netlink example code in c

Instructions

1. Execute make first. This will result in a netlinkKernel.ko output among many others.
2. Execute $ gcc netlinkUser.c -o netlinkUser
3. Insert kernel module by :$ sudo insmod netlinkKernel.ko      
4. Run ./netlinkUser to see message and run dmesg to see debug messages
5. Remove module by : $ sudo rmmod netlinkKernel          
6. Finally make clean to remove output files.

Makefile

KDIR := /lib/modules/$(shell uname -r)/build

obj-m += netlinkKernel.o

all:
	$(MAKE) -C $(KDIR) SUBDIRS=$(PWD) modules

clean:
	rm -rf *.o *.ko *.mod.* *.cmd .module* modules* Module* .*.cmd .tmp*
	make -C /lib/modules/$(shell uname -r)/build M=$(PWD) clean

netlinkKernel.c

//Taken from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15215865/netlink-sockets-in-c-using-the-3-x-linux-kernel?lq=1

#include <linux/module.h>
#include <net/sock.h>
#include <linux/netlink.h>
#include <linux/skbuff.h>
  

#define NETLINK_USER 31

struct sock *nl_sk = NULL;

static void hello_nl_recv_msg(struct sk_buff *skb) {

struct nlmsghdr *nlh;
int pid;
struct sk_buff *skb_out;
int msg_size;
char *msg="Hello from kernel";
int res;

printk(KERN_INFO "Entering: %s\n", __FUNCTION__);

msg_size=strlen(msg);

nlh=(struct nlmsghdr*)skb->data;
printk(KERN_INFO "Netlink received msg payload:%s\n",(char*)nlmsg_data(nlh));
pid = nlh->nlmsg_pid; /*pid of sending process */

skb_out = nlmsg_new(msg_size,0);

if(!skb_out)
{

    printk(KERN_ERR "Failed to allocate new skb\n");
    return;

} 
nlh=nlmsg_put(skb_out,0,0,NLMSG_DONE,msg_size,0);  
NETLINK_CB(skb_out).dst_group = 0; /* not in mcast group */
strncpy(nlmsg_data(nlh),msg,msg_size);

res=nlmsg_unicast(nl_sk,skb_out,pid);

if(res<0)
    printk(KERN_INFO "Error while sending bak to user\n");
}

static int __init hello_init(void) {

printk("Entering: %s\n",__FUNCTION__);
//This is for 3.6 kernels and above.
struct netlink_kernel_cfg cfg = {
    .input = hello_nl_recv_msg,
};

nl_sk = netlink_kernel_create(&init_net, NETLINK_USER, &cfg);
//nl_sk = netlink_kernel_create(&init_net, NETLINK_USER, 0, hello_nl_recv_msg,NULL,THIS_MODULE);
if(!nl_sk)
{

    printk(KERN_ALERT "Error creating socket.\n");
    return -10;

}

return 0;
}

static void __exit hello_exit(void) {

printk(KERN_INFO "exiting hello module\n");
netlink_kernel_release(nl_sk);
}

module_init(hello_init); module_exit(hello_exit);

MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");

netlinkUser.c

//Taken from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15215865/netlink-sockets-in-c-using-the-3-x-linux-kernel?lq=1

#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <linux/netlink.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdio.h>

#define NETLINK_USER 31

#define MAX_PAYLOAD 1024 /* maximum payload size*/
struct sockaddr_nl src_addr, dest_addr;
struct nlmsghdr *nlh = NULL;
struct iovec iov;
int sock_fd;
struct msghdr msg;

int main()
{
sock_fd=socket(PF_NETLINK, SOCK_RAW, NETLINK_USER);
if(sock_fd<0)
return -1;

memset(&src_addr, 0, sizeof(src_addr));
src_addr.nl_family = AF_NETLINK;
src_addr.nl_pid = getpid(); /* self pid */

bind(sock_fd, (struct sockaddr*)&src_addr, sizeof(src_addr));

memset(&dest_addr, 0, sizeof(dest_addr));
memset(&dest_addr, 0, sizeof(dest_addr));
dest_addr.nl_family = AF_NETLINK;
dest_addr.nl_pid = 0; /* For Linux Kernel */
dest_addr.nl_groups = 0; /* unicast */

nlh = (struct nlmsghdr *)malloc(NLMSG_SPACE(MAX_PAYLOAD));
memset(nlh, 0, NLMSG_SPACE(MAX_PAYLOAD));
nlh->nlmsg_len = NLMSG_SPACE(MAX_PAYLOAD);
nlh->nlmsg_pid = getpid();
nlh->nlmsg_flags = 0;

strcpy(NLMSG_DATA(nlh), "Hello");

iov.iov_base = (void *)nlh;
iov.iov_len = nlh->nlmsg_len;
msg.msg_name = (void *)&dest_addr;
msg.msg_namelen = sizeof(dest_addr);
msg.msg_iov = &iov;
msg.msg_iovlen = 1;

printf("Sending message to kernel\n");
sendmsg(sock_fd,&msg,0);
printf("Waiting for message from kernel\n");

/* Read message from kernel */
recvmsg(sock_fd, &msg, 0);
printf("Received message payload: %s\n", (char *)NLMSG_DATA(nlh));
close(sock_fd);
}

Doesn't work for me on kernel version 5.15.0-71-generic Ubuntu 20.04. First of all, the module loads when I set unit arg to 30 instead of 31. Then I start the user program (PID 33474). The user program waits indefinitely for the message from kernel. Seems like the message from user program is registered but somehow the registered callback is not getting invoked as expected. Here's my dmesg output:

[ 8620.536837] Entering: hello_init
[ 8651.452447] TRAPS: [auth-link] message from unknown process [33474], peer [1428]