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Michael S. Tsirkin fe3e54253f virtio_net: sync RX buffer before reading the header
receive_buf() reads the virtio header through buf before
page_pool_dma_sync_for_cpu() runs in receive_small() or
receive_mergeable(). The header buffer is thus unsynchronized at the
point where flags and, for mergeable buffers, num_buffers are consumed.

Omar Elghoul reported that on s390x Secure Execution this showed up as
greatly reduced virtio-net performance together with "bad gso" and
"bad csum" messages in dmesg. This is because with SE sync actually
copies data, so the header is uninitialized.

Move the sync into receive_buf() so the
header is synchronized before any access through buf.

Tool use: Cursor with GPT-5.4 drafted the initial code move from prompt:
"in drivers/net/virtio_net.c, move page_pool_dma_sync_for_cpu on receive
path to before memory is accessed through buf".
The result and the commit log were reviewed and edited manually.

Fixes: 24fbd3967f ("virtio_net: add page_pool support for buffer allocation")
Reported-by: Omar Elghoul <oelghoul@linux.ibm.com>
Tested-by: Srikanth Aithal <sraithal@amd.com>
Tested-by: Omar Elghoul <oelghoul@linux.ibm.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260323150136.14452-1-oelghoul@linux.ibm.com
Signed-off-by: Michael S. Tsirkin <mst@redhat.com>
Tested-by: Vishwanath Seshagiri <vishs@meta.com>
Acked-by: Jason Wang <jasowang@redhat.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/f4caa9be9e5addae7851c012cab0a733be7f0974.1774365273.git.mst@redhat.com
Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
2026-03-26 20:07:45 -07:00
arch KVM/arm64 fixes for 7.0, take #4 2026-03-24 17:32:30 +01:00
block block-7.0-20260305 2026-03-06 08:36:18 -08:00
certs Convert 'alloc_obj' family to use the new default GFP_KERNEL argument 2026-02-21 17:09:51 -08:00
crypto crypto: testmgr - Fix stale references to aes-generic 2026-03-03 11:57:15 -08:00
Documentation docs/mlx5: Fix typo subfuction 2026-03-26 18:30:47 -07:00
drivers virtio_net: sync RX buffer before reading the header 2026-03-26 20:07:45 -07:00
fs Changes since last update: 2026-03-25 18:41:35 -07:00
include seg6: add per-route tunnel source address 2026-03-26 18:45:29 -07:00
init hardening fixes for v7.0-rc6 2026-03-25 14:47:18 -07:00
io_uring io_uring-7.0-20260320 2026-03-20 09:58:56 -07:00
ipc Convert 'alloc_obj' family to use the new default GFP_KERNEL argument 2026-02-21 17:09:51 -08:00
kernel dma-mapping fixes for Linux 7.0 2026-03-26 08:22:07 -07:00
lib Bootconfig fixes for v7.0-rc4 2026-03-21 08:46:13 -07:00
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 dma-mapping fixes for Linux 7.0 2026-03-26 08:22:07 -07:00
net net: mctp: avoid copy in fragmentation loop for near-MTU messages 2026-03-26 18:47:29 -07:00
rust Rust fixes for v7.0 (2nd) 2026-03-14 12:35:16 -07:00
samples drm-fixes for 7.0-rc4 2026-03-13 15:38:55 -07:00
scripts hardening fixes for v7.0-rc6 2026-03-25 14:47:18 -07:00
security Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/netdev/net 2026-03-26 12:09:57 -07:00
sound driver core: platform: use generic driver_override infrastructure 2026-03-17 20:30:57 +01:00
tools selftests: net: Remove unnecessary backslashes in fq_band_pktlimit.sh 2026-03-26 18:48:44 -07:00
usr kbuild: uapi: drop dependency on CC_CAN_LINK 2026-01-16 15:02:11 -07:00
virt KVM generic changes for 7.0 2026-03-11 18:01:55 +01:00
.clang-format Devicetree updates for v7.0: 2026-02-11 18:27:08 -08:00
.clippy.toml rust: clean Rust 1.88.0's warning about clippy::disallowed_macros configuration 2025-05-07 00:11:47 +02:00
.cocciconfig
.editorconfig editorconfig: add rst extension 2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
.get_maintainer.ignore MAINTAINERS: remove Alyssa Rosenzweig 2025-09-18 21:17:31 +02:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: set diff driver for Rust source code files 2023-05-31 17:48:25 +02:00
.gitignore rust: kbuild: add proc macro library support 2025-11-24 17:15:36 +01:00
.mailmap mailmap: update email address for Muhammad Usama Anjum 2026-03-23 09:35:05 -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
CREDITS MAINTAINERS: remove Thomas Falcon from IBM ibmvnic 2026-03-05 07:35:45 -08:00
Kbuild sched: Make migrate_{en,dis}able() inline 2025-09-25 09:57:16 +02:00
Kconfig io_uring: Rename KConfig to Kconfig 2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
MAINTAINERS Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/netdev/net 2026-03-26 12:09:57 -07:00
Makefile Third round of Kbuild fixes for 7.0 2026-03-24 16:48:14 -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