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Message-ID: <20251025160905.3857885-41-sashal@kernel.org>
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2025 11:54:32 -0400
From: Sasha Levin <sashal@...nel.org>
To: patches@...ts.linux.dev,
stable@...r.kernel.org
Cc: Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzysztof.kozlowski@...aro.org>,
Dmitry Baryshkov <dmitry.baryshkov@....qualcomm.com>,
Chanwoo Choi <cw00.choi@...sung.com>,
Sasha Levin <sashal@...nel.org>,
myungjoo.ham@...sung.com,
wens@...e.org,
hansg@...nel.org,
linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH AUTOSEL 6.17] extcon: axp288: Fix wakeup source leaks on device unbind
From: Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzysztof.kozlowski@...aro.org>
[ Upstream commit 93ccf3f2f22ceaa975b462156f98527febee4fe5 ]
Device can be unbound, so driver must also release memory for the wakeup
source.
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20250501-device-wakeup-leak-extcon-v2-2-7af77802cbea@linaro.org/
Reviewed-by: Dmitry Baryshkov <dmitry.baryshkov@....qualcomm.com>
Signed-off-by: Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzysztof.kozlowski@...aro.org>
Signed-off-by: Chanwoo Choi <cw00.choi@...sung.com>
Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin <sashal@...nel.org>
---
LLM Generated explanations, may be completely bogus:
## BACKPORT RECOMMENDATION: YES
### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This commit should **YES** be backported to stable kernel trees. It
fixes a memory leak that has existed since March 2020 (commit
9c94553099ef) when wakeup support was added to the AXP288 extcon driver.
The leak occurs whenever the device is unbound, and the fix is minimal,
safe, and appropriate for stable trees.
---
### DETAILED TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
#### 1. **THE BUG BEING FIXED**
**Nature of the leak:**
The commit fixes a resource leak in the wakeup source subsystem. When
`device_init_wakeup(dev, true)` is called (line 473 in the original
code, which was line 446 before the fix), it:
1. Calls `device_wakeup_enable()` (drivers/base/power/wakeup.c:328)
2. Which allocates a `struct wakeup_source` via
`wakeup_source_register()` (line 339)
3. This allocation includes:
- The wakeup_source structure itself
(include/linux/pm_wakeup.h:43-64) containing spinlocks, timers,
statistics counters
- A dynamically allocated name string
- A sysfs entry via `wakeup_source_sysfs_add()`
- Addition to a global wakeup sources list
**When the leak occurs:**
- When the device is unbound via sysfs
(`/sys/bus/platform/drivers/axp288_extcon/unbind`)
- When the module is unloaded (the driver is tristate, can be built as a
module)
- During driver probe failure after wakeup initialization
Without proper cleanup, all these resources remain allocated and are
never freed, causing a memory leak.
#### 2. **THE FIX**
**Code change (drivers/extcon/extcon-axp288.c:473):**
```c
- device_init_wakeup(dev, true);
+ devm_device_init_wakeup(dev);
```
**How the fix works:**
The `devm_device_init_wakeup()` helper (added in commit b317268368546,
Dec 18, 2024) provides automatic resource management:
```c
static inline int devm_device_init_wakeup(struct device *dev)
{
device_init_wakeup(dev, true);
return devm_add_action_or_reset(dev, device_disable_wakeup,
dev);
}
```
This uses the devres framework to automatically call
`device_disable_wakeup()` when the device is unbound, ensuring proper
cleanup.
#### 3. **HISTORICAL CONTEXT**
**Timeline:**
- **March 23, 2020**: Wakeup support added via commit 9c94553099ef by
Hans de Goede
- This commit had **`Cc: stable@...r.kernel.org`** - indicating the
feature was important enough for stable backporting
- Introduced the `device_init_wakeup(dev, true)` call without cleanup
- Has existed in the codebase for **~5 years**
- **December 18, 2024**: `devm_device_init_wakeup()` helper introduced
(commit b317268368546)
- Created specifically to address wakeup source leaks across the
kernel
- Commit message explicitly states: "Some drivers that enable device
wakeup fail to properly disable it during their cleanup, which
results in a memory leak"
- **May 1, 2025**: This fix applied (commit 93ccf3f2f22ce)
- Part of a systematic cleanup across multiple subsystems
- 4 extcon drivers fixed: adc-jack, axp288, fsa9480, qcom-spmi-misc
- Similar fixes applied to 13+ drivers across iio, usb, power supply,
gpio, rtc, mfd subsystems
#### 4. **AFFECTED HARDWARE & USERS**
**Device scope:**
- AXP288 PMIC used on **Intel Cherry Trail** (Atom Airmont) devices
- These are tablets and 2-in-1 convertible devices from 2015-2017 era
- Still in active use today
- Examples: ASUS T100HA, Acer Aspire Switch series, HP Stream tablets
**Driver characteristics:**
- Platform driver (drivers/extcon/extcon-axp288.c)
- **Tristate** configuration (can be module or built-in)
- Actively maintained (8 commits since leak introduction, 9 commits
since 2020)
- Handles USB charger detection and USB role switching
- Critical for proper charging and USB functionality
#### 5. **RISK ASSESSMENT**
**Regression risk: MINIMAL**
**Why this fix is safe:**
1. **One-line change**: Single function call replacement
2. **Functionally equivalent**: `devm_device_init_wakeup(dev)` calls
`device_init_wakeup(dev, true)` internally
3. **Only adds cleanup**: The devres action is added with
`devm_add_action_or_reset()`, which handles errors
4. **No behavioral change**: Wakeup functionality remains identical
during normal operation
5. **Unconditional usage**: Unlike the adc-jack driver (which required a
followup fix), axp288 **always** enables wakeup, so no conditional
cleanup needed
6. **Tested pattern**: Same approach used in 13+ drivers across the
kernel
**What could go wrong:**
- Theoretically, if `devm_add_action_or_reset()` fails to add the
cleanup action, it will call `device_init_wakeup(dev, false)`
immediately via the _or_reset behavior
- This has no practical negative impact - the driver would simply not
have wakeup enabled, which is safe
#### 6. **IMPACT & SEVERITY**
**User-visible impact:**
- Memory leak accumulates with each device unbind/rebind cycle
- Particularly relevant for:
- Development and debugging scenarios (common to unbind/rebind
drivers)
- Systems with dynamic device management
- Long-running systems where modules are loaded/unloaded
- Testing environments
**Severity: MODERATE**
- Not a critical security issue
- Not a system crash or data corruption bug
- But: genuine resource leak that grows over time
- Affects real hardware in active use
#### 7. **STABLE TREE CRITERIA COMPLIANCE**
Checking against stable kernel rules:
✅ **It must be obviously correct and tested** - One line change,
functionally identical, widely tested pattern
✅ **It must fix a real bug that bothers people** - Real memory leak
affecting real hardware
✅ **It must fix a problem that causes a build error, oops, hang, data
corruption, a real security issue, or some "oh, that's not good" issue**
- Memory leak qualifies as "not good"
✅ **Serious issues as reported by a user of a distribution kernel may
also be considered if they fix a notable performance or interactivity
issue** - Resource leaks affect system health
✅ **It must not contain any "trivial" fixes** - This is a genuine bug
fix
✅ **It must follow the Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
rules** - Follows kernel coding standards
✅ **It or an equivalent fix must already exist in Linus' tree** - Commit
93ccf3f2f22ce is in mainline
❌ **No "theoretical race condition" fixes** - N/A
❌ **No "janitor" style fixes** - This is a real bug fix, not just
cleanup
✅ **It cannot contain any "trivial" spelling fixes** - N/A
✅ **It must be relatively small and self-contained** - Single line
change
✅ **It cannot be larger than 100 lines** - 1 line changed
#### 8. **RELATED COMMITS & DEPENDENCIES**
**Dependency:** Requires commit b317268368546 "PM: wakeup: implement
devm_device_init_wakeup() helper" (merged Dec 18, 2024 in v6.10)
**Note:** The dependency commit is already in stable trees since v6.10,
so this fix can be backported to kernels >= 6.10.
**Related fixes in the series:**
- 78b6a991eb6c: extcon: adc-jack: Fix wakeup source leaks
- 6f982d55f8c5d: extcon: fsa9480: Fix wakeup source leaks
- 369259d5104d6: extcon: qcom-spmi-misc: Fix wakeup source leaks
All four extcon fixes should be considered together for backporting.
#### 9. **WHY NO STABLE TAG?**
The original commit **does not have** a "Fixes:" tag or "Cc:
stable@...r.kernel.org". This is likely because:
1. The developer may have relied on the autosel process to pick it up
2. It's part of a systematic cleanup that might have been considered low
priority
3. The leak only manifests during unbind, which is less common than
other bugs
However, **this does not mean it shouldn't be backported**. The autosel
process exists precisely to catch fixes like this that should go to
stable but weren't explicitly tagged.
#### 10. **CODE VERIFICATION**
I verified the following in the codebase:
- The driver unconditionally calls wakeup initialization (line 473)
- No .remove() function exists, but leak still occurs on unbind
- suspend/resume functions correctly use `device_may_wakeup()` checks
(lines 483, 498)
- No conditional logic around wakeup initialization (unlike adc-jack
which needed a followup fix)
---
### CONCLUSION
**BACKPORT RECOMMENDATION: YES**
This is a clean, minimal, safe fix for a real memory leak that has
existed since 2020. The fix:
- Resolves a genuine resource leak affecting real hardware
- Is minimal (one line) with negligible regression risk
- Uses a well-tested pattern applied across many drivers
- Affects actively-used Intel Cherry Trail devices
- Meets all stable kernel criteria
The commit should be backported to all stable kernels that have:
1. The wakeup support (commit 9c94553099ef from v5.7+)
2. The devm helper (commit b317268368546 from v6.10+)
**Recommended stable backport targets: v6.10+ stable trees**
drivers/extcon/extcon-axp288.c | 2 +-
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/drivers/extcon/extcon-axp288.c b/drivers/extcon/extcon-axp288.c
index d3bcbe839c095..19856dddade62 100644
--- a/drivers/extcon/extcon-axp288.c
+++ b/drivers/extcon/extcon-axp288.c
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ static int axp288_extcon_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
if (ret < 0)
return ret;
- device_init_wakeup(dev, true);
+ devm_device_init_wakeup(dev);
platform_set_drvdata(pdev, info);
return 0;
--
2.51.0
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