netif_receive_skb(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

🌸 netif_receive_skb(9) 🌸

okay bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual 💅 this one's called netif_receive_skb and tbh it's kind of a big deal — it's the function where packets coming off the network actually get processed.

✨ NAME ✨

netif_receive_skb — process receive buffer from network 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int netif_receive_skb (struct sk_buff *skb );

✨ ARGUMENTS ✨

  • skb — the buffer to process. that's the packet bestie, hand it over 💖

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so like, netif_receive_skb is the main receive data processing function. main character energy fr fr 👑 it's the one doing the actual work of taking that buffer and pushing it through the stack.

here's the thing though — it always succeeds. yes literally always. no cap. but don't get too comfy, because the buffer may get dropped during processing 😭 either for congestion control or by the protocol layers. it's giving "we did our job, the packet's fate is not our business."

⚠️ major caveat, do not skip this: this function may only be called from softirq context, and interrupts should be enabled. that's not a suggestion bestie, that's the rules 🙈

return values (which tbh are usually ignored — iconique of them):

  • NET_RX_SUCCESS — no congestion 💚
  • NET_RX_DROP — packet was dropped 💀

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

kernel file: ./net/core/dev.c

and now, the moment you've all been waiting for, the full friend group 🫶 — every single one of these, no skips:

that's the whole page bestie, hope you ate that up 🍓

kisses from the kernel API manual — source dir ./net/core, dated October 2026 🎀

📦 where this page comes from