[PATCH v4 net-next 3/3] ipv6: avoid atomic fragment on GSO packets

[Yan Zhai]

When the ipv6 stack output a GSO packet, if its gso_size is larger than
dst MTU, then all segments would be fragmented. However, it is possible
for a GSO packet to have a trailing segment with smaller actual size
than both gso_size as well as the MTU, which leads to an "atomic
fragment". Atomic fragments are considered harmful in RFC-8021. An
Existing report from APNIC also shows that atomic fragments are more
likely to be dropped even it is equivalent to a no-op [1].

Add an extra check in the GSO slow output path. For each segment from
the original over-sized packet, if it fits with the path MTU, then avoid
generating an atomic fragment.

Link: https://www.potaroo.net/presentations/2022-03-01-ipv6-frag.pdf [1]
Fixes: b210de4f8c97 ("net: ipv6: Validate GSO SKB before finish IPv6 processing")
Reported-by: David Wragg <dwragg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Yan Zhai <yan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c | 8 +++++++-
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c b/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
index 4010dd97aaf8..a722a43dd668 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
@@ -164,7 +164,13 @@ ip6_finish_output_gso_slowpath_drop(struct net *net, struct sock *sk,
 		int err;
 
 		skb_mark_not_on_list(segs);
-		err = ip6_fragment(net, sk, segs, ip6_finish_output2);
+		/* Last GSO segment can be smaller than gso_size (and MTU).
+		 * Adding a fragment header would produce an "atomic fragment",
+		 * which is considered harmful (RFC-8021). Avoid that.
+		 */
+		err = segs->len > mtu ?
+			ip6_fragment(net, sk, segs, ip6_finish_output2) :
+			ip6_finish_output2(net, sk, segs);
 		if (err && ret == 0)
 			ret = err;
 	}
-- 
2.30.2