[PATCH] hwmon: (w83793) release probe data through kref
From: Guangshuo Li
Date: Mon Sep 14 2026 - 03:53:25 EST
w83793_probe() initializes data->kref to manage the lifetime of the
driver data. The normal remove path drops the driver-owned reference
with kref_put(), while watchdog users take and release additional
references through the same kref.
However, the probe error path still frees data directly with kfree().
This bypasses the kref-managed lifetime and discards the initial
reference without a matching kref_put(), leaving the reference
accounting unbalanced.
Drop the probe-owned reference with kref_put() instead and let
w83793_release_resources() perform the final free, matching the normal
remove path.
This issue was found by manual code inspection.
Fixes: 5852f9609d21 ("hwmon: (w83793) Add watchdog functionality")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Guangshuo Li <lgs201920130244@xxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/hwmon/w83793.c | 4 +++-
1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/drivers/hwmon/w83793.c b/drivers/hwmon/w83793.c
index a548586369e1..c6ef04c69856 100644
--- a/drivers/hwmon/w83793.c
+++ b/drivers/hwmon/w83793.c
@@ -1928,7 +1928,9 @@ static int w83793_probe(struct i2c_client *client)
for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(w83793_temp); i++)
device_remove_file(dev, &w83793_temp[i].dev_attr);
free_mem:
- kfree(data);
+ mutex_lock(&watchdog_data_mutex);
+ kref_put(&data->kref, w83793_release_resources);
+ mutex_unlock(&watchdog_data_mutex);
exit:
return err;
}
--
2.43.0