[PATCH] net: bgmac: fix refcount leak in bgmac_phy_connect_direct()

From: Wentao Liang

Date: Tue Jun 09 2026 - 03:44:55 EST


In bgmac_phy_connect_direct(), fixed_phy_register() returns a
phy_device with an incremented refcount. If the subsequent
phy_connect_direct() call fails, the function returns the error
without releasing the phy_device reference. Add the missing
fixed_phy_unregister() in the error path to prevent the leak.

Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fixes: c25b23b8a387 ("bgmac: register fixed PHY for ARM BCM470X / BCM5301X chipsets")
Signed-off-by: Wentao Liang <vulab@xxxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bgmac.c | 1 +
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bgmac.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bgmac.c
index 3e9c57196a39..c97cf7ebad7f 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bgmac.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bgmac.c
@@ -1456,6 +1456,7 @@ int bgmac_phy_connect_direct(struct bgmac *bgmac)
PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_MII);
if (err) {
dev_err(bgmac->dev, "Connecting PHY failed\n");
+ fixed_phy_unregister(phy_dev);
return err;
}

--
2.34.1