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authorAlexander Graf <graf@amazon.com>2026-03-04 23:00:27 +0000
committerPaolo Abeni <pabeni@redhat.com>2026-03-12 10:59:36 +0100
commit0de607dc4fd80ede3b2a35e8a72f99c7a0bbc321 (patch)
tree72878c52d5623288bd4e0ff528e6d6f9c73d146f /Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl
parent17edc4e820bf8b4c7737c1de86c267e6974d543a (diff)
downloadlinux-0de607dc4fd80ede3b2a35e8a72f99c7a0bbc321.tar.gz
linux-0de607dc4fd80ede3b2a35e8a72f99c7a0bbc321.zip
vsock: add G2H fallback for CIDs not owned by H2G transport
When no H2G transport is loaded, vsock currently routes all CIDs to the G2H transport (commit 65b422d9b61b ("vsock: forward all packets to the host when no H2G is registered"). Extend that existing behavior: when an H2G transport is loaded but does not claim a given CID, the connection falls back to G2H in the same way. This matters in environments like Nitro Enclaves, where an instance may run nested VMs via vhost-vsock (H2G) while also needing to reach sibling enclaves at higher CIDs through virtio-vsock-pci (G2H). With the old code, any CID > 2 was unconditionally routed to H2G when vhost was loaded, making those enclaves unreachable without setting VMADDR_FLAG_TO_HOST explicitly on every connect. Requiring every application to set VMADDR_FLAG_TO_HOST creates friction: tools like socat, iperf, and others would all need to learn about it. The flag was introduced 6 years ago and I am still not aware of any tool that supports it. Even if there was support, it would be cumbersome to use. The most natural experience is a single CID address space where H2G only wins for CIDs it actually owns, and everything else falls through to G2H, extending the behavior that already exists when H2G is absent. To give user space at least a hint that the kernel applied this logic, automatically set the VMADDR_FLAG_TO_HOST on the remote address so it can determine the path taken via getpeername(). Add a per-network namespace sysctl net.vsock.g2h_fallback (default 1). At 0 it forces strict routing: H2G always wins for CID > VMADDR_CID_HOST, or ENODEV if H2G is not loaded. Signed-off-by: Alexander Graf <graf@amazon.com> Tested-by: syzbot@syzkaller.appspotmail.com Reviewed-by: Stefano Garzarella <sgarzare@redhat.com> Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260304230027.59857-1-graf@amazon.com Signed-off-by: Paolo Abeni <pabeni@redhat.com>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/net.rst28
1 files changed, 28 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/net.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/net.rst
index 3b2ad61995d4..0724a793798f 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/net.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/net.rst
@@ -602,3 +602,31 @@ it does not modify the current namespace or any existing children.
A namespace with ``ns_mode`` set to ``local`` cannot change
``child_ns_mode`` to ``global`` (returns ``-EPERM``).
+
+g2h_fallback
+------------
+
+Controls whether connections to CIDs not owned by the host-to-guest (H2G)
+transport automatically fall back to the guest-to-host (G2H) transport.
+
+When enabled, if a connect targets a CID that the H2G transport (e.g.
+vhost-vsock) does not serve, or if no H2G transport is loaded at all, the
+connection is routed via the G2H transport (e.g. virtio-vsock) instead. This
+allows a host running both nested VMs (via vhost-vsock) and sibling VMs
+reachable through the hypervisor (e.g. Nitro Enclaves) to address both using
+a single CID space, without requiring applications to set
+``VMADDR_FLAG_TO_HOST``.
+
+When the fallback is taken, ``VMADDR_FLAG_TO_HOST`` is automatically set on
+the remote address so that userspace can determine the path via
+``getpeername()``.
+
+Note: With this sysctl enabled, user space that attempts to talk to a guest
+CID which is not implemented by the H2G transport will create host vsock
+traffic. Environments that rely on H2G-only isolation should set it to 0.
+
+Values:
+
+ - 0 - Connections to CIDs <= 2 or with VMADDR_FLAG_TO_HOST use G2H;
+ all others use H2G (or fail with ENODEV if H2G is not loaded).
+ - 1 - Connections to CIDs not owned by H2G fall back to G2H. (default)