[PATCH v3] firmware_loader: fix device reference leak in firmware_upload_register()
From: Guangshuo Li
Date: Tue May 05 2026 - 05:16:25 EST
firmware_upload_register()
-> fw_create_instance()
-> device_initialize()
After fw_create_instance() succeeds, the lifetime of the embedded struct
device is expected to be managed through the device core reference
counting, since fw_create_instance() has already called
device_initialize().
In firmware_upload_register(), if alloc_lookup_fw_priv() fails after
fw_create_instance() succeeds, the code reaches free_fw_sysfs and frees
fw_sysfs directly instead of releasing the device reference with
put_device(). This may leave the reference count of the embedded struct
device unbalanced, resulting in a refcount leak.
The issue was identified by a static analysis tool I developed and
confirmed by manual review. Fix this by using put_device(fw_dev) in the
failure path and letting fw_dev_release() handle the final cleanup,
instead of freeing the instance directly from the error path.
Fixes: 97730bbb242c ("firmware_loader: Add firmware-upload support")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Guangshuo Li <lgs201920130244@xxxxxxxxx>
---
v3:
- Move fw_sysfs->fw_upload_priv assignment after fw_sysfs->fw_priv is
initialized, so the alloc_lookup_fw_priv() failure path does not enter
fw_upload_free() with an uninitialized fw_sysfs->fw_priv.
- On alloc_lookup_fw_priv() failure, call put_device(fw_dev) and then
free fw_upload_priv and fw_upload explicitly.
v2:
- Remove the free_fw_sysfs label.
- Call put_device(fw_dev) directly in the alloc_lookup_fw_priv() failure
path and jump to exit_module_put.
drivers/base/firmware_loader/sysfs_upload.c | 8 +++-----
1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
diff --git a/drivers/base/firmware_loader/sysfs_upload.c b/drivers/base/firmware_loader/sysfs_upload.c
index f59a7856934c..efc33294212f 100644
--- a/drivers/base/firmware_loader/sysfs_upload.c
+++ b/drivers/base/firmware_loader/sysfs_upload.c
@@ -343,7 +343,6 @@ firmware_upload_register(struct module *module, struct device *parent,
goto free_fw_upload_priv;
}
fw_upload->priv = fw_sysfs;
- fw_sysfs->fw_upload_priv = fw_upload_priv;
fw_dev = &fw_sysfs->dev;
ret = alloc_lookup_fw_priv(name, &fw_cache, &fw_priv, NULL, 0, 0,
@@ -351,10 +350,12 @@ firmware_upload_register(struct module *module, struct device *parent,
if (ret != 0) {
if (ret > 0)
ret = -EINVAL;
- goto free_fw_sysfs;
+ put_device(fw_dev);
+ goto free_fw_upload_priv;
}
fw_priv->is_paged_buf = true;
fw_sysfs->fw_priv = fw_priv;
+ fw_sysfs->fw_upload_priv = fw_upload_priv;
ret = device_add(fw_dev);
if (ret) {
@@ -365,9 +366,6 @@ firmware_upload_register(struct module *module, struct device *parent,
return fw_upload;
-free_fw_sysfs:
- kfree(fw_sysfs);
-
free_fw_upload_priv:
kfree(fw_upload_priv);
--
2.43.0