[PATCH 1/2] serial: 8250_dw: unregister 8250 port if clk_notifier_register() fails

From: Stepan Ionichev

Date: Thu May 14 2026 - 10:47:03 EST


dw8250_probe() registers the 8250 port via serial8250_register_8250_port()
and then, if the device has a clock, registers a clock notifier. If
clk_notifier_register() fails, probe returns the error but leaves the
8250 port registered. The matching serial8250_unregister_port() lives
in dw8250_remove(), which is not called when probe fails, so the port
slot stays occupied until the device is rebound or the system is
rebooted. The devm-allocated driver data is freed while the port still
references it (via the saved private_data and serial_in/serial_out
callbacks), so any access to that port slot before a rebind is a
use-after-free hazard.

Unregister the port on the clk_notifier_register() error path.

Fixes: cc816969d7b5 ("serial: 8250_dw: Fix common clocks usage race condition")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Stepan Ionichev <sozdayvek@xxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_dw.c | 4 +++-
1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_dw.c b/drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_dw.c
index 94beadb40..7dbd79a91 100644
--- a/drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_dw.c
+++ b/drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_dw.c
@@ -850,8 +850,10 @@ static int dw8250_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
*/
if (data->clk) {
err = clk_notifier_register(data->clk, &data->clk_notifier);
- if (err)
+ if (err) {
+ serial8250_unregister_port(data->data.line);
return dev_err_probe(dev, err, "Failed to set the clock notifier\n");
+ }
queue_work(system_dfl_wq, &data->clk_work);
}

--
2.43.0