[PATCH v7 1/7] pcapng: add length checks to string arguments

Stephen Hemminger stephen at networkplumber.org
Fri Feb 13 20:18:18 CET 2026


The pcapng file format uses a 16-bit length field in the option
TLV (Type-Length-Value) encoding, limiting strings to UINT16_MAX
bytes.

Add validation for string arguments to prevent silent truncation
or buffer issues when callers pass excessively long strings.

Also update the Doxygen comments for rte_pcapng_add_interface()
and rte_pcapng_write_stats() to document return values.

Signed-off-by: Stephen Hemminger <stephen at networkplumber.org>
---
 doc/guides/rel_notes/release_26_03.rst |  9 +++++++
 lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.c                | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++++---
 lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.h                | 11 ++++++--
 3 files changed, 51 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_26_03.rst b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_26_03.rst
index afdf1af06c..7a99420453 100644
--- a/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_26_03.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_26_03.rst
@@ -140,6 +140,15 @@ API Changes
   * cfgfile: name must be less than CFG_NAME_LEN
     and value must be less than CFG_VALUE_LEN.
 
+* **Updated the pcapng library.**
+
+  API functions now do more validation.
+
+  * The length of comment strings is now validated.
+    Maximum allowable length is 2^16-1 because of pcapng file format.
+  * Passing an invalid port id returns uses ENODEV rather than EINVAL
+    for consistency with ethdev API's.
+
 
 ABI Changes
 -----------
diff --git a/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.c b/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.c
index 2cc9e2040d..4ccf833777 100644
--- a/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.c
+++ b/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.c
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@
 /* conversion from DPDK speed to PCAPNG */
 #define PCAPNG_MBPS_SPEED 1000000ull
 
+/* upper bound for strings in pcapng option data */
+#define PCAPNG_STR_MAX	UINT16_MAX
+
 /* upper bound for section, stats and interface blocks (in uint32_t) */
 #define PCAPNG_BLKSIZ	(2048 / sizeof(uint32_t))
 
@@ -218,9 +221,11 @@ rte_pcapng_add_interface(rte_pcapng_t *self, uint16_t port, uint16_t link_type,
 	char ifname_buf[IF_NAMESIZE];
 	char ifhw[256];
 	uint64_t speed = 0;
+	int ret;
 
-	if (rte_eth_dev_info_get(port, &dev_info) < 0)
-		return -1;
+	ret = rte_eth_dev_info_get(port, &dev_info);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		return ret;
 
 	/* make something like an interface name */
 	if (ifname == NULL) {
@@ -230,8 +235,14 @@ rte_pcapng_add_interface(rte_pcapng_t *self, uint16_t port, uint16_t link_type,
 			snprintf(ifname_buf, IF_NAMESIZE, "dpdk:%u", port);
 			ifname = ifname_buf;
 		}
+	} else if (strlen(ifname) > PCAPNG_STR_MAX) {
+		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	if ((ifdescr && strlen(ifdescr) > PCAPNG_STR_MAX) ||
+	    (filter && strlen(filter) > PCAPNG_STR_MAX))
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	/* make a useful device hardware string */
 	dev = dev_info.device;
 	if (dev)
@@ -269,7 +280,7 @@ rte_pcapng_add_interface(rte_pcapng_t *self, uint16_t port, uint16_t link_type,
 	len += sizeof(uint32_t);
 
 	if (len > sizeof(buf))
-		return -1;
+		return -EINVAL;
 
 	hdr = (struct pcapng_interface_block *)buf;
 	*hdr = (struct pcapng_interface_block) {
@@ -334,7 +345,10 @@ rte_pcapng_write_stats(rte_pcapng_t *self, uint16_t port_id,
 	uint32_t optlen, len;
 	uint32_t buf[PCAPNG_BLKSIZ];
 
-	RTE_ETH_VALID_PORTID_OR_ERR_RET(port_id, -EINVAL);
+	RTE_ETH_VALID_PORTID_OR_ERR_RET(port_id, -ENODEV);
+
+	if (comment && strlen(comment) > PCAPNG_STR_MAX)
+		return -EINVAL;
 
 	optlen = 0;
 
@@ -487,7 +501,14 @@ rte_pcapng_copy(uint16_t port_id, uint32_t queue,
 	bool rss_hash;
 
 #ifdef RTE_LIBRTE_ETHDEV_DEBUG
+	/*
+	 * Since this function is used in the fast path for packet capture
+	 * skip argument validation checks unless debug is enabled.
+	 */
 	RTE_ETH_VALID_PORTID_OR_ERR_RET(port_id, NULL);
+
+	if (comment && strlen(comment) > PCAPNG_STR_MAX)
+		return NULL;
 #endif
 	orig_len = rte_pktmbuf_pkt_len(md);
 
@@ -692,6 +713,14 @@ rte_pcapng_fdopen(int fd,
 	struct timespec ts;
 	uint64_t cycles;
 
+	if ((osname && strlen(osname) > PCAPNG_STR_MAX) ||
+	    (hardware && strlen(hardware) > PCAPNG_STR_MAX) ||
+	    (appname && strlen(appname) > PCAPNG_STR_MAX) ||
+	    (comment && strlen(comment) > PCAPNG_STR_MAX)) {
+		rte_errno = EINVAL;
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	self = malloc(sizeof(*self));
 	if (!self) {
 		rte_errno = ENOMEM;
diff --git a/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.h b/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.h
index de1bf953e9..2dd438842d 100644
--- a/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.h
+++ b/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.h
@@ -89,6 +89,10 @@ rte_pcapng_close(rte_pcapng_t *self);
  * Interfaces must be added to the output file after opening
  * and before any packet record. All ports used in packet capture
  * must be added.
+ *
+ * @return
+ *   - returns number of bytes written on success,
+ *     or negative errno on failure.
  */
 int
 rte_pcapng_add_interface(rte_pcapng_t *self, uint16_t port, uint16_t link_type,
@@ -128,7 +132,7 @@ enum rte_pcapng_direction {
  *
  * @return
  *   - The pointer to the new mbuf formatted for pcapng_write
- *   - NULL if allocation fails.
+ *   - NULL on error such as invalid port or out of memory.
  */
 struct rte_mbuf *
 rte_pcapng_copy(uint16_t port_id, uint32_t queue,
@@ -192,7 +196,10 @@ rte_pcapng_write_packets(rte_pcapng_t *self,
  * @param comment
  *  Optional comment to add to statistics.
  * @return
- *  number of bytes written to file, -1 on failure to write file
+ *  On success number of bytes written to file,
+ *   -1 on failure to write file (and errno is set)
+ *   - (-ENODEV) if *port_id* is invalid.
+ *   - (-EINVAL) if bad parameter
  */
 ssize_t
 rte_pcapng_write_stats(rte_pcapng_t *self, uint16_t port,
-- 
2.51.0



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