linux-kernel - [PATCH 0/2] scsi: target+fcoe: replace -EEXIST with -EBUSY in module

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Message-Id: <20251220-dev-module-init-eexists-linux-scsi-v1-0-5379db749d54@samsung.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2025 04:37:31 +0100
From: Daniel Gomez <da.gomez@...nel.org>
To: "Martin K. Petersen" <martin.petersen@...cle.com>, 
 Hannes Reinecke <hare@...e.de>, 
 "James E.J. Bottomley" <James.Bottomley@...senPartnership.com>
Cc: Luis Chamberlain <mcgrof@...nel.org>, Petr Pavlu <petr.pavlu@...e.com>, 
 Daniel Gomez <da.gomez@...nel.org>, Sami Tolvanen <samitolvanen@...gle.com>, 
 Aaron Tomlin <atomlin@...mlin.com>, Lucas De Marchi <demarchi@...nel.org>, 
 linux-scsi@...r.kernel.org, target-devel@...r.kernel.org, 
 linux-modules@...r.kernel.org, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, 
 Daniel Gomez <da.gomez@...sung.com>
Subject: [PATCH 0/2] scsi: target+fcoe: replace -EEXIST with -EBUSY in
 module_init() paths

The error code -EEXIST is reserved by the kernel module loader to
indicate that a module with the same name is already loaded. When a
module's init function returns -EEXIST, kmod interprets this as "module
already loaded" and reports success instead of failure [1].

The kernel module loader will include a safety net that provides -EEXIST
to -EBUSY with a warning [2], and a documentation patch has been sent to
prevent future occurrences [3].

These affected code paths were identified using a static analysis tool
[4] that traces -EEXIST returns to module_init(). The tool was developed
with AI assistance and all findings were manually validated.

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/aKEVQhJpRdiZSliu@orbyte.nwl.cc/ [1]
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20251013-module-warn-ret-v1-0-ab65b41af01f@intel.com/ [2]
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20251218-dev-module-init-eexists-modules-docs-v1-0-361569aa782a@samsung.com/ [3]
Link: https://gitlab.com/-/snippets/4913469 [4]

Signed-off-by: Daniel Gomez <da.gomez@...sung.com>
---
Daniel Gomez (2):
      target: replace -EEXIST with -EBUSY
      scsi: fcoe: replace -EEXIST with -EBUSY

 drivers/scsi/fcoe/fcoe_transport.c | 2 +-
 drivers/target/target_core_hba.c   | 2 +-
 2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
---
base-commit: 8f0b4cce4481fb22653697cced8d0d04027cb1e8
change-id: 20251218-dev-module-init-eexists-linux-scsi-4e91a16f7bdd

Best regards,
--  
Daniel Gomez <da.gomez@...sung.com>