Re: [PATCH v3] iio: trigger: Fix error handling in viio_trigger_alloc

From: Andy Shevchenko

Date: Fri Nov 07 2025 - 05:42:43 EST


On Fri, Nov 07, 2025 at 10:26:10AM +0000, Nuno Sá wrote:
> On Fri, 2025-11-07 at 10:02 +0800, Ma Ke wrote:
> > viio_trigger_alloc() initializes the device with device_initialize()
> > but uses kfree() directly in error paths, which bypasses the device's
> > release callback iio_trig_release(). This could lead to memory leaks
> > and inconsistent device state.

...

> > -free_descs:
> > - irq_free_descs(trig->subirq_base, CONFIG_IIO_CONSUMERS_PER_TRIGGER);
> >  free_trig:
> > - kfree(trig);
> > + put_device(&trig->dev);
>
> Yes, device_initialize() docs do say that we should give the reference instead of
> freeing the device but I'm not see how that helps in here. Maybe initializing the
> device should be done only after all the resources are allocated so the code is a bit
> more clear... But doing it like you're doing just means that we might get into the
> release function with things that might or might not be allocated which is a pattern
> I would prefer to avoid.

The put_device() here is the correct (and must) thing to do independently on
the preferences. The problem is that device_initialise() and followed calls
may do much more than just some initialisation.


--
With Best Regards,
Andy Shevchenko