[PATCH] objtool: Fix memory leak in elf_alloc_reloc() on realloc failure

From: Weigang He

Date: Sun Jan 18 2026 - 01:56:49 EST


When realloc() fails in elf_alloc_reloc(), the original buffer pointer
is overwritten with NULL before the failure is detected. This causes
the original buffer to become unreachable, resulting in a memory leak.

Fix this by using a temporary variable to hold the realloc() result.
If realloc() fails, free the original buffer and set d_buf to NULL to
maintain the expected error state before returning -1.

This bug is found by my static analysis tool and my code review.

Signed-off-by: Weigang He <geoffreyhe2@xxxxxxxxx>
---
tools/objtool/elf.c | 9 ++++++---
1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/objtool/elf.c b/tools/objtool/elf.c
index 6a8ed9c62323e..e47c5c4f25314 100644
--- a/tools/objtool/elf.c
+++ b/tools/objtool/elf.c
@@ -1521,12 +1521,15 @@ static int elf_alloc_reloc(struct elf *elf, struct section *rsec)
memcpy(rsec->data->d_buf, orig_buf,
nr_relocs_old * elf_rela_size(elf));
} else {
- rsec->data->d_buf = realloc(rsec->data->d_buf,
- nr_alloc * elf_rela_size(elf));
- if (!rsec->data->d_buf) {
+ void *new_d_buf = realloc(rsec->data->d_buf,
+ nr_alloc * elf_rela_size(elf));
+ if (!new_d_buf) {
ERROR_GLIBC("realloc");
+ free(rsec->data->d_buf);
+ rsec->data->d_buf = NULL;
return -1;
}
+ rsec->data->d_buf = new_d_buf;
}

rsec->nr_alloc_relocs = nr_alloc;
--
2.34.1