[PATCH v6] i3c: Add NULL pointer check in i3c_master_queue_ibi()

From: Manjunatha Venkatesh
Date: Wed Mar 26 2025 - 08:39:19 EST


The I3C master driver may receive an IBI from a target device that has not
been probed yet. In such cases, the master calls `i3c_master_queue_ibi()`
to queue an IBI work task, leading to "Unable to handle kernel read from
unreadable memory" and resulting in a kernel panic.

Typical IBI handling flow:
1. The I3C master scans target devices and probes their respective drivers.
2. The target device driver calls `i3c_device_request_ibi()` to enable IBI
and assigns `dev->ibi = ibi`.
3. The I3C master receives an IBI from the target device and calls
`i3c_master_queue_ibi()` to queue the target device driver’s IBI
handler task.

However, since target device events are asynchronous to the I3C probe
sequence, step 3 may occur before step 2, causing `dev->ibi` to be `NULL`,
leading to a kernel panic.

Add a NULL pointer check in `i3c_master_queue_ibi()` to prevent accessing
an uninitialized `dev->ibi`, ensuring stability.

Fixes: 3a379bbcea0af ("i3c: Add core I3C infrastructure")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/Z9gjGYudiYyl3bSe@lizhi-Precision-Tower-5810/
Signed-off-by: Manjunatha Venkatesh <manjunatha.venkatesh@xxxxxxx>
---
Changes since v5:
- Updated subject and commit message with some more information.

drivers/i3c/master.c | 3 +++
1 file changed, 3 insertions(+)

diff --git a/drivers/i3c/master.c b/drivers/i3c/master.c
index d5dc4180afbc..c65006aa0684 100644
--- a/drivers/i3c/master.c
+++ b/drivers/i3c/master.c
@@ -2561,6 +2561,9 @@ static void i3c_master_unregister_i3c_devs(struct i3c_master_controller *master)
*/
void i3c_master_queue_ibi(struct i3c_dev_desc *dev, struct i3c_ibi_slot *slot)
{
+ if (!dev->ibi || !slot)
+ return;
+
atomic_inc(&dev->ibi->pending_ibis);
queue_work(dev->ibi->wq, &slot->work);
}
--
2.46.1