pcap-file: skip setvbuf on non-seekable streams (v2) - #15562
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Reading a pcap from /dev/stdin or a named pipe currently fails with "failed to get first packet timestamp. pcap_next_ex(): -1" because InitPcapFile calls setvbuf on the FILE* underlying the pcap handle after libpcap has already consumed the pcap header. On a non-seekable fd glibc cannot recover from that and the next read returns -1. Detect non-regular files via fstat and skip setvbuf in that case so the read keeps working on pipes, fifos and stdin. Also lower PCAP_FILE_BUFFER_SIZE_MIN to 0 so pcap-file.buffer-size = 0 stays available as an explicit opt-out. When pcap-file.buffer-size fails to parse, retain the default buffer size instead of falling through and setting it to 0. The branches are now mutually exclusive so only one of the parse-error, accepted, or out-of-range messages is logged. Update the user guide: --pcap-file-buffer-size now documents 0 to 64 MiB (0 disables setvbuf), and pcap-file.rst notes that 0 is the opt-out for non-seekable sources such as stdin and named pipes. Bug: OISF#8464.
jlucovsky
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Jun 12, 2026
jlucovsky
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I think the values accepted for the buffer size should be
0 - disable standard buffering
4096 - PCAP_FILE_BUFFER_SIZE_MAX: buffering length set
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Thanks for the review @jlucovsky. All three comments are addressed in the v3 PR #15629. Closing in favor of #15629. |
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https://redmine.openinfosecfoundation.org/projects/suricata/issues
Link to ticket: https://redmine.openinfosecfoundation.org/issues/8464
Replaces #15384 (auto-closed because the branch was updated after the PR was opened).
Changes since #15384
pcap-file.buffer-sizefails to parse, the default buffer size is now retained instead of falling through and silently setting it to 0. The branches are mutually exclusive (else if) so only one of the parse-error / accepted / out-of-range messages is logged. (Addresses @jlucovsky's review.)--pcap-file-buffer-sizenow documents0 to 64 MiB(0 disablessetvbuf), andpcap-file.rstnotes thatbuffer-size: 0is the explicit opt-out for non-seekable sources such as stdin and named pipes. (Addresses @jlucovsky's doc comment.)Description
Reading a pcap from /dev/stdin or a named pipe regressed in 8.0.0 with the setvbuf change in 7b730c2 and currently fails with
failed to get first packet timestamp. pcap_next_ex(): -1. The reason is that InitPcapFile calls setvbuf on the FILE* underlying the pcap handle after libpcap has already consumed the pcap header, and on a non seekable fd glibc cannot recover from that and the very next read returns -1. This change detects non regular files via fstat on the underlying fd and skips setvbuf for that handle, so reading from stdin, named pipes, and other non seekable sources keeps working. It also lowers PCAP_FILE_BUFFER_SIZE_MIN to 0 sopcap-file.buffer-size = 0stays available as an explicit opt out, matching the workaround proposed on the ticket.Describe changes:
SV_BRANCH=OISF/suricata-verify#3108