linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH net] net: liquidio: Fix memory leak in setup_nic

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Message-ID: <aXOuByqgZ0iY81ak@horms.kernel.org>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2026 17:21:11 +0000
From: Simon Horman <horms@...nel.org>
To: Zilin Guan <zilin@....edu.cn>
Cc: andrew+netdev@...n.ch, edumazet@...gle.com, kuba@...nel.org,
	davem@...emloft.net, pabeni@...hat.com, netdev@...r.kernel.org,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, jianhao.xu@....edu.cn
Subject: Re: [PATCH net] net: liquidio: Fix memory leak in setup_nic_devices()

On Thu, Jan 22, 2026 at 07:29:33AM +0000, Zilin Guan wrote:
> In setup_nic_devices(), the netdev is allocated using alloc_etherdev_mq().
> However, the pointer to this structure is stored in oct->props[i].netdev
> only after the calls to netif_set_real_num_rx_queues() and
> netif_set_real_num_tx_queues().
> 
> If either of these functions fails, setup_nic_devices() returns an error
> without freeing the allocated netdev. Since oct->props[i].netdev is still
> NULL at this point, the cleanup function liquidio_destroy_nic_device()
> will fail to find and free the netdev, resulting in a memory leak.
> 
> Fix this by initializing oct->props[i].netdev before calling the queue
> setup functions. This ensures that the netdev is properly accessible for
> cleanup in case of errors.
> 
> Compile tested only. Issue found using a prototype static analysis tool
> and code review.
> 
> Fixes: c33c997346c3 ("liquidio: enhanced ethtool --set-channels feature")
> Signed-off-by: Zilin Guan <zilin@....edu.cn>

Thanks Zilin,

I agree with your analysis, and proposed fix.
And that the problem appears to have been introduced in the cited commit.

But I am wondering if we also need the following, probably as a separate
commit, to ensure that liquidio_destroy_nic_device is called for the
element of props[i] whose assingment your patch addresses.

Also compile tested only.

diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/cavium/liquidio/lio_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/cavium/liquidio/lio_main.c
index 0732440eeacd..3ba2806f5d1e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/cavium/liquidio/lio_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/cavium/liquidio/lio_main.c
@@ -3765,11 +3765,11 @@ static int setup_nic_devices(struct octeon_device *octeon_dev)
 
 setup_nic_dev_free:
 
-	while (i--) {
+	do {
 		dev_err(&octeon_dev->pci_dev->dev,
 			"NIC ifidx:%d Setup failed\n", i);
 		liquidio_destroy_nic_device(octeon_dev, i);
-	}
+	} while (i--);
 
 setup_nic_dev_done:

...