[PATCH] mm/slab: sample slab_state once in kmem_cache_destroy()
From: Imre Kaloz
Date: Wed Sep 30 2026 - 18:11:24 EST
kmem_cache_destroy() tests slab_state >= FULL for sysfs_slab_unlink()
and again in kmem_cache_release() for sysfs_slab_release(), with the
cache already off slab_caches in between. If slab_late_init() runs in
that gap it sets slab_state to FULL but never calls sysfs_slab_add() for
the unlinked cache, so kmem_cache_release() ends up in kobject_put() on
a kobject that was never initialized:
WARNING: lib/kobject.c:734 at kobject_put+0x64/0x2c0, CPU#1: kworker/u8:3/55
kobject: '(null)' ((____ptrval____)): is not initialized, yet kobject_put() is being called.
refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free.
kobject_put+0x64/0x2c0
sysfs_slab_release+0xc/0x20
kmem_cache_destroy+0x104/0x1e0
bioset_exit+0x13c/0x1e0
disk_release+0x54/0x140
put_disk+0x18/0x40
floppy_async_init+0xbec/0xd10
Seen on sparc64 at boot, where the asynchronous floppy init tears down
its bio slab while the late initcalls are running.
Read slab_state once, under slab_mutex which slab_late_init() holds when
it sets FULL, and use the result for both the unlink and the release.
The kobject flags (state_initialized, state_in_sysfs) were considered as
the key instead, but slab_state is what cache creation and
slab_late_init() decide on.
debugfs_slab_release() is not part of the race: it only looks the cache
up by name in the debugfs root and does nothing before that root exists.
Fixes: 4ec10268ed98 ("mm, slab: unlink slabinfo, sysfs and debugfs immediately")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Imre Kaloz <kaloz@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
mm/slab_common.c | 17 +++++++++++++----
1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/mm/slab_common.c b/mm/slab_common.c
index 7223a7596dab..de11edfd1a0b 100644
--- a/mm/slab_common.c
+++ b/mm/slab_common.c
@@ -515,10 +515,10 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(kmem_buckets_create);
* and release of the kobject does not need slab_mutex or cpu_hotplug_lock
* protection. So they are now done without holding those locks.
*/
-static void kmem_cache_release(struct kmem_cache *s)
+static void kmem_cache_release(struct kmem_cache *s, bool sysfs_ready)
{
kfence_shutdown_cache(s);
- if (__is_defined(SLAB_SUPPORTS_SYSFS) && slab_state >= FULL)
+ if (__is_defined(SLAB_SUPPORTS_SYSFS) && sysfs_ready)
sysfs_slab_release(s);
else
slab_kmem_cache_release(s);
@@ -533,6 +533,7 @@ void slab_kmem_cache_release(struct kmem_cache *s)
void kmem_cache_destroy(struct kmem_cache *s)
{
+ bool sysfs_ready;
int err;
if (unlikely(!s) || !kasan_check_byte(s))
@@ -580,10 +581,18 @@ void kmem_cache_destroy(struct kmem_cache *s)
list_del(&s->list);
+ /*
+ * slab_late_init() sets slab_state to FULL under slab_mutex and adds
+ * sysfs entries only for caches still on the list. Sample the state
+ * here, so that a cache unlinked before that point is not handed to
+ * sysfs_slab_release() with an uninitialized kobject.
+ */
+ sysfs_ready = slab_state >= FULL;
+
mutex_unlock(&slab_mutex);
cpus_read_unlock();
- if (slab_state >= FULL)
+ if (sysfs_ready)
sysfs_slab_unlink(s);
debugfs_slab_release(s);
@@ -593,7 +602,7 @@ void kmem_cache_destroy(struct kmem_cache *s)
if (s->flags & SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU)
rcu_barrier();
- kmem_cache_release(s);
+ kmem_cache_release(s, sysfs_ready);
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL(kmem_cache_destroy);
base-commit: 72d3fcf802c45d00b300f25b848a93c3a2bd7c7e
--
2.47.3