[PATCH net v4] net: erspan: set lltx to avoid sch_direct_xmit deadlock
From: Yun Zhou
Date: Wed Sep 16 2026 - 02:19:34 EST
erspan_xmit() re-enters the network stack via ip_tunnel_xmit(), causing
nested acquisition of _xmit_lock on the underlay device while already
holding the ERSPAN device's _xmit_lock, creating an ABBA deadlock:
sch_direct_xmit [lock erspan] -> erspan_xmit -> ip_tunnel_xmit ->
ip_output -> __dev_queue_xmit -> sch_direct_xmit [lock underlay]
Set dev->lltx = true so HARD_TX_LOCK() skips the spinlock for ERSPAN.
This is safe as erspan_xmit() has no shared mutable state: o_seqno is
atomic, TX stats are per-CPU u64_stats, dst_cache is per-CPU, and
o_flags is no longer modified in the xmit path since commit 9958e69b9893
("gre: fix ERSPAN o_flags race/corruption in xmit and fill_info").
GRETAP, the sibling device with identical xmit structure, already sets
lltx.
Reported-by: syzbot+9bda1b9fbb7fbdf9b62b@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Closes: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=9bda1b9fbb7fbdf9b62b
Fixes: 84e54fe0a5ea ("gre: introduce native tunnel support for ERSPAN")
Fixes: 5a963eb61b7c ("ip6_gre: Add ERSPAN native tunnel support")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Yun Zhou <yun.zhou@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
v4:
- refine commit message
v3:
- add fix for IPv6
v2:
- change subject prefix to [PATCH net]
net/ipv4/ip_gre.c | 2 ++
net/ipv6/ip6_gre.c | 2 ++
2 files changed, 4 insertions(+)
diff --git a/net/ipv4/ip_gre.c b/net/ipv4/ip_gre.c
index 82309efd417e..0058cb20e36a 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/ip_gre.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/ip_gre.c
@@ -1367,6 +1367,8 @@ static int erspan_tunnel_init(struct net_device *dev)
dev->features |= GRE_FEATURES;
dev->hw_features |= GRE_FEATURES;
dev->priv_flags |= IFF_LIVE_ADDR_CHANGE;
+ /* Skip TX lock: xmit re-enters stack, risking ABBA with underlay */
+ dev->lltx = true;
netif_keep_dst(dev);
return ip_tunnel_init(dev);
diff --git a/net/ipv6/ip6_gre.c b/net/ipv6/ip6_gre.c
index 8ebda0b6a78b..578fb3475f8c 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/ip6_gre.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/ip6_gre.c
@@ -1871,6 +1871,8 @@ static int ip6erspan_tap_init(struct net_device *dev)
dev->mtu -= 8;
dev->priv_flags |= IFF_LIVE_ADDR_CHANGE;
+ /* Skip TX lock: xmit re-enters stack, risking ABBA with underlay */
+ dev->lltx = true;
ip6erspan_tnl_link_config(tunnel, 1);
netdev_hold(dev, &tunnel->dev_tracker, GFP_KERNEL);
--
2.43.0