Re: [PATCH] serial: 8250_accent: fix reference leak on failed device registration

[Guangshuo Li]

Hi Jiri,

Thanks.

On Thu, 16 Apr 2026 at 17:37, Guangshuo Li <lgs201920130244@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Hi Jiri,
>
> Thanks for the review.
>
> On Thu, 16 Apr 2026 at 14:14, Jiri Slaby <jirislaby@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> >
> > What reference exactly?
> I was referring to the device reference initialized by
> device_initialize() inside
> platform_device_register(). My reasoning was that when
> platform_device_add() fails, platform_device_register() returns the
> error directly and does not drop that reference on the failure path.
>
> >
> > How did you verify you did the right change?
>
> After my tool reported this case, I manually audited the relevant
> source code and
> checked the related core API definitions. However, I did miss the
> special handling needed for a static device in this case.
>
> > In particular, what does put_device() do on a static device, even
> > initialized, ie. with no device::release? Try it...
>
> Sorry, I should have considered and verified that
> more carefully before sending the patch.
>
> Thanks,
> Guangshuo

We are also discussing in another similar patch whether the
better fix, if any, should be in the API/core code rather than in
individual callers:

https://patchew.org/linux/20260415174159.3625777-1-lgs201920130244@xxxxxxxxx/

Thanks,
Guangshuo