linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH net v2] bnxt_en: Fix NULL pointer crash in bnxt_ptp

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Message-ID: <aVvKRGcSWb1muZ-k@shell.armlinux.org.uk>
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2026 14:27:16 +0000
From: "Russell King (Oracle)" <linux@...linux.org.uk>
To: Breno Leitao <leitao@...ian.org>
Cc: Michael Chan <michael.chan@...adcom.com>,
	Pavan Chebbi <pavan.chebbi@...adcom.com>,
	Andrew Lunn <andrew+netdev@...n.ch>,
	"David S. Miller" <davem@...emloft.net>,
	Eric Dumazet <edumazet@...gle.com>,
	Jakub Kicinski <kuba@...nel.org>, Paolo Abeni <pabeni@...hat.com>,
	Richard Cochran <richardcochran@...il.com>,
	Vadim Fedorenko <vadim.fedorenko@...ux.dev>,
	Vladimir Oltean <vladimir.oltean@....com>, netdev@...r.kernel.org,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, kernel-team@...a.com,
	stable@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH net v2] bnxt_en: Fix NULL pointer crash in
 bnxt_ptp_enable during error cleanup

On Mon, Jan 05, 2026 at 06:11:26AM -0800, Breno Leitao wrote:
> Hello Russell,
> 
> On Mon, Jan 05, 2026 at 01:29:40PM +0000, Russell King (Oracle) wrote:
> > On Mon, Jan 05, 2026 at 04:00:16AM -0800, Breno Leitao wrote:
> > My guess is that this has something to do with firmware, and maybe
> > upgrading it at runtime - so if the firmware gets upgraded to a
> > version that doesn't support PTP, the driver removes PTP. However,
> > can PTP be used while firmware is being upgraded, and what happens
> > if, e.g. bnxt_ptp_enable() were called mid-upgrade? Would that be
> > safe?
> 
> This crash happened at boot time, when the kernel was having another
> at DMA path, which was triggering this bug. There was no firmare upgrade
> at all. Just rebooting the machine with 6.19 was crashing everytime due
> to the early failure to initialize the driver.

Please read my email again. I wasn't questioning _when_ the problem you
were seeing was occuring. I was questioning the overall structural
quality of the driver, suggesting that there are further issues with it
around PTP.

-- 
RMK's Patch system: https://www.armlinux.org.uk/developer/patches/
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