[PATCH] bus: fsl-mc: Fix refcount leak in fsl_mc_device_add() error path

From: Guangshuo Li

Date: Sat Apr 11 2026 - 08:27:25 EST


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

In fsl_mc_device_add(), all failures after device_initialize() jump to
error_cleanup_dev, where mc_dev and its associated resources are freed
directly instead of releasing the device reference with
put_device(&mc_dev->dev). This bypasses the normal device lifetime
rules and may leave the reference count of the embedded struct device
unbalanced, resulting in a refcount leak and potentially leading to a
use-after-free.

Fix this by using put_device(&mc_dev->dev) in the error path and let
fsl_mc_device_release() handle the final cleanup.

Fixes: bbf9d17d9875 ("staging: fsl-mc: Freescale Management Complex (fsl-mc) bus driver")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Guangshuo Li <lgs201920130244@xxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/bus/fsl-mc/fsl-mc-bus.c | 6 +-----
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/bus/fsl-mc/fsl-mc-bus.c b/drivers/bus/fsl-mc/fsl-mc-bus.c
index 25845c04e562..6d132144ce25 100644
--- a/drivers/bus/fsl-mc/fsl-mc-bus.c
+++ b/drivers/bus/fsl-mc/fsl-mc-bus.c
@@ -905,11 +905,7 @@ int fsl_mc_device_add(struct fsl_mc_obj_desc *obj_desc,
return 0;

error_cleanup_dev:
- kfree(mc_dev->regions);
- if (mc_bus)
- kfree(mc_bus);
- else
- kfree(mc_dev);
+ put_device(&mc_dev->dev);

return error;
}
--
2.43.0