Re: [PATCH] cxl/memdev: fix deadlock in cxl_memdev_autoremove() on attach failure
From: dan.j.williams
Date: Tue Feb 10 2026 - 18:18:54 EST
Gregory Price wrote:
> cxl_memdev_autoremove() takes device_lock(&cxlmd->dev) via guard(device)
> and then calls cxl_memdev_unregister() when the attach callback was
> provided but cxl_mem_probe() failed to bind.
>
> cxl_memdev_unregister() calls
> cdev_device_del()
> device_del()
> bus_remove_device()
> device_release_driver()
>
> which also takes device_lock(), deadlocking the calling thread.
>
> This path is reached when a driver uses the @attach parameter to
> devm_cxl_add_memdev() and the CXL topology fails to enumerate (e.g.
> DVSEC range registers decode outside platform-defined CXL ranges,
> causing the endpoint port probe to fail).
>
> Fix by using scoped_guard() and breaking out of the guard scope before
> calling cxl_memdev_unregister(), so device_lock() is released first.
Whoops, yes, good catch, but...
>
> Fixes: 29317f8dc6ed ("cxl/mem: Introduce cxl_memdev_attach for CXL-dependent operation")
> Signed-off-by: Gregory Price <gourry@xxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> drivers/cxl/core/memdev.c | 25 ++++++++++++++-----------
> 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/drivers/cxl/core/memdev.c b/drivers/cxl/core/memdev.c
> index af3d0cc65138..c0de767b24fb 100644
> --- a/drivers/cxl/core/memdev.c
> +++ b/drivers/cxl/core/memdev.c
> @@ -1098,19 +1098,22 @@ static struct cxl_memdev *cxl_memdev_autoremove(struct cxl_memdev *cxlmd)
> * return. Note that failure here could be the result of a race to
> * teardown the CXL port topology. I.e. cxl_mem_probe() could have
> * succeeded and then cxl_mem unbound before the lock is acquired.
> + *
> + * Check under device_lock but unregister outside of it, as
> + * cxl_memdev_unregister() will also take the device lock.
> */
> - guard(device)(&cxlmd->dev);
> - if (cxlmd->attach && !cxlmd->dev.driver) {
> - cxl_memdev_unregister(cxlmd);
> - return ERR_PTR(-ENXIO);
...please just make a helper cxl_memdev_did_attach(), and move the
existing comment there. No need for the addtional comment that just adds
narration.
> + scoped_guard(device, &cxlmd->dev) {
In general, I feel that scoped_guard() is almost always the wrong choice
for existing code and a helper with plain guard() is preferred.
> + if (cxlmd->attach && !cxlmd->dev.driver)
> + break;
> +
> + rc = devm_add_action_or_reset(cxlmd->cxlds->dev,
> + cxl_memdev_unregister, cxlmd);
Just for completeness, no need to hold the lock over this. The helper
can just check ->attach and ->dev.driver.