[Intel-wired-lan] [PATCH] i40e: fix NULL pointer dereference in i40e_lan_del_device()

From: Linkui Xiao

Date: Tue Sep 15 2026 - 06:56:21 EST


From: Linkui Xiao <xiaolinkui@xxxxxxxxxx>

i40e_lan_del_device() dereferences pf->cinst unconditionally. pf->cinst
is only assigned by i40e_client_add_instance(), which resets it to NULL
whenever the i40e_client_instance allocation, i40e_client_get_params()
or i40e_register_auxiliary_dev() fails, and it returns void so
i40e_lan_add_device() cannot report any of that to its caller.

i40e_lan_add_device() can also fail before it ever gets there, for
example when the i40e_device allocation fails, and i40e_probe() only
prints a message instead of clearing I40E_FLAG_IWARP_ENA. i40e_remove()
therefore still calls i40e_lan_del_device() and dereferences a NULL
pf->cinst.

Only tear the auxiliary device down when an instance was actually
created. Removing the PF from the i40e_devices list below does not
depend on it.

Fixes: f4370a85d62e ("i40e: Register auxiliary devices to provide RDMA")
Signed-off-by: Linkui Xiao <xiaolinkui@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_client.c | 17 ++++++++++++-----
1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_client.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_client.c
index 84a97ca8a6d8..9a4f50af5347 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_client.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_client.c
@@ -496,15 +496,22 @@ int i40e_lan_add_device(struct i40e_pf *pf)
**/
int i40e_lan_del_device(struct i40e_pf *pf)
{
- struct auxiliary_device *aux_dev = pf->cinst->lan_info.aux_dev;
+ struct auxiliary_device *aux_dev;
struct i40e_device *ldev, *tmp;
int ret = -ENODEV;

- auxiliary_device_delete(aux_dev);
- auxiliary_device_uninit(aux_dev);
+ /* i40e_client_add_instance() leaves pf->cinst NULL when it fails,
+ * so there may be no auxiliary device to tear down here.
+ */
+ if (pf->cinst) {
+ aux_dev = pf->cinst->lan_info.aux_dev;

- /* First, remove any client instance. */
- i40e_client_del_instance(pf);
+ auxiliary_device_delete(aux_dev);
+ auxiliary_device_uninit(aux_dev);
+
+ /* First, remove any client instance. */
+ i40e_client_del_instance(pf);
+ }

mutex_lock(&i40e_device_mutex);
list_for_each_entry_safe(ldev, tmp, &i40e_devices, list) {
--
2.25.1