[PATCH] mm: thp: Fix refcount leak in thpsize_create() error path

From: Guangshuo Li

Date: Sat Apr 11 2026 - 02:22:19 EST


After kobject_init_and_add(), the lifetime of the embedded struct
kobject is expected to be managed through the kobject core reference
counting.

In thpsize_create(), if kobject_init_and_add() fails, thpsize is freed
directly with kfree() rather than releasing the kobject reference with
kobject_put(). This may leave the reference count of the embedded struct
kobject unbalanced, resulting in a refcount leak and potentially leading
to a use-after-free.

Fix this by using kobject_put(&thpsize->kobj) in the failure path and
letting thpsize_release() handle the final cleanup.

Fixes: 3485b88390b0 ("mm: thp: introduce multi-size THP sysfs interface")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Guangshuo Li <lgs201920130244@xxxxxxxxx>
---
mm/huge_memory.c | 7 ++-----
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/mm/huge_memory.c b/mm/huge_memory.c
index 40cf59301c21..ae6ed483cd53 100644
--- a/mm/huge_memory.c
+++ b/mm/huge_memory.c
@@ -726,11 +726,8 @@ static struct thpsize *thpsize_create(int order, struct kobject *parent)

ret = kobject_init_and_add(&thpsize->kobj, &thpsize_ktype, parent,
"hugepages-%lukB", size);
- if (ret) {
- kfree(thpsize);
- goto err;
- }
-
+ if (ret)
+ goto err_put;

ret = sysfs_add_group(&thpsize->kobj, &any_ctrl_attr_grp);
if (ret)
--
2.43.0