[PATCH 6.19 263/844] dm: replace -EEXIST with -EBUSY

From: Sasha Levin

Date: Sat Feb 28 2026 - 13:38:25 EST


From: Daniel Gomez <da.gomez@xxxxxxxxxxx>

[ Upstream commit b13ef361d47f09b7aecd18e0383ecc83ff61057e ]

The -EEXIST error code is reserved by the module loading infrastructure
to indicate that a module is already loaded. When a module's init
function returns -EEXIST, userspace tools like kmod interpret this as
"module already loaded" and treat the operation as successful, returning
0 to the user even though the module initialization actually failed.

This follows the precedent set by commit 54416fd76770 ("netfilter:
conntrack: helper: Replace -EEXIST by -EBUSY") which fixed the same
issue in nf_conntrack_helper_register().

Affected modules:
* dm_cache dm_clone dm_integrity dm_mirror dm_multipath dm_pcache
* dm_vdo dm-ps-round-robin dm_historical_service_time dm_io_affinity
* dm_queue_length dm_service_time dm_snapshot

Signed-off-by: Daniel Gomez <da.gomez@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Mikulas Patocka <mpatocka@xxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin <sashal@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/md/dm-exception-store.c | 2 +-
drivers/md/dm-log.c | 2 +-
drivers/md/dm-path-selector.c | 2 +-
drivers/md/dm-target.c | 2 +-
4 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-exception-store.c b/drivers/md/dm-exception-store.c
index c3799757bf4a0..88f119a0a2ae0 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-exception-store.c
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-exception-store.c
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ int dm_exception_store_type_register(struct dm_exception_store_type *type)
if (!__find_exception_store_type(type->name))
list_add(&type->list, &_exception_store_types);
else
- r = -EEXIST;
+ r = -EBUSY;
spin_unlock(&_lock);

return r;
diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-log.c b/drivers/md/dm-log.c
index 9d85d045f9d9d..bced5a783ee33 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-log.c
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-log.c
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ int dm_dirty_log_type_register(struct dm_dirty_log_type *type)
if (!__find_dirty_log_type(type->name))
list_add(&type->list, &_log_types);
else
- r = -EEXIST;
+ r = -EBUSY;
spin_unlock(&_lock);

return r;
diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-path-selector.c b/drivers/md/dm-path-selector.c
index d0b883fabfeb6..2b0ac200f1c02 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-path-selector.c
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-path-selector.c
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ int dm_register_path_selector(struct path_selector_type *pst)

if (__find_path_selector_type(pst->name)) {
kfree(psi);
- r = -EEXIST;
+ r = -EBUSY;
} else
list_add(&psi->list, &_path_selectors);

diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-target.c b/drivers/md/dm-target.c
index 8fede41adec00..1fd41289de367 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-target.c
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-target.c
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ int dm_register_target(struct target_type *tt)
if (__find_target_type(tt->name)) {
DMERR("%s: '%s' target already registered",
__func__, tt->name);
- rv = -EEXIST;
+ rv = -EBUSY;
} else {
list_add(&tt->list, &_targets);
}
--
2.51.0