FAILED: patch "[PATCH] net: netpoll: fix incorrect refcount handling causing" failed to apply to 5.10-stable tree

The patch below does not apply to the 5.10-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 <[email protected]>.

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-5.10.y
git checkout FETCH_HEAD
git cherry-pick -x 49c8d2c1f94cc2f4d1a108530d7ba52614b874c2
# <resolve conflicts, build, test, etc.>
git commit -s
git send-email --to '<[email protected]>' --in-reply-to '2025112010-elm-hardwired-dce7@gregkh' --subject-prefix 'PATCH 5.10.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 <[email protected]>
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.

index c85f740065fc..331764845e8f 100644
@@ -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);
 }

From: Breno Leitao <[email protected]>

[ Upstream commit 49c8d2c1f94cc2f4d1a108530d7ba52614b874c2 ]

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.

---
 net/core/netpoll.c | 7 +++++--
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

index db18154aa2383..489e1269c65f0 100644
@@ -863,6 +863,10 @@ void __netpoll_cleanup(struct netpoll *np)
 
 	synchronize_srcu(&netpoll_srcu);
 
+	/* 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;
 

@@ -872,8 +876,7 @@ 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);
+	}
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(__netpoll_cleanup);
 

2.51.0