[PATCH net] net: bcmgenet: fix NULL dereference in set_coalesce before first open

From: Nicolai Buchwitz

Date: Mon Sep 28 2026 - 07:03:33 EST


The Rx ring priv and index are only set in bcmgenet_init_rx_ring(),
which runs at open. Setting the Rx coalescing parameters on an interface
that was never opened, e.g. "ethtool -C eth0 rx-usecs 50", dereferences
a NULL ring->priv. The oops happens with RTNL held, so networking
stays stuck until a reboot:

Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address 0000000000002788
pc : bcmgenet_set_rx_coalesce.isra.0+0x10/0x88
lr : bcmgenet_set_coalesce+0xe8/0x180
Call trace:
bcmgenet_set_rx_coalesce.isra.0+0x10/0x88 (P)
__ethnl_set_coalesce.isra.0+0x490/0x570
ethnl_set_coalesce+0x48/0xc0
ethnl_default_set_doit+0xf4/0x230
genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0xe8/0x160
genl_rcv_msg+0x220/0x2a0
netlink_rcv_skb+0x68/0x140
genl_rcv+0x40/0x60
netlink_unicast+0x338/0x3c0
netlink_sendmsg+0x19c/0x3f8
__sock_sendmsg+0x64/0xc0
__sys_sendto+0x124/0x198
__arm64_sys_sendto+0x30/0x48

Set priv and index at probe. Writing the registers while the interface
is down is harmless because open resets the MAC and
bcmgenet_init_rx_coalesce() reapplies the stored values.

Fixes: 9f4ca05827a2 ("net: bcmgenet: Add support for adaptive RX coalescing")
Signed-off-by: Nicolai Buchwitz <nb@xxxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/genet/bcmgenet.c | 5 ++++-
1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/genet/bcmgenet.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/genet/bcmgenet.c
index f725d26e6020..e8908916558b 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/genet/bcmgenet.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/genet/bcmgenet.c
@@ -4151,8 +4151,11 @@ static int bcmgenet_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
netif_set_real_num_rx_queues(priv->dev, priv->hw_params->rx_queues + 1);

/* Set default coalescing parameters */
- for (i = 0; i <= priv->hw_params->rx_queues; i++)
+ for (i = 0; i <= priv->hw_params->rx_queues; i++) {
+ priv->rx_rings[i].priv = priv;
+ priv->rx_rings[i].index = i;
priv->rx_rings[i].rx_max_coalesced_frames = 1;
+ }

/* Initialize u64 stats seq counter for 32bit machines */
for (i = 0; i <= GENET_MAX_MQ_CNT; i++) {
--
2.53.0