[PATCH v2] nvme-fc: fix double free of fabrics options when nvme_add_ctrl() fails
From: Rihyeon Kim
Date: Wed Aug 12 2026 - 08:48:35 EST
nvmf_create_ctrl() frees opts when ->create_ctrl() returns an error, so
a transport must not free it on its own error paths. nvme_fc_ctrl_free()
therefore only calls nvmf_free_options() while ctrl->ctrl.opts is still
set, and nvme_fc_init_ctrl() clears that pointer before its last put.
It only does so on the fail_ctrl: path. When nvme_add_ctrl() fails,
nvme_fc_init_ctrl() jumps to out_put_ctrl: instead, so
nvme_fc_ctrl_free() still sees ctrl->ctrl.opts set and frees opts, and
nvmf_create_ctrl() frees it again.
Reproduced with nvme-fcloop and failslab by failing the kvasprintf() in
dev_set_name(), called from nvme_add_ctrl():
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in nvmf_free_options+0x30/0x190
nvmf_free_options+0x30/0x190 drivers/nvme/host/fabrics.c:1284
nvmf_create_ctrl drivers/nvme/host/fabrics.c:1374 [inline]
Freed by task 5534:
nvme_fc_ctrl_free drivers/nvme/host/fc.c:2374 [inline]
nvme_fc_init_ctrl+0xe17/0x1450 drivers/nvme/host/fc.c:3605
Without KASAN, opts is freed twice.
nvme-tcp and nvme-rdma reach the same error path, but their free_ctrl
only frees opts once the controller is on the global list, so they are
not affected.
Move the clear down to out_put_ctrl:, which both error paths pass
through. The same injection then returns -EIO without a report.
Fixes: 1a9e218195a5 ("nvme: split device add from initialization")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Reported-by: syzbot+f58e57380a6083c4041d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Closes: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=f58e57380a6083c4041d
Suggested-by: Keith Busch <kbusch@xxxxxxxxxx>
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-5
Signed-off-by: Rihyeon Kim <rihyeon8648@xxxxxxxxx>
---
Changes since v1: move the existing clear from fail_ctrl: down to
out_put_ctrl: rather than adding a second one (Keith). Re-tested by
sweeping fail-nth 1..200 over the connect write with fcloop and failslab,
which reaches both labels: unpatched reports at 17, this passes 200/200.
v1: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-nvme/20260811125310.165487-1-rihyeon8648@xxxxxxxxx/
drivers/nvme/host/fc.c | 5 +++--
1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/drivers/nvme/host/fc.c b/drivers/nvme/host/fc.c
index 04363b9c4489..a35ed9c8c212 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/host/fc.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/host/fc.c
@@ -3593,14 +3593,15 @@ nvme_fc_init_ctrl(struct device *dev, struct nvmf_ctrl_options *opts,
cancel_work_sync(&ctrl->ctrl.reset_work);
cancel_delayed_work_sync(&ctrl->connect_work);
- ctrl->ctrl.opts = NULL;
-
if (ctrl->ctrl.admin_tagset)
nvme_remove_admin_tag_set(&ctrl->ctrl);
/* initiate nvme ctrl ref counting teardown */
nvme_uninit_ctrl(&ctrl->ctrl);
out_put_ctrl:
+ /* the caller frees opts when we return an error */
+ ctrl->ctrl.opts = NULL;
+
/* Remove core ctrl ref. */
nvme_put_ctrl(&ctrl->ctrl);
base-commit: 0ce37745d4bfbc493f718169c3974898ffec8ee7
--
2.43.0