The patch below does not apply to the 5.4-stable tree. If someone wants it applied there, or to any other stable or longterm tree, then please email the backport, including the original git commit id to stable@vger.kernel.org.
To reproduce the conflict and resubmit, you may use the following commands:
git fetch https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/ linux-5.4.y git checkout FETCH_HEAD git cherry-pick -x 49c8d2c1f94cc2f4d1a108530d7ba52614b874c2 # <resolve conflicts, build, test, etc.> git commit -s git send-email --to 'stable@vger.kernel.org' --in-reply-to '2025112011-candied-surrogate-885f@gregkh' --subject-prefix 'PATCH 5.4.y' HEAD^..
Possible dependencies:
thanks,
greg k-h
------------------ original commit in Linus's tree ------------------
From 49c8d2c1f94cc2f4d1a108530d7ba52614b874c2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Breno Leitao leitao@debian.org Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2025 06:03:37 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] net: netpoll: fix incorrect refcount handling causing incorrect cleanup
commit efa95b01da18 ("netpoll: fix use after free") incorrectly ignored the refcount and prematurely set dev->npinfo to NULL during netpoll cleanup, leading to improper behavior and memory leaks.
Scenario causing lack of proper cleanup:
1) A netpoll is associated with a NIC (e.g., eth0) and netdev->npinfo is allocated, and refcnt = 1 - Keep in mind that npinfo is shared among all netpoll instances. In this case, there is just one.
2) Another netpoll is also associated with the same NIC and npinfo->refcnt += 1. - Now dev->npinfo->refcnt = 2; - There is just one npinfo associated to the netdev.
3) When the first netpolls goes to clean up: - The first cleanup succeeds and clears np->dev->npinfo, ignoring refcnt. - It basically calls `RCU_INIT_POINTER(np->dev->npinfo, NULL);` - Set dev->npinfo = NULL, without proper cleanup - No ->ndo_netpoll_cleanup() is either called
4) Now the second target tries to clean up - The second cleanup fails because np->dev->npinfo is already NULL. * In this case, ops->ndo_netpoll_cleanup() was never called, and the skb pool is not cleaned as well (for the second netpoll instance) - This leaks npinfo and skbpool skbs, which is clearly reported by kmemleak.
Revert commit efa95b01da18 ("netpoll: fix use after free") and adds clarifying comments emphasizing that npinfo cleanup should only happen once the refcount reaches zero, ensuring stable and correct netpoll behavior.
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org # 3.17.x Cc: Jay Vosburgh jv@jvosburgh.net Fixes: efa95b01da18 ("netpoll: fix use after free") Signed-off-by: Breno Leitao leitao@debian.org Reviewed-by: Simon Horman horms@kernel.org Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251107-netconsole_torture-v10-1-749227b55f63@debi... Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski kuba@kernel.org
diff --git a/net/core/netpoll.c b/net/core/netpoll.c index c85f740065fc..331764845e8f 100644 --- a/net/core/netpoll.c +++ b/net/core/netpoll.c @@ -811,6 +811,10 @@ static void __netpoll_cleanup(struct netpoll *np) if (!npinfo) return;
+ /* At this point, there is a single npinfo instance per netdevice, and + * its refcnt tracks how many netpoll structures are linked to it. We + * only perform npinfo cleanup when the refcnt decrements to zero. + */ if (refcount_dec_and_test(&npinfo->refcnt)) { const struct net_device_ops *ops;
@@ -820,8 +824,7 @@ static void __netpoll_cleanup(struct netpoll *np)
RCU_INIT_POINTER(np->dev->npinfo, NULL); call_rcu(&npinfo->rcu, rcu_cleanup_netpoll_info); - } else - RCU_INIT_POINTER(np->dev->npinfo, NULL); + }
skb_pool_flush(np); }