[PATCH v6] IB/mlx4: Fix refcount leak in add_port() error path
From: Guangshuo Li
Date: Thu May 14 2026 - 07:05:18 EST
After kobject_init_and_add(), the lifetime of the embedded struct
kobject is expected to be managed through the kobject core reference
counting.
In add_port(), several failure paths after kobject_init_and_add() free
struct mlx4_port directly instead of releasing the embedded kobject with
kobject_put(). This leaves the kobject reference count unbalanced and can
lead to incorrect lifetime handling.
Allocate the pkey and gid attribute arrays before kobject_init_and_add(),
so failures before kobject initialization can be handled by directly
freeing the allocated memory. Once kobject_init_and_add() has been
called, route failures through kobject_put(), and call kobject_del()
before kobject_put() on later failure paths after the kobject has been
successfully added.
Fixes: c1e7e466120b ("IB/mlx4: Add iov directory in sysfs under the ib device")
Signed-off-by: Guangshuo Li <lgs201920130244@xxxxxxxxx>
---
v6:
- drop the Cc stable tag
- allocate pkey and gid attribute arrays before kobject_init_and_add()
- keep the release callback unchanged by ensuring the attribute arrays
are initialized before kobject_init_and_add()
v5:
- split the add_port() error paths after kobject_init_and_add()
- call kobject_del() before kobject_put() for failures after
kobject_init_and_add() succeeds
v4:
- route all add_port() failures after kobject_init_and_add() through
a single kobject_put() based error path
- remove duplicated attribute array frees from add_port()
- keep mlx4_port_release() tolerant of partially initialized objects
v3:
- make mlx4_port_release() tolerate NULL attribute arrays
- drop the parent kobject reference on the kobject_init_and_add()
failure path before putting the embedded kobject
v2:
- note that the issue was identified by my static analysis tool
- and confirmed by manual review
drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/sysfs.c | 39 ++++++++++++++++--------------
1 file changed, 21 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)
diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/sysfs.c b/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/sysfs.c
index b8fa4ecfc961..e4c822c96ee6 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/sysfs.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/sysfs.c
@@ -636,12 +636,6 @@ static int add_port(struct mlx4_ib_dev *dev, int port_num, int slave)
p->port_num = port_num;
p->slave = slave;
- ret = kobject_init_and_add(&p->kobj, &port_type,
- kobject_get(dev->dev_ports_parent[slave]),
- "%d", port_num);
- if (ret)
- goto err_alloc;
-
p->pkey_group.name = "pkey_idx";
p->pkey_group.attrs =
alloc_group_attrs(show_port_pkey,
@@ -649,13 +643,9 @@ static int add_port(struct mlx4_ib_dev *dev, int port_num, int slave)
dev->dev->caps.pkey_table_len[port_num]);
if (!p->pkey_group.attrs) {
ret = -ENOMEM;
- goto err_alloc;
+ goto err_free_port;
}
- ret = sysfs_create_group(&p->kobj, &p->pkey_group);
- if (ret)
- goto err_free_pkey;
-
p->gid_group.name = "gid_idx";
p->gid_group.attrs = alloc_group_attrs(show_port_gid_idx, NULL, 1);
if (!p->gid_group.attrs) {
@@ -663,28 +653,41 @@ static int add_port(struct mlx4_ib_dev *dev, int port_num, int slave)
goto err_free_pkey;
}
+ ret = kobject_init_and_add(&p->kobj, &port_type,
+ kobject_get(dev->dev_ports_parent[slave]),
+ "%d", port_num);
+ if (ret)
+ goto err_put;
+
+ ret = sysfs_create_group(&p->kobj, &p->pkey_group);
+ if (ret)
+ goto err_del;
+
ret = sysfs_create_group(&p->kobj, &p->gid_group);
if (ret)
- goto err_free_gid;
+ goto err_del;
ret = add_vf_smi_entries(p);
if (ret)
- goto err_free_gid;
+ goto err_del;
list_add_tail(&p->kobj.entry, &dev->pkeys.pkey_port_list[slave]);
return 0;
-err_free_gid:
- kfree(p->gid_group.attrs[0]);
- kfree(p->gid_group.attrs);
+err_del:
+ kobject_del(&p->kobj);
+
+err_put:
+ kobject_put(dev->dev_ports_parent[slave]);
+ kobject_put(&p->kobj);
+ return ret;
err_free_pkey:
for (i = 0; i < dev->dev->caps.pkey_table_len[port_num]; ++i)
kfree(p->pkey_group.attrs[i]);
kfree(p->pkey_group.attrs);
-err_alloc:
- kobject_put(dev->dev_ports_parent[slave]);
+err_free_port:
kfree(p);
return ret;
}
--
2.43.0