Re: [PATCH] net: lan966x: avoid unregistering netdev on register failure
From: Simon Horman
Date: Tue Apr 28 2026 - 09:52:47 EST
From: 'Simon Horman' <horms@xxxxxxxxxx>
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---
net: lan966x: avoid unregistering netdev on register failure
lan966x_probe_port() stores the newly allocated net_device in the
port before calling register_netdev(). If register_netdev() fails,
the probe error path calls lan966x_cleanup_ports(), which sees
port->dev and calls unregister_netdev() for a device that was never
registered.
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/microchip/lan966x/lan966x_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/microchip/lan966x/lan966x_main.c
> index 47752d3fde0b..22c496f5882a 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/microchip/lan966x/lan966x_main.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/microchip/lan966x/lan966x_main.c
> @@ -873,6 +873,9 @@ static int lan966x_probe_port(struct lan966x *lan966x, u32 p,
> err = register_netdev(dev);
> if (err) {
> dev_err(lan966x->dev, "register_netdev failed\n");
> + phylink_destroy(phylink);
> + port->phylink = NULL;
> + port->dev = NULL;
By setting port->dev = NULL on registration failure, does this patch
inadvertently cause a null pointer dereference regression during error
handling?
If lan966x_probe_port() fails at register_netdev(), it now sets
port->dev = NULL and returns an error, leading to lan966x_cleanup_ports():
lan966x_main.c:lan966x_cleanup_ports() {
...
if (port->dev)
unregister_netdev(port->dev);
lan966x_xdp_port_deinit(port);
if (lan966x->fdma && lan966x->fdma_ndev == port->dev)
lan966x_fdma_netdev_deinit(lan966x, port->dev);
...
}
If fdma is enabled but lan966x->fdma_ndev was never initialized (which is
true if the first port fails, as lan966x_fdma_netdev_init() is called after
lan966x_probe_port()), both lan966x->fdma_ndev and port->dev will be NULL.
This makes the condition NULL == NULL evaluate to true, unconditionally
passing port->dev (NULL) to lan966x_fdma_netdev_deinit():
lan966x_fdma.c:lan966x_fdma_netdev_deinit() {
if (lan966x->fdma_ndev == dev) {
netif_napi_del(&lan966x->napi);
lan966x->fdma_ndev = NULL;
}
}
The check lan966x->fdma_ndev == dev again passes (NULL == NULL). It will then
call netif_napi_del(&lan966x->napi).
Because the fdma napi was never initialized via netif_napi_add(), its fields
are zeroed. When netif_napi_del() is called on this uninitialized napi struct,
it will attempt to lock the device:
include/linux/netdevice.h:__netif_napi_del() {
netdev_lock(napi->dev);
__netif_napi_del_locked(napi);
netdev_unlock(napi->dev);
}
Since napi->dev is NULL, netdev_lock() will dereference a null pointer.
A similar regression will occur if a subsequent port fails after the first
port was successfully cleaned up, as lan966x->fdma_ndev is reset to NULL
during the first port's cleanup.
> return err;
> }
--
pw-bot: changes-requested