[PATCH] scsi: snic: Fix scsi host leak on workqueue allocation failure
From: Chen Changcheng
Date: Mon Jul 27 2026 - 03:37:44 EST
In snic_add_host(), if scsi_add_host() succeeds but
alloc_ordered_workqueue() fails, the function returns -ENOMEM
with shost->work_q left as NULL. The caller's error path then
calls snic_del_host(), which returns early when !shost->work_q
without calling scsi_remove_host(). The Scsi_Host remains
registered in sysfs as a zombie device even after the probe
has failed. This causes:
- The leaked host remains visible in /sys/class/scsi_host/
after probe failure, with state "running".
- Subsequent SCSI host numbering is permanently shifted
(the leaked host ID from ida_alloc() is never reclaimed).
- Memory leak: the Scsi_Host allocation can never be freed
because device_add() took a reference that can only be
released by device_del() inside scsi_remove_host().
Fix by adding scsi_remove_host() in the workqueue allocation
failure path inside snic_add_host(), undoing the successful
scsi_add_host() before returning the error. This is cleaner
than modifying snic_del_host() because snic_del_host() is
called from a shared error label that also serves paths where
snic_add_host() was never invoked.
Reproducer (requires no real SNIC hardware):
- Build CONFIG_SCSI_SNIC=y (built-in)
- Add snic.test_mode=1 snic.inject_wq_fail=1 to kernel cmdline
- Boot with a PCI device matching the snic driver (e.g. QEMU
edu device, PCI ID 0x1234:0x11e8, temporarily added to the
driver's PCI ID table)
Before the fix:
# /sys/class/scsi_host/ contains a zombie host0:
$ cat /sys/class/scsi_host/host0/proc_name
snic_scsi
$ cat /sys/class/scsi_host/host0/state
running
# ata_piix gets host1, host2 (host0 stuck):
scsi host1: ata_piix
scsi host2: ata_piix
After the fix:
# host0 is properly freed and reused by ata_piix:
scsi host0: ata_piix
scsi host1: ata_piix
# No zombie host in /sys/class/scsi_host/
Signed-off-by: Chen Changcheng <chenchangcheng@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/scsi/snic/snic_main.c | 1 +
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
diff --git a/drivers/scsi/snic/snic_main.c b/drivers/scsi/snic/snic_main.c
index 82953e6a0915..cd638b4a4d7b 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/snic/snic_main.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/snic/snic_main.c
@@ -305,6 +305,7 @@ snic_add_host(struct Scsi_Host *shost, struct pci_dev *pdev)
if (!shost->work_q) {
SNIC_HOST_ERR(shost, "Failed to Create ScsiHost wq.\n");
+ scsi_remove_host(shost);
ret = -ENOMEM;
}
--
2.25.1