[PATCH v3 2/2] Drivers: hv: vmbus: Do not remove the channel when device registration fails
From: Yuqiang Sun
Date: Tue Nov 03 2026 - 09:49:51 EST
When vmbus_device_register() fails, it drops the device it was setting
up, and the device's release, vmbus_device_release(), calls
hv_process_channel_removal() on the channel. That function is for
channels the host has rescinded and starts with
BUG_ON(!channel->rescind), so the kernel stops there. Without the
BUG_ON, it would unmap and release the relid, unlink the channel and
free it, and then the error path of vmbus_add_channel_work() would do
all of that again.
When device_register() fails, clear the device's channel pointer before
dropping the device, and only remove the channel in
vmbus_device_release() if there is one: vmbus_add_channel_work() cleans
it up, after clearing the channel's pointer to the freed device. A
concurrent driver_attach() can still match the device while it is being
removed, so make vmbus_match() skip a device without a channel, and
look at the channel under rcu_read_lock(), as it is freed with
kfree_rcu().
The later failures, creating the channels directory or the primary
channel's kobject, come after device_register() may have bound a driver,
and a driver can hold on to the channel past its remove callback unless
the channel was rescinded (hv_sock's connection, or the sub-channels it
opened). So do not unregister the device for them: its channel is then
just missing from sysfs, as it is while the device is being set up. A
sub-channel of a device without a channels directory is left out of
sysfs too. This also applies to a sub-channel offered while its device
is still being registered, before the directory is created, which was
added to the top of /sys until now.
Fixes: c2e5df616e1a ("vmbus: add per-channel sysfs info")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Yuqiang Sun <izaiahsun@xxxxxxxxx>
---
Notes:
The bug was found with kbound, a research static analysis prototype.
The patch, the changelog and the test setup were written with the help
of an AI coding assistant (Claude); I have reviewed them and tested them
as described in the cover letter.
Changes in v3: vmbus_match() reads the channel under rcu_read_lock(),
the channel no longer points to the freed device, and a sub-channel of
a device without a channels directory is left out of sysfs instead of
being refused (Sashiko review of v2).
Changes in v2: vmbus_match() skips a device without a channel, and the
failures after device_register() keep the device instead of
unregistering it (Sashiko review of v1).
drivers/hv/channel_mgmt.c | 7 ++--
drivers/hv/vmbus_drv.c | 72 ++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------
2 files changed, 49 insertions(+), 30 deletions(-)
diff --git a/drivers/hv/channel_mgmt.c b/drivers/hv/channel_mgmt.c
index cb1d8d76928f..1fa232e86fce 100644
--- a/drivers/hv/channel_mgmt.c
+++ b/drivers/hv/channel_mgmt.c
@@ -554,15 +554,16 @@ static void vmbus_add_channel_work(struct work_struct *work)
* method.
*
* If vmbus_device_register() fails, the 'device_obj' is freed in
- * vmbus_device_release() as called by device_unregister() in the
- * error path of vmbus_device_register(). In the outside error
- * path, there's no need to free it.
+ * vmbus_device_release() as called by put_device() in the error
+ * path of vmbus_device_register(). In the outside error path,
+ * there's no need to free it, but the channel must not point to it.
*/
ret = vmbus_device_register(newchannel->device_obj);
if (ret != 0) {
pr_err("unable to add child device object (relid %d)\n",
newchannel->offermsg.child_relid);
+ newchannel->device_obj = NULL;
goto err_deq_chan;
}
diff --git a/drivers/hv/vmbus_drv.c b/drivers/hv/vmbus_drv.c
index fc0f16f51266..b41ce24e200c 100644
--- a/drivers/hv/vmbus_drv.c
+++ b/drivers/hv/vmbus_drv.c
@@ -840,9 +840,24 @@ static int vmbus_match(struct device *device, const struct device_driver *driver
{
const struct hv_driver *drv = drv_to_hv_drv(driver);
struct hv_device *hv_dev = device_to_hv_device(device);
+ struct vmbus_channel *channel;
+ bool hvsock = false;
+
+ /*
+ * No channel if vmbus_device_register() failed. The channel is then
+ * freed after an RCU grace period.
+ */
+ rcu_read_lock();
+ channel = READ_ONCE(hv_dev->channel);
+ if (channel)
+ hvsock = is_hvsock_channel(channel);
+ rcu_read_unlock();
+
+ if (!channel)
+ return 0;
/* The hv_sock driver handles all hv_sock offers. */
- if (is_hvsock_channel(hv_dev->channel))
+ if (hvsock)
return drv->hvsock;
if (hv_vmbus_get_id(drv, hv_dev))
@@ -979,9 +994,15 @@ static void vmbus_device_release(struct device *device)
hv_debug_rm_dev_dir(hv_dev);
- mutex_lock(&vmbus_connection.channel_mutex);
- hv_process_channel_removal(channel);
- mutex_unlock(&vmbus_connection.channel_mutex);
+ /*
+ * No channel if vmbus_device_register() failed: the channel was not
+ * rescinded, and vmbus_add_channel_work() cleans it up.
+ */
+ if (channel) {
+ mutex_lock(&vmbus_connection.channel_mutex);
+ hv_process_channel_removal(channel);
+ mutex_unlock(&vmbus_connection.channel_mutex);
+ }
kfree(hv_dev);
}
@@ -2099,15 +2120,24 @@ void vmbus_init_channel_kobj(struct vmbus_channel *channel)
int vmbus_add_channel_kobj(struct hv_device *dev, struct vmbus_channel *channel)
{
const struct device *device = &dev->device;
+ struct kset *kset = READ_ONCE(dev->channels_kset);
struct kobject *kobj = &channel->kobj;
u32 relid = channel->offermsg.child_relid;
int ret;
+ /*
+ * The device has no channels directory if creating it failed, or not
+ * yet while vmbus_device_register() is still running: leave the
+ * channel out of sysfs.
+ */
+ if (!kset)
+ return 0;
+
/*
* On failure the kobject keeps its reference: the callers' error
* paths drop it in free_channel(), which also frees the channel.
*/
- kobj->kset = dev->channels_kset;
+ kobj->kset = kset;
ret = kobject_add(kobj, NULL, "%u", relid);
if (ret)
return ret;
@@ -2116,8 +2146,9 @@ int vmbus_add_channel_kobj(struct hv_device *dev, struct vmbus_channel *channel)
if (ret) {
/*
- * The calling functions' error handling paths will cleanup the
- * empty channel directory.
+ * The empty channel directory goes away with the kobject: in
+ * the error path of vmbus_add_channel_work() for a sub-channel,
+ * and when its device is removed for a primary channel.
*/
dev_err(device, "Unable to set up channel sysfs files\n");
return ret;
@@ -2189,6 +2220,7 @@ int vmbus_device_register(struct hv_device *child_device_obj)
ret = device_register(&child_device_obj->device);
if (ret) {
pr_err("Unable to register child device\n");
+ WRITE_ONCE(child_device_obj->channel, NULL);
put_device(&child_device_obj->device);
return ret;
}
@@ -2205,31 +2237,17 @@ int vmbus_device_register(struct hv_device *child_device_obj)
* here. The race can't result in a kernel failure, but the user space
* program may get an error in accessing "channels" or its
* subdirectories. See also comments with vmbus_add_dynid() about a
- * related race condition.
+ * related race condition. For the same reason, the device stays
+ * registered if its channel cannot be shown in sysfs.
*/
- child_device_obj->channels_kset = kset_create_and_add("channels",
- NULL, kobj);
- if (!child_device_obj->channels_kset) {
- ret = -ENOMEM;
- goto err_dev_unregister;
- }
-
- ret = vmbus_add_channel_kobj(child_device_obj,
- child_device_obj->channel);
- if (ret) {
+ WRITE_ONCE(child_device_obj->channels_kset,
+ kset_create_and_add("channels", NULL, kobj));
+ if (!child_device_obj->channels_kset ||
+ vmbus_add_channel_kobj(child_device_obj, child_device_obj->channel))
pr_err("Unable to register primary channel\n");
- goto err_kset_unregister;
- }
hv_debug_add_dev_dir(child_device_obj);
return 0;
-
-err_kset_unregister:
- kset_unregister(child_device_obj->channels_kset);
-
-err_dev_unregister:
- device_unregister(&child_device_obj->device);
- return ret;
}
/*
--
2.53.0