Re: [PATCH] nvdimm-btt: fix a potential memleak in btt_freelist_init

From: Ira Weiny
Date: Fri Dec 08 2023 - 18:01:38 EST


dinghao.liu@ wrote:
> > Dave Jiang wrote:

[snip]

> > That said, this patch does not completely fix freelist from leaking in the
> > following error path.
> >
> > discover_arenas()
> > btt_freelist_init() -> ok (memory allocated)
> > btt_rtt_init() -> fail
> > goto out;
> > (leak because arena is not yet on btt->arena_list)
> > OR
> > btt_maplocks_init() -> fail
> > goto out;
> > (leak because arena is not yet on btt->arena_list)
> >
>
> Thanks for pointing out this issue! I rechecked discover_arenas() and found
> that btt_rtt_init() may also trigger a memleak for the same reason as
> btt_freelist_init(). Also, I checked another call trace:
>
> btt_init() -> btt_meta_init() -> btt_maplocks_init()
>
> I think there is a memleak if btt_maplocks_init() succeeds but an error
> happens in btt_init() after btt_meta_init() (e.g., when btt_blk_init()
> returns an error). Therefore, we may need to fix three functions.

Yea I think we need to trace this code better. This is why devm_ is nice for
memory allocated for the life of the device.

>
> > This error could be fixed by adding to arena_list earlier but devm_*()
> > also takes care of this without having to worry about that logic.
> >
> > On normal operation all of this memory can be free'ed with the
> > corresponding devm_kfree() and/or devm_add_action_*() calls if arenas come
> > and go. I'm not sure off the top of my head.
> >
> > In addition, looking at this code. discover_arenas() could make use of
> > the scoped based management for struct btt_sb *super!
> >
> > Dinghao would you be willing to submit a series of 2 or 3 patches to fix
> > the above issues?
> >
>
> Sure. Currently I plan to send 2 patches as follows:
> 1. Using devm_kcalloc() to replace kcalloc() in btt_freelist_init(),
> btt_rtt_init(), and btt_maplocks_init(), and removing the corresponding
> kfree in free_arenas(). I checked some uses of devm_kcalloc() and it
> seems that we need not to call devm_kfree(). The memory is automatically
> freed on driver detach, right?

On device put yes. So if these allocations are scoped to the life of the
device there would be no reason to call devm_kfree() on them at all. I was not
sure if they got reallocated at some point or not.

> 2. Using the scoped based management for struct btt_sb *super (not a bug,
> but it could improve the code).

Good!

>
> I'm not quite sure whether my understanding or bug fixing plan is correct.
> If there are any issues, please correct me, thanks!

The above sounds right.
Ira