Re: [PATCH net-next 1/3] net: netpoll: Defer skb_pool population until setup success

[Jakub Kicinski]

On Fri, 25 Oct 2024 07:20:18 -0700 Breno Leitao wrote:
> The current implementation has a flaw where it populates the skb_pool
> with 32 SKBs before calling __netpoll_setup(). If the setup fails, the
> skb_pool buffer will persist indefinitely and never be cleaned up.
> 
> This change moves the skb_pool population to after the successful
> completion of __netpoll_setup(), ensuring that the buffers are not
> unnecessarily retained. Additionally, this modification alleviates rtnl
> lock pressure by allowing the buffer filling to occur outside of the
> lock.

arguably if the setup succeeds there would now be a window of time
where np is active but pool is empty.