Re: [PATCH RFT net-next 2/2] idpf: remove __free usage in idpf_virtchnl

From: Jeff Johnson

Date: Tue Aug 04 2026 - 18:55:07 EST


On 11/16/2025 7:56 AM, Ally Heev wrote:
> usage of cleanup attributes is discouraged in net [1], achieve cleanup
> using goto. In this patch though, only uninitialized pointers with __free
> attribute are cleaned as they can cause undefined behavior when they
> go out of scope
>
> Suggested-by: Simon Horman <horms@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Reported-by: Dan Carpenter <dan.carpenter@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/all/aPiG_F5EBQUjZqsl@stanley.mountain/
> Signed-off-by: Ally Heev <allyheev@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> [1] https://docs.kernel.org/process/maintainer-netdev.html#using-device-managed-and-cleanup-h-constructs

<SMH>

If using __free() *correctly* gives more readable code, why wouldn't we do it?

The only problem with this function is that it doesn't follow the guidance
from cleanup.h:

* the recommendation is to always define and assign variables in one
* statement and not group variable definitions at the top of the
* function when __free() is used.


>
> Signed-off-by: Ally Heev <allyheev@xxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> drivers/net/ethernet/intel/idpf/idpf_virtchnl.c | 28 +++++++++++++++++--------
> 1 file changed, 19 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/idpf/idpf_virtchnl.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/idpf/idpf_virtchnl.c
> index cbb5fa30f5a0ec778c1ee30470da3ca21cc1af24..5b2bf8c3205bc1ea0746f78afa2a24f3f8ad2a8c 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/idpf/idpf_virtchnl.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/idpf/idpf_virtchnl.c
> @@ -1012,7 +1012,7 @@ static int idpf_send_get_caps_msg(struct idpf_adapter *adapter)
> */
> static int idpf_send_get_lan_memory_regions(struct idpf_adapter *adapter)
> {
> - struct virtchnl2_get_lan_memory_regions *rcvd_regions __free(kfree);
> + struct virtchnl2_get_lan_memory_regions *rcvd_regions = NULL;
> struct idpf_vc_xn_params xn_params = {
> .vc_op = VIRTCHNL2_OP_GET_LAN_MEMORY_REGIONS,
> .recv_buf.iov_len = IDPF_CTLQ_MAX_BUF_LEN,
> @@ -1029,21 +1029,29 @@ static int idpf_send_get_lan_memory_regions(struct idpf_adapter *adapter)
>
> xn_params.recv_buf.iov_base = rcvd_regions;
> reply_sz = idpf_vc_xn_exec(adapter, &xn_params);
> - if (reply_sz < 0)
> - return reply_sz;
> + if (reply_sz < 0) {
> + err = reply_sz;
> + goto out;
> + }
>
> num_regions = le16_to_cpu(rcvd_regions->num_memory_regions);
> size = struct_size(rcvd_regions, mem_reg, num_regions);
> - if (reply_sz < size)
> - return -EIO;
> + if (reply_sz < size) {
> + err = -EIO;
> + goto out;
> + }
>
> - if (size > IDPF_CTLQ_MAX_BUF_LEN)
> - return -EINVAL;
> + if (size > IDPF_CTLQ_MAX_BUF_LEN) {
> + err = -EINVAL;
> + goto out;
> + }
>
> hw = &adapter->hw;
> hw->lan_regs = kcalloc(num_regions, sizeof(*hw->lan_regs), GFP_KERNEL);
> - if (!hw->lan_regs)
> - return -ENOMEM;
> + if (!hw->lan_regs) {
> + err = -ENOMEM;
> + goto out;
> + }
>
> for (int i = 0; i < num_regions; i++) {
> hw->lan_regs[i].addr_len =
> @@ -1053,6 +1061,8 @@ static int idpf_send_get_lan_memory_regions(struct idpf_adapter *adapter)
> }
> hw->num_lan_regs = num_regions;
>
> +out:
> + kfree(rcvd_regions);
> return err;
> }
>
>