[PATCH] nfsd: fix memory leak in nfsd_create_serv error paths

From: Shardul Bankar

Date: Mon Nov 17 2025 - 07:12:09 EST


When nfsd_create_serv() calls percpu_ref_init() to initialize
nn->nfsd_net_ref, it allocates both a percpu reference counter
and a percpu_ref_data structure (64 bytes). However, if the
function fails later due to svc_create_pooled() returning NULL
or svc_bind() returning an error, these allocations are not
cleaned up, resulting in a memory leak.

The leak manifests as:
- Unreferenced percpu allocation (8 bytes per CPU)
- Unreferenced percpu_ref_data structure (64 bytes)

Fix this by adding percpu_ref_exit() calls in both error paths
to properly clean up the percpu_ref_init() allocations.

This patch fixes the percpu_ref leak in nfsd_create_serv() seen
as an auxiliary leak in syzbot report 099461f8558eb0a1f4f3; the
prepare_creds() and vsock-related leaks in the same report
remain to be addressed separately.

Reported-by: syzbot+099461f8558eb0a1f4f3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Link: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=099461f8558eb0a1f4f3
Fixes: 47e988147f40 ("nfsd: add nfsd_serv_try_get and nfsd_serv_put")
Signed-off-by: Shardul Bankar <shardul.b@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/nfsd/nfssvc.c | 5 ++++-
1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/fs/nfsd/nfssvc.c b/fs/nfsd/nfssvc.c
index 7057ddd7a0a8..32cc03a7e7be 100644
--- a/fs/nfsd/nfssvc.c
+++ b/fs/nfsd/nfssvc.c
@@ -633,12 +633,15 @@ int nfsd_create_serv(struct net *net)
serv = svc_create_pooled(nfsd_programs, ARRAY_SIZE(nfsd_programs),
&nn->nfsd_svcstats,
nfsd_max_blksize, nfsd);
- if (serv == NULL)
+ if (serv == NULL) {
+ percpu_ref_exit(&nn->nfsd_net_ref);
return -ENOMEM;
+ }

error = svc_bind(serv, net);
if (error < 0) {
svc_destroy(&serv);
+ percpu_ref_exit(&nn->nfsd_net_ref);
return error;
}
spin_lock(&nfsd_notifier_lock);
--
2.34.1