Linux kernel source tree
Go to file
Ankit Garg d676c9a73b gve: fix header buffer corruption with header-split and HW-GRO
The DQO RX datapath programs a per-buffer-queue-descriptor
header_buf_addr at post time and reads the split header back at
completion time. Both the post and the read currently index the
header buffer by queue position rather than by the buffer's identity:

  - post (gve_rx_post_buffers_dqo): header_buf_addr is computed from
    bufq->tail
  - read (gve_rx_dqo): the header is read from desc_idx (the completion
    queue head index)

This relies on the buffer-queue index and the completion-queue index
being equal for the start of every packet, i.e. on the device consuming
posted buffers and returning completions in the exact same order. That
assumption does not hold once HW-GRO is enabled with multiple
flows: coalesced segments are accepted and completed in an order that
may differ from the order buffers were posted, and segments from
different flows may interleave.

That results in two problems:

1. Wrong header slot on read. Because the read offset is derived from
   the completion index (desc_idx) while the device wrote the header to
   the address programmed for the buffer's buf_id, the driver can copy
   a header belonging to a different packet. This shows up as
   throughput drop (about 30% drop and large numbers of TCP
   retransmissions) with header-split and HW-GRO both enabled and many
   streams.

2. Header buffer reused while still owned by the device. The driver
   advances bufq->head by one per completion and re-posts buffers based
   on that. Arrival of N RX completions only guarantees that at least N
   RX buffer descriptors have been read by the device. It does not
   guarantee that the device has relinquished the ownership of all the
   buffers corresponding to those N descriptors. With out-of-order
   completions (e.g. the completion for a packet copied into buffer N
   arrives before the completion for a packet copied into buffer N-1),
   the driver can re-post and overwrite a header buffer that the device
   is still going to write into, corrupting the header of a packet
   whose completion has not yet been processed.

Fix both issues by indexing the header buffer by buf_id on both the post
and read paths. Reading from buf_id's slot is therefore always correct
regardless of completion ordering (fixes problem 1).

Indexing by buf_id also ties each header slot to the lifetime of its
buffer state. A buffer state is only returned to the free/recycle lists
when its own completion (buf_id) is processed, so its header slot can
only be re-posted after the device is done with it. This makes header
slot reuse safe under out-of-order completions (fixes problem 2).

Allocate (gve_rx_alloc_hdr_bufs) and free (gve_rx_free_hdr_bufs) the
header buffers based on num_buf_states to match the buf_id indexing.

Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Fixes: 5e37d8254e ("gve: Add header split data path")
Signed-off-by: Ankit Garg <nktgrg@google.com>
Reviewed-by: Praveen Kaligineedi <pkaligineedi@google.com>
Reviewed-by: Jordan Rhee <jordanrhee@google.com>
Reviewed-by: Harshitha Ramamurthy <hramamurthy@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Joshua Washington <joshwash@google.com>
Reviewed-by: Eric Dumazet <edumazet@google.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260617013208.3781453-1-joshwash@google.com
Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
2026-06-18 18:11:02 -07:00
arch Networking changes for 7.2. 2026-06-17 08:17:00 +01:00
block - small cleanups in dm-vdo, dm-raid, dm-cache, dm-zoned-metadata 2026-06-16 13:20:54 +05:30
certs Clang build fixes for 7.1 2026-04-24 09:29:51 -07:00
crypto Networking changes for 7.2. 2026-06-17 08:17:00 +01:00
Documentation Networking changes for 7.2. 2026-06-17 08:17:00 +01:00
drivers gve: fix header buffer corruption with header-split and HW-GRO 2026-06-18 18:11:02 -07:00
fs Networking changes for 7.2. 2026-06-17 08:17:00 +01:00
include sctp: hold socket lock when dumping endpoints in sctp_diag 2026-06-17 16:41:34 -07:00
init Bootconfig updates for v7.2 2026-06-16 17:29:24 +05:30
io_uring Networking changes for 7.2. 2026-06-17 08:17:00 +01:00
ipc kernel-7.2-rc1.misc 2026-06-15 03:05:50 +05:30
kernel tracing latency updates for 7.2: 2026-06-16 17:38:19 +05:30
lib Bootconfig updates for v7.2 2026-06-16 17:29:24 +05:30
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 for-7.2/block-20260615 2026-06-16 13:02:47 +05:30
net flow_dissector: check device type before reading ETH_ADDRS 2026-06-18 18:07:00 -07:00
rust for-7.2/block-20260615 2026-06-16 13:02:47 +05:30
samples Driver core changes for 7.2-rc1 2026-06-15 12:41:17 +05:30
scripts linux_kselftest-kunit-7.2-rc1 2026-06-16 16:33:57 +05:30
security Networking changes for 7.2. 2026-06-17 08:17:00 +01:00
sound gpio updates for v7.2-rc1 2026-06-16 07:30:52 +05:30
tools selftests/tc-testing: act_ct: add TDC test for skb cb preservation across defrag 2026-06-18 17:39:08 -07:00
usr kbuild: uapi: also test UAPI headers against C++ compilers 2026-03-25 13:24:42 +01:00
virt vfs-7.2-rc1.misc 2026-06-15 03:59:45 +05:30
.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 scripts: add Linux .cocciconfig for coccinelle 2016-07-22 12:13:39 +02:00
.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 .gitattributes: set diff driver for Rust source code files 2023-05-31 17:48:25 +02:00
.gitignore Rust changes for v7.2 2026-06-15 09:25:48 +05:30
.mailmap mailmap: add entry for Jesse Brandeburg 2026-06-15 12:59:04 -07:00
.pylintrc docs: Move the python libraries to tools/lib/python 2025-11-18 09:22:40 -07:00
.rustfmt.toml rust: add .rustfmt.toml 2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
COPYING COPYING: state that all contributions really are covered by this file 2020-02-10 13:32:20 -08:00
CREDITS fbdev fixes & cleanups for 7.2-rc1: 2026-06-16 08:28:41 +05:30
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 Networking changes for 7.2. 2026-06-17 08:17:00 +01:00
Makefile slab changes for 7.2 2026-06-16 08:44:43 +05:30
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