FreeBSD 12.3 and pfSense 2.6.0 networking no longer works with upgrade to VB 7.0.2 => fixed in SVN

[rickga]

Hi,

After a recent upgrade from VirtualBox 6.1.40 to 7.0.2 on Arch Linux, all of my pfSense virtual machines hang at "Configuring WAN interface" during the boot process. Reverting VirtualBox back to 6.1.40 fixes it.

The pfSense VM (CE 2.6.0) is configured with EFI enabled and the WAN interface is a NAT virtual network adapter with "virtio-net". I've tried changing the adapter to either of the Intel PRO/1000 Server options and it does eventually boot after a 5 minute hang at the same point, but it is unable to get an IP and therefore doesn't work either.

I've also tried to create a brand new pfSense VM using the same settings as our currently running ones and while it installs properly, after the reboot it is stuck on "Default interfaces not found -- Running interface assignment option.". This also works properly in 6.1.40. I've also tried setting the network interface to bridge mode and no change.

Edit: All other VM work properly, including other FreeBSD 13.1 virtual machines but same behavior with FreeBSD 12.3.

Any suggestions?

[aeichner]

Please upload VBox.log files of the affected VMs.

[rickga]

Replying to aeichner:

Please upload VBox.log files of the affected VMs.

I have attached logs for FreeBSD 12.3 and pfSense 2.6.0 (network not working) and FreeBSD 13.1 (network working).

[aeichner]

Thanks for the report, this will be fixed in the next 7.0.x maintenance release. The root cause is actually a bug in the virtio-net driver included in FreeBSD up to version 12.3. It violates the virtio specification and our new virtio implementation in 7.0 is much more strict when asserting sane driver behavior.

[galitsyn]

VirtualBox 7.0.4 was just released and available for download at https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads. This issue should be fixed in this version.

[0xBEN]

First off, thank you to the team for your ongoing support. I was able to test pfSense 2.6.0 on VirtualBox 7.0.4 and unfortunately, the issue does not appear to be resolved. When using the virtio-net driver on a bridged WAN adapter, a DHCP lease is not obtained from the downstream DHCP server. The VM just idles while waiting for the interface to be configured.

[aeichner]

Thanks for following up! Yes the fix was incomplete though it worked here during testing, there was some sort of timing involved so it could work sometimes. Just fixed it for good but it was too late for the next 7.0.x maintenance release. Will be fixed in the release after the next one.

[0xBEN]

Good afternoon! I tested to see if this fix was pushed into the 7.0.6 release of VirtualBox, but unfortunately the issue is still ongoing. I have attached the logs from my most recent test instance. Thank you for your ongoing support.