RE: [PATCH net] ice: detach the VF representor when ice_start_vfs() fails

From: Loktionov, Aleksandr

Date: Mon Sep 21 2026 - 11:52:56 EST




> -----Original Message-----
> From: Linkui Xiao <xiaolinkui@xxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, September 21, 2026 5:16 AM
> To: Nguyen, Anthony L <anthony.l.nguyen@xxxxxxxxx>; Kitszel,
> Przemyslaw <przemyslaw.kitszel@xxxxxxxxx>; andrew+netdev@xxxxxxx;
> davem@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; edumazet@xxxxxxxxxx; kuba@xxxxxxxxxx;
> pabeni@xxxxxxxxxx
> Cc: intel-wired-lan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; netdev@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; linux-
> kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; Linkui Xiao <xiaolinkui@xxxxxxxxxx>;
> stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [PATCH net] ice: detach the VF representor when
> ice_start_vfs() fails
>
> From: Linkui Xiao <xiaolinkui@xxxxxxxxxx>
>
> ice_start_vfs() attaches every VF it brings up to the eswitch with
> ice_eswitch_attach_vf(), but the teardown path only undoes the queue
> mappings and the VF VSI. Nothing calls ice_eswitch_detach_vf() for the
> VFs that were attached before the failure, and the caller,
> ice_ena_vfs(), goes straight to ice_free_vf_entries(), which drops its
> reference to every VF.
>
> The port representors created for those VFs therefore outlive the
> failed VF creation:
>
> - the representor netdev stays registered and its devlink port stays
> registered too. That port is embedded in struct ice_vf, so it ends
> up pointing into the memory that ice_sriov_free_vf() releases;
>
> - repr->vf keeps pointing at the freed struct ice_vf, and repr-
> >src_vsi
> at the VF VSI that ice_vf_vsi_release() tore down. The leftover
> netdev is still visible to the user, so even a plain
> "ip -s link show" of it reaches ice_repr_get_stats64(), which
> calls
> repr->ops.ready() -> ice_check_vf_ready_for_cfg(repr->vf) and then
> reads repr->src_vsi through ice_update_eth_stats();
>
> - the virtchnl ops of that VF, which ice_repr_add_vf() replaced with
> ice_virtchnl_set_repr_ops(), are never handed back to
> ice_virtchnl_set_dflt_ops();
>
> - pf->eswitch.reprs never becomes empty, so ice_eswitch_detach()
> never
> calls ice_eswitch_disable_switchdev(). pf->eswitch.is_running
> stays
> true, with the bridge offloads and the devlink rate topology still
> up, and ice_eswitch_release_env() is skipped, so the uplink VSI is
> left in the switchdev configuration that ice_eswitch_setup_env()
> gave it.
>
> Detach the representor in the teardown loop the way ice_free_vfs()
> does, ahead of ice_vf_vsi_release(), because ice_repr_rem_vf() and
> ice_eswitch_release_repr() both need repr->src_vsi to still be valid.
> Every VF the teardown loop walks completed ice_eswitch_attach_vf()
> successfully, and ice_eswitch_detach_vf() already returns early for a
> VF without a representor, so no extra condition is needed.
>
> Fixes: fff292b47ac1 ("ice: add VF representors one by one")
> Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Signed-off-by: Linkui Xiao <xiaolinkui@xxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_sriov.c | 1 +
> 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
>
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_sriov.c
> b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_sriov.c
> index e04de0215596..1b563aba3bbd 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_sriov.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_sriov.c
> @@ -508,6 +508,7 @@ static int ice_start_vfs(struct ice_pf *pf)
> if (it_cnt == 0)
> break;
>
> + ice_eswitch_detach_vf(pf, vf);
> ice_dis_vf_mappings(vf);
> ice_vf_vsi_release(vf);
> it_cnt--;
> --
> 2.25.1

Reviewed-by: Aleksandr Loktionov <aleksandr.loktionov@xxxxxxxxx>