Subject: [PATCH net v1] net: defer __dev_set_promiscuity() to avoid sleeping in atomic context

From: Jiayuan Chen <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2026 11:38:43 +0800

From: Jiayuan Chen <[email-masked]>

__dev_set_rx_mode() is called with addr_list_lock (spinlock) held from
many places in dev_addr_lists.c. When a device lacks IFF_UNICAST_FLT,
__dev_set_rx_mode() calls __dev_set_promiscuity() which propagates
through dev_change_rx_flags -> ndo_change_rx_flags -> dev_set_promiscuity
on lower devices. Since commit 78cd408356fe ("net: add missing instance
lock to dev_set_promiscuity"), dev_set_promiscuity() acquires the netdev
instance lock (mutex) via netdev_lock_ops(). This leads to a
"sleeping function called from invalid context" / "Invalid wait context"
bug when the lower device has request_ops_lock or queue_mgmt_ops set.

The call chain is:

  dev_uc_add(bridge0)                      # e.g. from macsec_dev_open
    netif_addr_lock_bh(bridge0)            # <- spinlock, BH disabled
    __dev_set_rx_mode(bridge0)             # bridge has no IFF_UNICAST_FLT
      __dev_set_promiscuity(bridge0)
        ndo_change_rx_flags(bridge0)
          br_manage_promisc -> dev_set_promiscuity(team0)
            ndo_change_rx_flags(team0)
              team_change_rx_flags -> dev_set_promiscuity(dummy0)
                netdev_lock_ops(dummy0)    # <- mutex! dummy has
                                           #    request_ops_lock=true

This is not limited to bridge/team/dummy. Any combination of stacking
devices (bridge, bond, macvlan, vlan, macsec, team, dsa, netvsc) over
devices with instance lock (dummy, mlx5, bnxt, gve) can trigger this.

Fix this by deferring __dev_set_promiscuity() to after the spinlock is
released:

1. Change __dev_set_rx_mode() to return a promiscuity increment value
   (+1, 0, -1) instead of calling __dev_set_promiscuity() directly.
   The uc_promisc flag is still updated under the lock for correctness.

2. Change dev_set_rx_mode() to call __dev_set_promiscuity() after
   releasing addr_list_lock, based on the returned increment.

3. Change all callers in dev_addr_lists.c to release their spinlock
   first, then call dev_set_rx_mode() which handles both the rx mode
   update and the deferred promiscuity change safely.

Reproducer:

  ip link add dummy0 type dummy
  ip link add team0 type team
  ip link set dummy0 master team0
  ip link set team0 up
  ip link add bridge0 type bridge vlan_filtering 1
  ip link set bridge0 up
  ip link set team0 master bridge0
  ip link add macsec0 link bridge0 type macsec
  ip link set macsec0 up   # triggers the bug

Fixes: 78cd408356fe ("net: add missing instance lock to dev_set_promiscuity")
Reported-by: [email-masked]
Signed-off-by: Jiayuan Chen <[email-masked]>
---
 net/core/dev.c            | 26 ++++++++++++++++-------
 net/core/dev.h            |  2 +-
 net/core/dev_addr_lists.c | 44 +++++++++++++++++++--------------------
 3 files changed, 42 insertions(+), 30 deletions(-)

diff --git a/net/core/dev.c b/net/core/dev.c
index ac6bcb2a0784..7cd25e850972 100644
--- a/net/core/dev.c
+++ b/net/core/dev.c
@@ -9639,39 +9639,51 @@ int netif_set_allmulti(struct net_device *dev, int inc, bool notify)
  *	filtering it is put in promiscuous mode while unicast addresses
  *	are present.
  */
-void __dev_set_rx_mode(struct net_device *dev)
+int __dev_set_rx_mode(struct net_device *dev)
 {
 	const struct net_device_ops *ops = dev->netdev_ops;
+	int promisc_inc = 0;
 
 	/* dev_open will call this function so the list will stay sane. */
 	if (!(dev->flags&IFF_UP))
-		return;
+		return 0;
 
 	if (!netif_device_present(dev))
-		return;
+		return 0;
 
 	if (!(dev->priv_flags & IFF_UNICAST_FLT)) {
 		/* Unicast addresses changes may only happen under the rtnl,
-		 * therefore calling __dev_set_promiscuity here is safe.
+		 * therefore changing uc_promisc here is safe. The actual
+		 * __dev_set_promiscuity() call is deferred to the caller
+		 * (after releasing addr_list_lock) because it may trigger
+		 * ndo_change_rx_flags -> dev_set_promiscuity on lower
+		 * devices which can acquire netdev instance lock (mutex).
 		 */
 		if (!netdev_uc_empty(dev) && !dev->uc_promisc) {
-			__dev_set_promiscuity(dev, 1, false);
 			dev->uc_promisc = true;
+			promisc_inc = 1;
 		} else if (netdev_uc_empty(dev) && dev->uc_promisc) {
-			__dev_set_promiscuity(dev, -1, false);
 			dev->uc_promisc = false;
+			promisc_inc = -1;
 		}
 	}
 
 	if (ops->ndo_set_rx_mode)
 		ops->ndo_set_rx_mode(dev);
+
+	return promisc_inc;
 }
 
 void dev_set_rx_mode(struct net_device *dev)
 {
+	int promisc_inc;
+
 	netif_addr_lock_bh(dev);
-	__dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
+	promisc_inc = __dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
 	netif_addr_unlock_bh(dev);
+
+	if (promisc_inc)
+		__dev_set_promiscuity(dev, promisc_inc, false);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/net/core/dev.h b/net/core/dev.h
index 98793a738f43..1759384dea8d 100644
--- a/net/core/dev.h
+++ b/net/core/dev.h
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ void dev_set_group(struct net_device *dev, int new_group);
 int netif_change_carrier(struct net_device *dev, bool new_carrier);
 int dev_change_carrier(struct net_device *dev, bool new_carrier);
 
-void __dev_set_rx_mode(struct net_device *dev);
+int __dev_set_rx_mode(struct net_device *dev);
 
 void __dev_notify_flags(struct net_device *dev, unsigned int old_flags,
 			unsigned int gchanges, u32 portid,
diff --git a/net/core/dev_addr_lists.c b/net/core/dev_addr_lists.c
index 76c91f224886..04222e7544c1 100644
--- a/net/core/dev_addr_lists.c
+++ b/net/core/dev_addr_lists.c
@@ -667,9 +667,9 @@ int dev_uc_add_excl(struct net_device *dev, const unsigned char *addr)
 	err = __hw_addr_add_ex(&dev->uc, addr, dev->addr_len,
 			       NETDEV_HW_ADDR_T_UNICAST, true, false,
 			       0, true);
-	if (!err)
-		__dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
 	netif_addr_unlock_bh(dev);
+	if (!err)
+		dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
 	return err;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dev_uc_add_excl);
@@ -689,9 +689,9 @@ int dev_uc_add(struct net_device *dev, const unsigned char *addr)
 	netif_addr_lock_bh(dev);
 	err = __hw_addr_add(&dev->uc, addr, dev->addr_len,
 			    NETDEV_HW_ADDR_T_UNICAST);
-	if (!err)
-		__dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
 	netif_addr_unlock_bh(dev);
+	if (!err)
+		dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
 	return err;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dev_uc_add);
@@ -711,9 +711,9 @@ int dev_uc_del(struct net_device *dev, const unsigned char *addr)
 	netif_addr_lock_bh(dev);
 	err = __hw_addr_del(&dev->uc, addr, dev->addr_len,
 			    NETDEV_HW_ADDR_T_UNICAST);
-	if (!err)
-		__dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
 	netif_addr_unlock_bh(dev);
+	if (!err)
+		dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
 	return err;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dev_uc_del);
@@ -740,9 +740,9 @@ int dev_uc_sync(struct net_device *to, struct net_device *from)
 
 	netif_addr_lock(to);
 	err = __hw_addr_sync(&to->uc, &from->uc, to->addr_len);
-	if (!err)
-		__dev_set_rx_mode(to);
 	netif_addr_unlock(to);
+	if (!err)
+		dev_set_rx_mode(to);
 	return err;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dev_uc_sync);
@@ -770,9 +770,9 @@ int dev_uc_sync_multiple(struct net_device *to, struct net_device *from)
 
 	netif_addr_lock(to);
 	err = __hw_addr_sync_multiple(&to->uc, &from->uc, to->addr_len);
-	if (!err)
-		__dev_set_rx_mode(to);
 	netif_addr_unlock(to);
+	if (!err)
+		dev_set_rx_mode(to);
 	return err;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dev_uc_sync_multiple);
@@ -803,9 +803,9 @@ void dev_uc_unsync(struct net_device *to, struct net_device *from)
 	netif_addr_lock_bh(from);
 	netif_addr_lock(to);
 	__hw_addr_unsync(&to->uc, &from->uc, to->addr_len);
-	__dev_set_rx_mode(to);
 	netif_addr_unlock(to);
 	netif_addr_unlock_bh(from);
+	dev_set_rx_mode(to);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dev_uc_unsync);
 
@@ -852,9 +852,9 @@ int dev_mc_add_excl(struct net_device *dev, const unsigned char *addr)
 	err = __hw_addr_add_ex(&dev->mc, addr, dev->addr_len,
 			       NETDEV_HW_ADDR_T_MULTICAST, true, false,
 			       0, true);
-	if (!err)
-		__dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
 	netif_addr_unlock_bh(dev);
+	if (!err)
+		dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
 	return err;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dev_mc_add_excl);
@@ -868,9 +868,9 @@ static int __dev_mc_add(struct net_device *dev, const unsigned char *addr,
 	err = __hw_addr_add_ex(&dev->mc, addr, dev->addr_len,
 			       NETDEV_HW_ADDR_T_MULTICAST, global, false,
 			       0, false);
-	if (!err)
-		__dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
 	netif_addr_unlock_bh(dev);
+	if (!err)
+		dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
 	return err;
 }
 /**
@@ -908,9 +908,9 @@ static int __dev_mc_del(struct net_device *dev, const unsigned char *addr,
 	netif_addr_lock_bh(dev);
 	err = __hw_addr_del_ex(&dev->mc, addr, dev->addr_len,
 			       NETDEV_HW_ADDR_T_MULTICAST, global, false);
-	if (!err)
-		__dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
 	netif_addr_unlock_bh(dev);
+	if (!err)
+		dev_set_rx_mode(dev);
 	return err;
 }
 
@@ -963,9 +963,9 @@ int dev_mc_sync(struct net_device *to, struct net_device *from)
 
 	netif_addr_lock(to);
 	err = __hw_addr_sync(&to->mc, &from->mc, to->addr_len);
-	if (!err)
-		__dev_set_rx_mode(to);
 	netif_addr_unlock(to);
+	if (!err)
+		dev_set_rx_mode(to);
 	return err;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dev_mc_sync);
@@ -993,9 +993,9 @@ int dev_mc_sync_multiple(struct net_device *to, struct net_device *from)
 
 	netif_addr_lock(to);
 	err = __hw_addr_sync_multiple(&to->mc, &from->mc, to->addr_len);
-	if (!err)
-		__dev_set_rx_mode(to);
 	netif_addr_unlock(to);
+	if (!err)
+		dev_set_rx_mode(to);
 	return err;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dev_mc_sync_multiple);
@@ -1018,9 +1018,9 @@ void dev_mc_unsync(struct net_device *to, struct net_device *from)
 	netif_addr_lock_bh(from);
 	netif_addr_lock(to);
 	__hw_addr_unsync(&to->mc, &from->mc, to->addr_len);
-	__dev_set_rx_mode(to);
 	netif_addr_unlock(to);
 	netif_addr_unlock_bh(from);
+	dev_set_rx_mode(to);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dev_mc_unsync);
 
-- 
2.43.0