diff --git a/include/net/rtnetlink.h b/include/net/rtnetlink.h
index 35be0bbcd7da..4093ca78cf60 100644
--- a/include/net/rtnetlink.h
+++ b/include/net/rtnetlink.h
@@ -92,8 +92,10 @@ extern void	rtnl_link_unregister(struct rtnl_link_ops *ops);
  * 		       specific netlink attributes.
  * 	@get_link_af_size: Function to calculate size of address family specific
  * 			   netlink attributes exlusive the container attribute.
- * 	@parse_link_af: Function to parse a IFLA_AF_SPEC attribute and modify
- *			net_device accordingly.
+ *	@validate_link_af: Validate a IFLA_AF_SPEC attribute, must check attr
+ *			   for invalid configuration settings.
+ * 	@set_link_af: Function to parse a IFLA_AF_SPEC attribute and modify
+ *		      net_device accordingly.
  */
 struct rtnl_af_ops {
 	struct list_head	list;
@@ -103,8 +105,10 @@ struct rtnl_af_ops {
 						const struct net_device *dev);
 	size_t			(*get_link_af_size)(const struct net_device *dev);
 
-	int			(*parse_link_af)(struct net_device *dev,
-						 const struct nlattr *attr);
+	int			(*validate_link_af)(const struct net_device *dev,
+						    const struct nlattr *attr);
+	int			(*set_link_af)(struct net_device *dev,
+					       const struct nlattr *attr);
 };
 
 extern int	__rtnl_af_register(struct rtnl_af_ops *ops);
diff --git a/net/core/rtnetlink.c b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
index bf69e5871b1a..750db57f3bb3 100644
--- a/net/core/rtnetlink.c
+++ b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
@@ -1107,6 +1107,28 @@ static int validate_linkmsg(struct net_device *dev, struct nlattr *tb[])
 			return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	if (tb[IFLA_AF_SPEC]) {
+		struct nlattr *af;
+		int rem, err;
+
+		nla_for_each_nested(af, tb[IFLA_AF_SPEC], rem) {
+			const struct rtnl_af_ops *af_ops;
+
+			if (!(af_ops = rtnl_af_lookup(nla_type(af))))
+				return -EAFNOSUPPORT;
+
+			if (!af_ops->set_link_af)
+				return -EOPNOTSUPP;
+
+			if (af_ops->validate_link_af) {
+				err = af_ops->validate_link_af(dev,
+							tb[IFLA_AF_SPEC]);
+				if (err < 0)
+					return err;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -1356,12 +1378,9 @@ static int do_setlink(struct net_device *dev, struct ifinfomsg *ifm,
 			const struct rtnl_af_ops *af_ops;
 
 			if (!(af_ops = rtnl_af_lookup(nla_type(af))))
-				continue;
+				BUG();
 
-			if (!af_ops->parse_link_af)
-				continue;
-
-			err = af_ops->parse_link_af(dev, af);
+			err = af_ops->set_link_af(dev, af);
 			if (err < 0)
 				goto errout;
 
diff --git a/net/ipv4/devinet.c b/net/ipv4/devinet.c
index 71afc26c2df8..d9f71bae45c4 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/devinet.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/devinet.c
@@ -1289,14 +1289,14 @@ static const struct nla_policy inet_af_policy[IFLA_INET_MAX+1] = {
 	[IFLA_INET_CONF]	= { .type = NLA_NESTED },
 };
 
-static int inet_parse_link_af(struct net_device *dev, const struct nlattr *nla)
+static int inet_validate_link_af(const struct net_device *dev,
+				 const struct nlattr *nla)
 {
-	struct in_device *in_dev = __in_dev_get_rcu(dev);
 	struct nlattr *a, *tb[IFLA_INET_MAX+1];
 	int err, rem;
 
-	if (!in_dev)
-		return -EOPNOTSUPP;
+	if (dev && !__in_dev_get_rcu(dev))
+		return -EAFNOSUPPORT;
 
 	err = nla_parse_nested(tb, IFLA_INET_MAX, nla, inet_af_policy);
 	if (err < 0)
@@ -1314,6 +1314,21 @@ static int inet_parse_link_af(struct net_device *dev, const struct nlattr *nla)
 		}
 	}
 
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int inet_set_link_af(struct net_device *dev, const struct nlattr *nla)
+{
+	struct in_device *in_dev = __in_dev_get_rcu(dev);
+	struct nlattr *a, *tb[IFLA_INET_MAX+1];
+	int rem;
+
+	if (!in_dev)
+		return -EAFNOSUPPORT;
+
+	if (nla_parse_nested(tb, IFLA_INET_MAX, nla, NULL) < 0)
+		BUG();
+
 	if (tb[IFLA_INET_CONF]) {
 		nla_for_each_nested(a, tb[IFLA_INET_CONF], rem)
 			ipv4_devconf_set(in_dev, nla_type(a), nla_get_u32(a));
@@ -1689,7 +1704,8 @@ static struct rtnl_af_ops inet_af_ops = {
 	.family		  = AF_INET,
 	.fill_link_af	  = inet_fill_link_af,
 	.get_link_af_size = inet_get_link_af_size,
-	.parse_link_af	  = inet_parse_link_af,
+	.validate_link_af = inet_validate_link_af,
+	.set_link_af	  = inet_set_link_af,
 };
 
 void __init devinet_init(void)
diff --git a/net/ipv6/addrconf.c b/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
index 4cf760598c2a..1023ad0d2b15 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
@@ -3956,11 +3956,6 @@ static int inet6_fill_link_af(struct sk_buff *skb, const struct net_device *dev)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int inet6_parse_link_af(struct net_device *dev, const struct nlattr *nla)
-{
-	return -EOPNOTSUPP;
-}
-
 static int inet6_fill_ifinfo(struct sk_buff *skb, struct inet6_dev *idev,
 			     u32 pid, u32 seq, int event, unsigned int flags)
 {
@@ -4670,7 +4665,6 @@ static struct rtnl_af_ops inet6_ops = {
 	.family		  = AF_INET6,
 	.fill_link_af	  = inet6_fill_link_af,
 	.get_link_af_size = inet6_get_link_af_size,
-	.parse_link_af	  = inet6_parse_link_af,
 };
 
 /*