: ipv6: Add RT6_LOOKUP_F_IFACE flag if oif is
set") made the kernel honor the oif parameter when specified as part of
output route lookup:

 # ip route add 2001:db8:1::/64 dev dummy1
 # ip route add ::/0 dev dummy2
 # ip route get 2001:db8:1::1 oif dummy2 fibmatch
 default dev dummy2 metric 1024 pref medium

Due to regression reports, the behavior was partially reverted in commit
d46a9d678e ("net: ipv6: Dont add RT6_LOOKUP_F_IFACE flag if saddr
set") to only honor the oif if source address is not specified:

 # ip route get 2001:db8:1::1 from 2001:db8:2::1 oif dummy2 fibmatch
 2001:db8:1::/64 dev dummy1 metric 1024 pref medium

That is, when source address is specified, the kernel will choose the
most specific route even if its nexthop device does not match the
specified oif.

This creates a problem for multipath routes. After looking up a route,
when source address is not specified, the kernel will choose a nexthop
whose nexthop device matches the specified oif:

 # sysctl -wq net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding=1
 # ip route add 2001:db8:10::/64 nexthop via fe80::1 dev dummy1 nexthop via fe80::2 dev dummy2
 # for i in {1..100}; do ip route get 2001:db8:10::${i} oif dummy2; done | grep -o dummy[0-9] | sort | uniq -c
      100 dummy2

But will disregard the oif when source address is specified despite the
fact that a matching nexthop exists:

 # for i in {1..100}; do ip route get 2001:db8:10::${i} from 2001:db8:2::1 oif dummy2; done | grep -o dummy[0-9] | sort | uniq -c
      53 dummy1
      47 dummy2

This behavior differs from IPv4:

 # ip address add 192.0.2.1/32 dev lo
 # ip route add 198.51.100.0/24 nexthop via inet6 fe80::1 dev dummy1 nexthop via inet6 fe80::2 dev dummy2
 # for i in {1..100}; do ip route get 198.51.100.${i} from 192.0.2.1 oif dummy2; done | grep -o dummy[0-9] | sort | uniq -c
     100 dummy2

What happens is that fib6_table_lookup() returns a route with a matching
nexthop device (assuming it exists):

 # perf record -e fib6:fib6_table_lookup -- bash -c "for i in {1..100}; do ip route get 2001:db8:10::${i} from 2001:db8:2::1 oif dummy2; done > /dev/null"
 # perf script | grep -o dummy[0-9] | sort | uniq -c
      100 dummy2

But it is later overwritten during path selection in fib6_select_path()
which instead chooses a nexthop according to the calculated hash.

Solve this by telling fib6_select_path() to skip path selection if we
have an oif match during output route lookup (iif being
LOOPBACK_IFINDEX).

Behavior after the change:

 # sysctl -wq net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding=1
 # ip route add 2001:db8:10::/64 nexthop via fe80::1 dev dummy1 nexthop via fe80::2 dev dummy2
 # for i in {1..100}; do ip route get 2001:db8:10::${i} from 2001:db8:2::1 oif dummy2; done | grep -o dummy[0-9] | sort | uniq -c
     100 dummy2

Note that enabling forwarding is only needed because we did not add
neighbor entries for the gateway addresses. When forwarding is disabled
and CONFIG_IPV6_ROUTER_PREF is not enabled in kernel config, the kernel
will treat non-existing neighbor entries as errors and perform
round-robin between the nexthops:

 # sysctl -wq net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding=0
 # for i in {1..100}; do ip route get 2001:db8:10::${i} from 2001:db8:2::1 oif dummy2; done | grep -o dummy[0-9] | sort | uniq -c
      50 dummy1
      50 dummy2

Reviewed-by: David Ahern <dsahern@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Ido Schimmel <idosch@nvidia.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260611154605.992528-3-idosch@nvidia.com
Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
2026-06-12 17:53:47 -07:00
arch tls: remove tls_toe and the related driver 2026-06-12 16:43:10 -07:00
block block-7.1-20260529 2026-05-29 10:41:07 -07:00
certs Clang build fixes for 7.1 2026-04-24 09:29:51 -07:00
crypto crypto: pcbc - Remove support for PCBC mode 2026-06-09 17:03:03 -07:00
Documentation dt-bindings: net: realtek,rtl9301-mdio: Add RTL931x series 2026-06-12 17:24:10 -07:00
drivers netconsole: clear cached dev_name on resume-window cleanup 2026-06-12 17:49:20 -07:00
fs namespace: restrict OPEN_TREE_NAMESPACE/FSMOUNT_NAMESPACE to directories 2026-06-10 07:09:20 -07:00
include tls: remove tls_toe and the related driver 2026-06-12 16:43:10 -07:00
init memblock: updates for 7.0-rc1 2026-04-18 11:29:14 -07:00
io_uring io_uring-7.1-20260605 2026-06-05 13:52:15 -07:00
ipc ipc/shm: serialize orphan cleanup with shm_nattch updates 2026-06-03 16:25:49 -07:00
kernel runtime verifier fixes for v7.1: 2026-06-09 17:20:00 -07:00
lib vdso/datastore: Mark vdso_k_*_data pointers as __ro_after_init 2026-06-02 21:39:29 +02:00
LICENSES LICENSES: Add modern form of the LGPL-2.1 tags to the usage guide section 2025-10-22 07:58:19 +02:00
mm 11 hotfixes. 9 are for MM. 8 are cc:stable and the remaining 3 2026-06-09 08:24:25 -07:00
net ipv6: Honor oif when choosing nexthop for locally generated traffic 2026-06-12 17:53:47 -07:00
rust rust: helpers: add is_vmalloc_addr wrapper for NOMMU builds 2026-05-27 20:01:04 +02:00
samples soc: drivers for 7.1 2026-04-16 20:34:34 -07:00
scripts Rust fixes for v7.1 (2nd) 2026-06-06 09:44:42 -07:00
security security/keys: fix missed RCU read section on lookup 2026-05-28 11:45:41 -07:00
sound ALSA: seq: dummy: fix UMP event stack overread 2026-06-05 10:08:57 +02:00
tools selftests: iou-zcrx: defer listen() until after zcrx setup 2026-06-12 17:28:07 -07:00
usr kbuild: uapi: also test UAPI headers against C++ compilers 2026-03-25 13:24:42 +01:00
virt KVM: Don't WARN if memory is dirtied without a vCPU when the VM is dying 2026-06-03 16:43:55 +02:00
.clang-format Devicetree updates for v7.0: 2026-02-11 18:27:08 -08:00
.clippy.toml rust: bump Clippy's MSRV and clean incompatible_msrv allows 2026-04-07 09:51:39 +02:00
.cocciconfig
.editorconfig editorconfig: add rst extension 2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
.get_maintainer.ignore .get_maintainer.ignore: add myself 2026-04-02 16:48:25 +02:00
.gitattributes
.gitignore kbuild: rust: provide an option to inline C helpers into Rust 2026-03-30 02:03:52 +02:00
.mailmap MAINTAINERS: update Baoquan He's email address 2026-06-03 16:25:50 -07:00
.pylintrc docs: Move the python libraries to tools/lib/python 2025-11-18 09:22:40 -07:00
.rustfmt.toml
COPYING
CREDITS Delete some obsolete networking code 2026-04-24 09:41:58 -07:00
Kbuild checksyscalls: move instance functionality into generic code 2026-04-05 09:21:32 +02:00
Kconfig io_uring: Rename KConfig to Kconfig 2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
MAINTAINERS NFC updates for net-next 20260611 2026-06-11 17:06:55 -07:00
Makefile Linux 7.1-rc7 2026-06-07 15:37:58 -07:00
README docs: add AI Coding Assistants documentation 2026-01-06 14:55:06 -07:00

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst