[PATCH] gpio: sysfs: fix chip removal with GPIOs exported over sysfs

From: Bartosz Golaszewski

Date: Thu Feb 12 2026 - 08:44:50 EST


Currently if we export a GPIO over sysfs and unbind the parent GPIO
controller, the exported attribute will remain under /sys/class/gpio
because once we remove the parent device, we can no longer associate the
descriptor with it in gpiod_unexport() and never drop the final
reference.

Rework the teardown code: provide an unlocked variant of
gpiod_unexport() and remove all exported GPIOs with the sysfs_lock taken
before unregistering the parent device itself. This is done to prevent
any new exports happening before we unregister the device completely.

Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Bartosz Golaszewski <bartosz.golaszewski@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/gpio/gpiolib-sysfs.c | 106 ++++++++++++++++++-----------------
1 file changed, 55 insertions(+), 51 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/gpio/gpiolib-sysfs.c b/drivers/gpio/gpiolib-sysfs.c
index cd553acf3055e..d4a46a0a37d8f 100644
--- a/drivers/gpio/gpiolib-sysfs.c
+++ b/drivers/gpio/gpiolib-sysfs.c
@@ -919,63 +919,68 @@ int gpiod_export_link(struct device *dev, const char *name,
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(gpiod_export_link);

-/**
- * gpiod_unexport - reverse effect of gpiod_export()
- * @desc: GPIO to make unavailable
- *
- * This is implicit on gpiod_free().
- */
-void gpiod_unexport(struct gpio_desc *desc)
+static void gpiod_unexport_unlocked(struct gpio_desc *desc)
{
struct gpiod_data *tmp, *desc_data = NULL;
struct gpiodev_data *gdev_data;
struct gpio_device *gdev;

- if (!desc) {
- pr_warn("%s: invalid GPIO\n", __func__);
+ if (!test_bit(GPIOD_FLAG_EXPORT, &desc->flags))
return;
- }

- scoped_guard(mutex, &sysfs_lock) {
- if (!test_bit(GPIOD_FLAG_EXPORT, &desc->flags))
- return;
-
- gdev = gpiod_to_gpio_device(desc);
- gdev_data = gdev_get_data(gdev);
- if (!gdev_data)
- return;
+ gdev = gpiod_to_gpio_device(desc);
+ gdev_data = gdev_get_data(gdev);
+ if (!gdev_data)
+ return;

- list_for_each_entry(tmp, &gdev_data->exported_lines, list) {
- if (gpiod_is_equal(desc, tmp->desc)) {
- desc_data = tmp;
- break;
- }
+ list_for_each_entry(tmp, &gdev_data->exported_lines, list) {
+ if (gpiod_is_equal(desc, tmp->desc)) {
+ desc_data = tmp;
+ break;
}
+ }

- if (!desc_data)
- return;
+ if (!desc_data)
+ return;

- list_del(&desc_data->list);
- clear_bit(GPIOD_FLAG_EXPORT, &desc->flags);
+ list_del(&desc_data->list);
+ clear_bit(GPIOD_FLAG_EXPORT, &desc->flags);
#if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_GPIO_SYSFS_LEGACY)
- sysfs_put(desc_data->value_kn);
- device_unregister(desc_data->dev);
-
- /*
- * Release irq after deregistration to prevent race with
- * edge_store.
- */
- if (desc_data->irq_flags)
- gpio_sysfs_free_irq(desc_data);
+ sysfs_put(desc_data->value_kn);
+ device_unregister(desc_data->dev);
+
+ /*
+ * Release irq after deregistration to prevent race with
+ * edge_store.
+ */
+ if (desc_data->irq_flags)
+ gpio_sysfs_free_irq(desc_data);
#endif /* CONFIG_GPIO_SYSFS_LEGACY */

- sysfs_remove_groups(desc_data->parent,
- desc_data->chip_attr_groups);
- }
+ sysfs_remove_groups(desc_data->parent,
+ desc_data->chip_attr_groups);

mutex_destroy(&desc_data->mutex);
kfree(desc_data);
}
+
+/**
+ * gpiod_unexport - reverse effect of gpiod_export()
+ * @desc: GPIO to make unavailable
+ *
+ * This is implicit on gpiod_free().
+ */
+void gpiod_unexport(struct gpio_desc *desc)
+{
+ if (!desc) {
+ pr_warn("%s: invalid GPIO\n", __func__);
+ return;
+ }
+
+ guard(mutex)(&sysfs_lock);
+
+ gpiod_unexport_unlocked(desc);
+}
EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(gpiod_unexport);

int gpiochip_sysfs_register(struct gpio_device *gdev)
@@ -1054,29 +1059,28 @@ void gpiochip_sysfs_unregister(struct gpio_device *gdev)
struct gpio_desc *desc;
struct gpio_chip *chip;

- scoped_guard(mutex, &sysfs_lock) {
- data = gdev_get_data(gdev);
- if (!data)
- return;
+ guard(mutex)(&sysfs_lock);

-#if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_GPIO_SYSFS_LEGACY)
- device_unregister(data->cdev_base);
-#endif /* CONFIG_GPIO_SYSFS_LEGACY */
- device_unregister(data->cdev_id);
- kfree(data);
- }
+ data = gdev_get_data(gdev);
+ if (!data)
+ return;

guard(srcu)(&gdev->srcu);
-
chip = srcu_dereference(gdev->chip, &gdev->srcu);
if (!chip)
return;

/* unregister gpiod class devices owned by sysfs */
for_each_gpio_desc_with_flag(chip, desc, GPIOD_FLAG_SYSFS) {
- gpiod_unexport(desc);
+ gpiod_unexport_unlocked(desc);
gpiod_free(desc);
}
+
+#if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_GPIO_SYSFS_LEGACY)
+ device_unregister(data->cdev_base);
+#endif /* CONFIG_GPIO_SYSFS_LEGACY */
+ device_unregister(data->cdev_id);
+ kfree(data);
}

/*
--
2.47.3