Re: [PATCH] ALSA: seq: Use flexible array for device arguments

From: Takashi Iwai

Date: Sun May 31 2026 - 09:40:00 EST


On Fri, 29 May 2026 15:12:39 +0200,
Cássio Gabriel wrote:
>
> snd_seq_device_new() allocates struct snd_seq_device together with a
> caller-specific argument area. SNDRV_SEQ_DEVICE_ARGPTR() reaches that
> area by adding sizeof(struct snd_seq_device) to the object pointer.
>
> Make the trailing storage explicit with a flexible array and allocate it
> with struct_size(). This makes the object layout self-describing and
> avoids open-coded size arithmetic in the allocation and accessor.
>
> Reject negative argsize values before calculating the allocation size.
> Current in-tree callers pass either zero or sizeof() values, but the
> function takes an int size argument and should not let a negative value
> flow into unsigned allocation arithmetic.
>
> Signed-off-by: Cássio Gabriel <cassiogabrielcontato@xxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> include/sound/seq_device.h | 3 ++-
> sound/core/seq_device.c | 5 ++++-
> 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/include/sound/seq_device.h b/include/sound/seq_device.h
> index a72380c202e9..3137d4c5f5a8 100644
> --- a/include/sound/seq_device.h
> +++ b/include/sound/seq_device.h
> @@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ struct snd_seq_device {
> void *private_data; /* private data for the caller */
> void (*private_free)(struct snd_seq_device *device);
> struct device dev;
> + unsigned char args[]; /* driver-specific argument */
> };
>
> #define to_seq_dev(_dev) \
> @@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ void snd_seq_device_load_drivers(void);
> int snd_seq_device_new(struct snd_card *card, int device, const char *id,
> int argsize, struct snd_seq_device **result);
>
> -#define SNDRV_SEQ_DEVICE_ARGPTR(dev) (void *)((char *)(dev) + sizeof(struct snd_seq_device))
> +#define SNDRV_SEQ_DEVICE_ARGPTR(dev) ((void *)(dev)->args)
>
> int __must_check __snd_seq_driver_register(struct snd_seq_driver *drv,
> struct module *mod);
> diff --git a/sound/core/seq_device.c b/sound/core/seq_device.c
> index 1b062d6b17ea..a7b69ff07261 100644
> --- a/sound/core/seq_device.c
> +++ b/sound/core/seq_device.c
> @@ -234,7 +234,10 @@ int snd_seq_device_new(struct snd_card *card, int device, const char *id,
> if (snd_BUG_ON(!id))
> return -EINVAL;
>
> - dev = kzalloc(sizeof(*dev) + argsize, GFP_KERNEL);
> + if (argsize < 0)
> + return -EINVAL;
> +
> + dev = kzalloc(struct_size(dev, args, argsize), GFP_KERNEL);
> if (!dev)
> return -ENOMEM;

IIRC, we can use kzalloc_flex() for this kind, too:

dev = kzalloc_flex(*dev, args, argsize);


thanks,

Takashi