ixgbe_cleanup_headers(9)

💖 NAME 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to ixgbe_cleanup_headers(9) from the Kernel API Manual — and the whole personality of this function is correct corrupted or empty headers. that's it, that's the name, and we're gonna get into it without losing a single detail. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

bool ixgbe_cleanup_headers (struct ixgbe_ring *rx_ring , union
       ixgbe_adv_rx_desc *rx_desc , struct sk_buff *skb );

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• rx_ring — the rx descriptor ring that the packet is being transacted on. yes, transacted. it's giving official.
• rx_desc — pointer to the EOP Rx descriptor. EOP, not “end of possibilities”, but you already knew that, iykyk.
• skb — pointer to the current skb being fixed. she's getting a lil tune-up.

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

first vibe check: check if the skb is valid. in the XDP case it will be an error pointer. return true in this case to abort processing and advance to next descriptor. no cap, that's the bail-out.

then we look for corrupted packet headers caused by senders on the local L2 embedded NIC switch not setting up their Tx Descriptors right. these should be very rare — like, rare rare. 🙈

also address the case where we are pulling data in on pages only and as such no data is present in the skb header. that's the “empty header” part of the whole situation.

in addition, if skb is not at least 60 bytes we need to pad it so that it is large enough to qualify as a valid Ethernet frame. tiny packet gets a lil boost, periodt.

Returns true if an error was encountered and skb was freed. that's the exit-status-ish lore, bestie: true means error, and skb got freed. 😭

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

the whole friend group is here, and we are not leaving anybody out:

Kernel file ./drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_main.c
ixgbe_pcie_from_parent(9), ixgbe_read_reg(9), ixgbe_set_ivar(9),
ixgbe_get_vf_idx(9), ixgbe_tx_timeout_reset(9), ixgbe_tx_maxrate(9),
ixgbe_update_tx_ring_stats(9), ixgbe_update_rx_ring_stats(9),
ixgbe_pf_handle_tx_hang(9), ixgbe_vf_handle_tx_hang(9),
ixgbe_check_illegal_queue(9), ixgbe_handle_mdd_event(9),
ixgbe_clean_tx_irq(9), ixgbe_rx_is_fcoe(9), ixgbe_rx_checksum(9),
ixgbe_alloc_rx_buffers(9), ixgbe_process_skb_fields(9),
ixgbe_is_non_eop(9), ixgbe_pull_tail(9), ixgbe_dma_sync_frag(9),
ixgbe_reuse_rx_page(9), ixgbe_add_rx_frag(9), ixgbe_clean_rx_irq(9),
ixgbe_configure_msix(9), ixgbe_update_itr(9), ixgbe_write_eitr(9),
ixgbe_check_overtemp_subtask(9), ixgbe_check_phy_fw_load(9),
ixgbe_check_module_power(9), ixgbe_check_link_cfg_err(9),
ixgbe_process_link_status_event(9), ixgbe_handle_link_status_event(9),
ixgbe_schedule_fw_event(9), ixgbe_aci_event_cleanup(9),
ixgbe_handle_fw_event(9), ixgbe_irq_enable(9), ixgbe_poll(9),
ixgbe_request_msix_irqs(9), ixgbe_intr(9), ixgbe_request_irq(9),
ixgbe_irq_disable(9), ixgbe_configure_msi_and_legacy(9),
ixgbe_configure_tx_ring(9), ixgbe_configure_tx(9),
ixgbe_rss_indir_tbl_entries(9), ixgbe_store_key(9),
ixgbe_init_rss_key(9), ixgbe_store_reta(9), ixgbe_store_vfreta(9),
ixgbe_configure_rscctl(9), ixgbe_configure_rx(9),
ixgbe_vlan_strip_disable(9), ixgbe_vlan_strip_enable(9),
ixgbe_write_mc_addr_list(9), ixgbe_set_rx_mode(9),
ixgbe_configure_dcb(9), ixgbe_hpbthresh(9), ixgbe_lpbthresh(9),
ixgbe_clean_rx_ring(9), ixgbe_enable_link_status_events(9),
ixgbe_disable_link_status_events(9), ixgbe_sfp_link_config(9),
ixgbe_non_sfp_link_config(9), ixgbe_check_media_subtask(9),
ixgbe_clear_vf_stats_counters(9), ixgbe_clean_tx_ring(9),
ixgbe_clean_all_rx_rings(9), ixgbe_clean_all_tx_rings(9),
ixgbe_set_eee_capable(9), ixgbe_tx_timeout(9), ixgbe_sw_init(9),
ixgbe_setup_tx_resources(9), ixgbe_setup_all_tx_resources(9),
ixgbe_setup_rx_resources(9), ixgbe_setup_all_rx_resources(9),
ixgbe_free_tx_resources(9), ixgbe_free_all_tx_resources(9),
ixgbe_free_rx_resources(9), ixgbe_free_all_rx_resources(9),
ixgbe_max_xdp_frame_size(9), ixgbe_change_mtu(9), ixgbe_open(9),
ixgbe_close(9), ixgbe_update_stats(9), ixgbe_fdir_reinit_subtask(9),
ixgbe_check_hang_subtask(9), ixgbe_watchdog_update_link(9),
ixgbe_watchdog_link_is_up(9), ixgbe_watchdog_link_is_down(9),
ixgbe_watchdog_flush_tx(9), ixgbe_watchdog_subtask(9),
ixgbe_sfp_detection_subtask(9), ixgbe_sfp_link_config_subtask(9),
ixgbe_service_timer(9), ixgbe_check_fw_error(9), ixgbe_service_task(9),
ixgbe_set_mac(9), ixgbe_add_sanmac_netdev(9),
ixgbe_del_sanmac_netdev(9), ixgbe_validate_rtr(9),
ixgbe_set_prio_tc_map(9), ixgbe_setup_tc(9),
ixgbe_configure_bridge_mode(9), ixgbe_irq_disable_single(9),
ixgbe_txrx_ring_disable(9), ixgbe_txrx_ring_enable(9),
ixgbe_enumerate_functions(9), ixgbe_wol_supported(9),
ixgbe_set_fw_version_e610(9), ixgbe_set_fw_version(9),
ixgbe_recovery_probe(9), ixgbe_probe(9), ixgbe_remove(9),
ixgbe_io_error_detected(9), ixgbe_io_slot_reset(9), ixgbe_io_resume(9),
ixgbe_init_module(9), ixgbe_exit_module(9)

💋 mwah, that's the whole ixgbe_cleanup_headers(9) page — brought to you by the ./drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i... source/version and dated October 2026. go forth and clean those headers, bestie! 🫶