[PATCH v4] IB/mlx4: Fix refcount leak in add_port() error path

From: Guangshuo Li

Date: Tue Apr 28 2026 - 13:47:48 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 add_port(), several failure paths after kobject_init_and_add() free
struct mlx4_port directly instead of releasing the embedded kobject with
kobject_put(). This leaves the kobject reference count unbalanced and can
lead to incorrect lifetime handling.

Fix this by routing all failures after kobject_init_and_add() through a
single kobject_put() based error path. Since the release callback may now
be called for partially initialized mlx4_port objects, make
mlx4_port_release() tolerate NULL attribute arrays.

The issue was identified by a static analysis tool I developed and
confirmed by manual review.

Fixes: c1e7e466120b ("IB/mlx4: Add iov directory in sysfs under the ib device")
Signed-off-by: Guangshuo Li <lgs201920130244@xxxxxxxxx>
---
v4:
- route all add_port() failures after kobject_init_and_add() through
a single kobject_put() based error path
- remove duplicated attribute array frees from add_port()
- keep mlx4_port_release() tolerant of partially initialized objects

v3:
- make mlx4_port_release() tolerate NULL attribute arrays
- drop the parent kobject reference on the kobject_init_and_add()
failure path before putting the embedded kobject

v2:
- note that the issue was identified by my static analysis tool
- and confirmed by manual review

drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/sysfs.c | 44 ++++++++++++++----------------
1 file changed, 20 insertions(+), 24 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/sysfs.c b/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/sysfs.c
index b8fa4ecfc961..fe505e07849d 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/sysfs.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/sysfs.c
@@ -380,12 +380,17 @@ static void mlx4_port_release(struct kobject *kobj)
struct attribute *a;
int i;

- for (i = 0; (a = p->pkey_group.attrs[i]); ++i)
- kfree(a);
- kfree(p->pkey_group.attrs);
- for (i = 0; (a = p->gid_group.attrs[i]); ++i)
- kfree(a);
- kfree(p->gid_group.attrs);
+ if (p->pkey_group.attrs) {
+ for (i = 0; (a = p->pkey_group.attrs[i]); ++i)
+ kfree(a);
+ kfree(p->pkey_group.attrs);
+ }
+
+ if (p->gid_group.attrs) {
+ for (i = 0; (a = p->gid_group.attrs[i]); ++i)
+ kfree(a);
+ kfree(p->gid_group.attrs);
+ }
kfree(p);
}

@@ -623,7 +628,6 @@ static void remove_vf_smi_entries(struct mlx4_port *p)
static int add_port(struct mlx4_ib_dev *dev, int port_num, int slave)
{
struct mlx4_port *p;
- int i;
int ret;
int is_eth = rdma_port_get_link_layer(&dev->ib_dev, port_num) ==
IB_LINK_LAYER_ETHERNET;
@@ -640,7 +644,7 @@ static int add_port(struct mlx4_ib_dev *dev, int port_num, int slave)
kobject_get(dev->dev_ports_parent[slave]),
"%d", port_num);
if (ret)
- goto err_alloc;
+ goto err_put;

p->pkey_group.name = "pkey_idx";
p->pkey_group.attrs =
@@ -649,44 +653,36 @@ static int add_port(struct mlx4_ib_dev *dev, int port_num, int slave)
dev->dev->caps.pkey_table_len[port_num]);
if (!p->pkey_group.attrs) {
ret = -ENOMEM;
- goto err_alloc;
+ goto err_put;
}

ret = sysfs_create_group(&p->kobj, &p->pkey_group);
if (ret)
- goto err_free_pkey;
+ goto err_put;

p->gid_group.name = "gid_idx";
p->gid_group.attrs = alloc_group_attrs(show_port_gid_idx, NULL, 1);
if (!p->gid_group.attrs) {
ret = -ENOMEM;
- goto err_free_pkey;
+ goto err_put;
}

ret = sysfs_create_group(&p->kobj, &p->gid_group);
if (ret)
- goto err_free_gid;
+ goto err_put;

ret = add_vf_smi_entries(p);
if (ret)
- goto err_free_gid;
+ goto err_put;

list_add_tail(&p->kobj.entry, &dev->pkeys.pkey_port_list[slave]);
return 0;

-err_free_gid:
- kfree(p->gid_group.attrs[0]);
- kfree(p->gid_group.attrs);
-
-err_free_pkey:
- for (i = 0; i < dev->dev->caps.pkey_table_len[port_num]; ++i)
- kfree(p->pkey_group.attrs[i]);
- kfree(p->pkey_group.attrs);
-
-err_alloc:
+err_put:
kobject_put(dev->dev_ports_parent[slave]);
- kfree(p);
+ kobject_put(&p->kobj);
return ret;
+
}

static int register_one_pkey_tree(struct mlx4_ib_dev *dev, int slave)
--
2.43.0