Subject: Re: [PATCH] macsec: defer RX SA cleanup from RCU callback to workqueue

From: Sabrina Dubroca <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 6 May 2026 19:55:04 +0200

2026-05-06, 18:01:07 +0800, [email-masked] wrote:
> From: Jinliang Zheng <[email-masked]>
> 
> crypto_free_aead() can call vunmap() internally (e.g. via
> dma_free_attrs() in hardware crypto drivers like hisi_sec2), which
> must not be called from softirq context.

Ok.

> free_rxsa() is an RCU callback and therefore runs in softirq context,
> causing a kernel crash when the underlying AEAD implementation
> performs DMA unmapping during tfm destruction:
> 
>   vunmap+0x4c/0x70
>   __iommu_dma_free+0xd0/0x138
>   dma_free_attrs+0xf4/0x100
>   sec_aead_exit+0x64/0xb8 [hisi_sec2]
>   crypto_destroy_tfm+0x98/0x110
>   free_rxsa+0x28/0x50 [macsec]
>   rcu_do_batch+0x184/0x460
>   rcu_core+0xf4/0x1f8
>   handle_softirqs+0x118/0x330
> 
> Fix this by splitting free_rxsa() into two parts: the RCU callback
> now only schedules a work item, and the actual resource release
> (crypto_free_aead, free_percpu, kfree) is done in a workqueue
> handler running in process context.
> 
> Add a destroy_work field to struct macsec_rx_sa and initialize it
> in init_rx_sa().

TXSAs go through exactly the same process (destruct via RCU and call
crypto_free_aead). I guess they would need exactly the same fix.

> Signed-off-by: Jinliang Zheng <[email-masked]>

Missing a Fixes tag (most likely c09440f7dcb3 ("macsec: introduce IEEE
802.1AE driver")).

>  drivers/net/macsec.c | 13 +++++++++++--
>  include/net/macsec.h |  2 ++
>  2 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/drivers/net/macsec.c b/drivers/net/macsec.c
> index f6cad0746a02..dabd3d2598ae 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/macsec.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/macsec.c
> @@ -174,15 +174,23 @@ static void macsec_rxsc_put(struct macsec_rx_sc *sc)
>  		call_rcu(&sc->rcu_head, free_rx_sc_rcu);
>  }
>  
> -static void free_rxsa(struct rcu_head *head)
> +static void free_rxsa_work(struct work_struct *work)
>  {
> -	struct macsec_rx_sa *sa = container_of(head, struct macsec_rx_sa, rcu);
> +	struct macsec_rx_sa *sa = container_of(work, struct macsec_rx_sa,
> +					       destroy_work);
>  
>  	crypto_free_aead(sa->key.tfm);
>  	free_percpu(sa->stats);
>  	kfree(sa);
>  }
>  
> +static void free_rxsa(struct rcu_head *head)
> +{
> +	struct macsec_rx_sa *sa = container_of(head, struct macsec_rx_sa, rcu);
> +
> +	schedule_work(&sa->destroy_work);
> +}

This is quite ugly. I'd prefer to change the call_rcu() in
macsec_rxsa_put() to the schedule_work(), and then add a
synchronize_rcu() (to replace the current call_rcu()'s effects) at the
start of free_rxsa_work().

In addition, you need to modify macsec_exit() so that it waits on the
free_rxsa_work() calls. Otherwise, if they happen after the module has
finished unloading, the kernel will crash. Currently there's an
rcu_barrier() that waits for free_rxsa() running as RCU callback, but
it won't wait for the new work.

-- 
Sabrina