Re: [PATCH net-next v14 1/6] net: dsa: add devlink flash_update callback to dsa_switch_ops

From: netdev-bot+sashiko

Date: Fri Sep 11 2026 - 20:29:17 EST


Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 1 potential
issue(s) to consider:

Critical: 0 · High: 0 · Medium: 1 · Low: 0

- [Medium] net/dsa/devlink.c now installs `.flash_update =
dsa_devlink_flash_update` unconditionally in the single shared…

--

net: dsa: add devlink flash_update callback to dsa_switch_ops

This adds a devlink_flash_update callback to dsa_switch_ops and a
trampoline in net/dsa/devlink.c that forwards to it, returning
-EOPNOTSUPP when the driver does not implement the callback. The
trampoline is installed unconditionally in the shared dsa_devlink_ops.

(No Link: tags in the commit header.)

> diff --git a/include/net/dsa.h b/include/net/dsa.h
> index 7507d632e7c6d..9babab92a0fc6 100644
> --- a/include/net/dsa.h
> +++ b/include/net/dsa.h
> @@ -1174,6 +1174,9 @@ struct dsa_switch_ops {
> int (*devlink_info_get)(struct dsa_switch *ds,
> struct devlink_info_req *req,
> struct netlink_ext_ack *extack);
> + int (*devlink_flash_update)(struct dsa_switch *ds,
> + struct devlink_flash_update_params *params,
> + struct netlink_ext_ack *extack);
> int (*devlink_sb_pool_get)(struct dsa_switch *ds,
> unsigned int sb_index, u16 pool_index,
> struct devlink_sb_pool_info *pool_info);
> diff --git a/net/dsa/devlink.c b/net/dsa/devlink.c
> index ed342f345692b..25311a87cbc56 100644
> --- a/net/dsa/devlink.c
> +++ b/net/dsa/devlink.c
> @@ -20,6 +20,18 @@ static int dsa_devlink_info_get(struct devlink *dl,
> return -EOPNOTSUPP;
> }
>
> +static int dsa_devlink_flash_update(struct devlink *dl,
> + struct devlink_flash_update_params *params,
> + struct netlink_ext_ack *extack)
> +{
> + struct dsa_switch *ds = dsa_devlink_to_ds(dl);
> +
> + if (!ds->ops->devlink_flash_update)
> + return -EOPNOTSUPP;
> +
> + return ds->ops->devlink_flash_update(ds, params, extack);
> +}
> +
> static int dsa_devlink_sb_pool_get(struct devlink *dl,
> unsigned int sb_index, u16 pool_index,
> struct devlink_sb_pool_info *pool_info)

[ ... ]

> @@ -169,6 +181,7 @@ dsa_devlink_sb_occ_tc_port_bind_get(struct devlink_port *dlp,
>
> static const struct devlink_ops dsa_devlink_ops = {
> .info_get = dsa_devlink_info_get,
> + .flash_update = dsa_devlink_flash_update,

[Severity: Medium]
Since dsa_devlink_ops is a single const structure shared by every DSA
switch, does installing .flash_update unconditionally make the devlink
core's capability probe always succeed for DSA?

The core uses the presence of the op as the gate, in
devlink_nl_flash_update_doit():

if (!devlink->ops->flash_update)
return -EOPNOTSUPP;

With the trampoline always present, that check can no longer fire for
any DSA switch, and the -EOPNOTSUPP from dsa_devlink_flash_update() is
only reached after the core has already done work:

net/devlink/dev.c:devlink_nl_flash_update_doit() {
...
ret = request_firmware_direct(&params.fw, file_name, devlink->dev);
if (ret) {
NL_SET_ERR_MSG_ATTR(info->extack, nla_file_name,
"failed to locate the requested firmware file");
return ret;
}

devlink_flash_update_begin_notify(devlink);
ret = devlink->ops->flash_update(devlink, &params, info->extack);
devlink_flash_update_end_notify(devlink);
...
}

The commit message covers the firmware fetch:

the devlink core will then have fetched the firmware file from
userspace before the request fails, which is acceptable for an
operation as infrequent as a firmware update.

Are the other two effects of that ordering intended as well? A
FLASH_UPDATE / FLASH_UPDATE_END notification pair is now broadcast to
monitors for a flash that never reached any hardware, and if the named
file does not exist the caller gets -ENOENT with the extack "failed to
locate the requested firmware file" rather than -EOPNOTSUPP, which hides
the fact that the switch cannot be flashed at all.

There is also a second entry point that the commit message does not
mention. DSA user ports have no ethtool_ops->flash_device but do have a
devlink port, so ETHTOOL_FLASHDEV falls through:

net/ethtool/ioctl.c:ethtool_flash_device() {
if (!dev->ethtool_ops->flash_device) {
req->devlink = netdev_to_devlink_get(dev);
return 0;
}
...
}

which lands in devlink_compat_flash_update(), where the same gate is now
always passed and the op is called with extack == NULL:

net/devlink/dev.c:devlink_compat_flash_update() {
...
if (!devlink->ops->flash_update) {
ret = -EOPNOTSUPP;
goto out_unlock;
}

ret = request_firmware_direct(&params.fw, file_name, devlink->dev);
...
ret = devlink->ops->flash_update(devlink, &params, NULL);
...
}

Should any extack message a DSA driver sets be documented as dropped on
that path?

Would gating the assignment of the .flash_update pointer on
ds->ops->devlink_flash_update (for instance a second devlink_ops variant
selected at registration) keep the core's probe truthful? The existing
trampolines this one follows (info_get, sb_*) are pure queries with no
core-side side effects before the op is called, so the -EOPNOTSUPP-from-
the-trampoline convention does not carry the same cost there.

For context on the series: at the end of the range mxl862xx does
implement devlink_flash_update, so that driver has a real
implementation, but all other DSA drivers (b53, mv88e6xxx, microchip,
ocelot, sja1105, ...) still advertise flash support without one.

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Sashiko AI review · https://netdev-ai.bots.linux.dev/sashiko/#/patchset/cover.1788976064.git.daniel%40makrotopia.org