[PATCH] ipmi: fix refcount leak in i_ipmi_request()
From: Wentao Liang
Date: Wed Jun 03 2026 - 08:07:03 EST
When a caller provides a `supplied_recv` message to i_ipmi_request(),
the function increments the user's `nr_msgs` reference count. If an
error occurs later, the out_err cleanup path only frees the recv_msg
if the function allocated it itself (i.e., !supplied_recv). In the
supplied_recv case the cleanup is skipped, leaving the reference count
elevated. The caller ipmi_request_supply_msgs() does not release the
supplied_recv on error, so the reference is permanently leaked.
Fix this by explicitly reverting the reference count operations when a
supplied recv_msg with a valid user pointer is present in the error
path: decrement nr_msgs and drop the user's kref.
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fixes: b52da4054ee0 ("ipmi: Rework user message limit handling")
Signed-off-by: Wentao Liang <vulab@xxxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c | 8 ++++++++
1 file changed, 8 insertions(+)
diff --git a/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c b/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c
index 869ac87a4b6a..5b9d914cc7a9 100644
--- a/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c
+++ b/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c
@@ -2347,6 +2347,10 @@ static int i_ipmi_request(struct ipmi_user *user,
if (smi_msg == NULL) {
if (!supplied_recv)
ipmi_free_recv_msg(recv_msg);
+ else if (recv_msg->user) {
+ atomic_dec(&recv_msg->user->nr_msgs);
+ kref_put(&recv_msg->user->refcount, free_ipmi_user);
+ }
return -ENOMEM;
}
}
@@ -2420,6 +2424,10 @@ static int i_ipmi_request(struct ipmi_user *user,
ipmi_free_smi_msg(smi_msg);
if (!supplied_recv)
ipmi_free_recv_msg(recv_msg);
+ else if (recv_msg->user) {
+ atomic_dec(&recv_msg->user->nr_msgs);
+ kref_put(&recv_msg->user->refcount, free_ipmi_user);
+ }
}
return rv;
}
--
2.34.1