# \[PATCH 1/2\] video: fbdev: fix error handling for get\_user\_pages\_fast()

- From: John Hubbard \<jhubbard@nvidia.com\>
- Date: 2020-05-22 04:15:13 
- List: linux-fbdev
- Page: https://ratatoskr.run/linux-fbdev/2020/05/5974565
- Thread: https://ratatoskr.run/dri-devel/2020/05/5974564/t.md

```text
Dealing with the return value of get_user_pages*() variants has a few
classic pitfalls, and this driver found one of them: the return value
might be zero, positive, or -errno. And if positive, it might be fewer
pages than were requested. And if fewer pages than requested, then
the caller should return (via put_page()) the pages that *were*
pinned.

This driver was doing that *except* that it had a problem with the
-errno case, which was being stored in an unsigned int, and which
would case an interesting mess if it ever happened: nr_pages would be
interpreted as a spectacularly huge unsigned value, rather than a
small negative value. Also, it was unnecessarily overriding a
potentially informative -errno, with -EINVAL, in some cases.

Instead: clamp the nr_pages to zero or positive, so that the error
handling works. And return the -errno value from get_user_pages*(),
unchanged, if we get one. And explain this with comments, seeing as
how it is error-prone.

Cc: Bartlomiej Zolnierkiewicz <redacted>
Cc: Arnd Bergmann <arnd@arndb.de>
Cc: Daniel Vetter <redacted>
Cc: Gustavo A. R. Silva <redacted>
Cc: Jani Nikula <redacted>
Cc: <redacted>
Cc: <redacted>
Signed-off-by: John Hubbard <jhubbard@nvidia.com>
---
 drivers/video/fbdev/pvr2fb.c | 18 ++++++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 16 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/video/fbdev/pvr2fb.c b/drivers/video/fbdev/pvr2fb.c
index f18d457175d9..ceb6ef590597 100644
--- a/drivers/video/fbdev/pvr2fb.c
+++ b/drivers/video/fbdev/pvr2fb.c
@@ -654,8 +654,22 @@ static ssize_t pvr2fb_write(struct fb_info *info, const char *buf,
 
 	ret = get_user_pages_fast((unsigned long)buf, nr_pages, FOLL_WRITE, pages);
 	if (ret < nr_pages) {
-		nr_pages = ret;
-		ret = -EINVAL;
+		if (ret < 0) {
+			/*
+			 *  Clamp the unsigned nr_pages to zero so that the
+			 *  error handling works. And leave ret at whatever
+			 *  -errno value was returned from GUP.
+			 */
+			nr_pages = 0;
+		} else {
+			nr_pages = ret;
+			/*
+			 * Use -EINVAL to represent a mildly desperate guess at
+			 * why we got fewer pages (maybe even zero pages) than
+			 * requested.
+			 */
+			ret = -EINVAL;
+		}
 		goto out_unmap;
 	}
 
-- 
2.26.2
```