Re: [PATCH net v2 3/5] net: phy: restore device state after probe failure
From: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
Date: 2026-08-18 16:09:33
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This is an AI-generated review of your patch. The human sending this email has considered the AI review valid, or at least plausible. --- net: phy: restore device state after probe failure phy_probe() sets phydev->drv up front and PHY_READY before calling of_phy_leds(), but never undoes either if a later step fails. The patch clears phydev->drv on the common error path and resets the state to PHY_DOWN when LED setup fails.
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
diff --git a/drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c b/drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c index 9c7ed9c61e6d5..c9e75bd3b81a2 100644 --- a/drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c +++ b/drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c@@ -3821,6 +3821,8 @@ static int phy_probe(struct device *dev) if (!phydev->is_on_sfp_module) phy_led_triggers_unregister(phydev); + phydev->state = PHY_DOWN; +
[Severity: Medium] This isn't a bug introduced by this patch, but since the subject says the device state is restored after probe failure, is the set of fields being restored complete? Earlier in phy_probe() a few fields that describe the hardware are overwritten based on the matched driver: if (!phy_drv_supports_irq(phydrv) && phy_interrupt_is_valid(phydev)) phydev->irq = PHY_POLL; if (phydrv->flags & PHY_IS_INTERNAL) phydev->is_internal = true; and later: if (!linkmode_test_bit(ETHTOOL_LINK_MODE_Autoneg_BIT, phydev->supported)) phydev->autoneg = 0; None of these are undone here. phydev->irq is only ever derived from bus->irq[addr] in phy_device_create(), and phy_attach_direct() can only force it to PHY_POLL again: if (!phy_drv_supports_irq(phydev->drv) && phy_interrupt_is_valid(phydev)) phydev->irq = PHY_POLL; So if a driver's probe fails after those assignments and the same phydev is later bound again (genphy fallback in phy_attach_direct(), or another module matching the same phy_id), does the PHY stay stuck in polling mode, keep the is_internal flag from the failed driver, and keep autoneg disabled?
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
out_ports: phy_sfp_release(phydev); phy_cleanup_ports(phydev);@@ -3828,6 +3830,7 @@ static int phy_probe(struct device *dev) out_reset: /* Re-assert the reset signal on error */ phy_device_reset(phydev, 1); + phydev->drv = NULL;
[Severity: Medium]
Can this store race with a concurrent phy_attach_direct() and produce a
NULL dereference?
At this point phydev->mdio.dev.driver is still set: really_probe() only
clears dev->driver later in device_unbind_cleanup(), after the
BUS_NOTIFY_DRIVER_NOT_BOUND notifiers, device_links_no_driver() and
devres_release_all(). Meanwhile phydev->drv is already NULL.
phy_attach_direct() decides on the genphy fallback using the other field:
if (!d->driver) {
...
phydev->is_genphy_driven = 1;
}
so in that window it skips the fallback probe (nothing repopulates
phydev->drv) and then does:
if (!phy_drv_supports_irq(phydev->drv) && phy_interrupt_is_valid(phydev))
phydev->irq = PHY_POLL;
with phy_drv_supports_irq() dereferencing unconditionally:
static bool phy_drv_supports_irq(const struct phy_driver *phydrv)
{
return phydrv->config_intr && phydrv->handle_interrupt;
}
phy_attach_direct() holds only RTNL, not device_lock() and not phydev->lock,
and phy_probe() takes no phylib lock either. Before this patch the same race
read a stale but non-NULL pointer, so it did not oops.
Related: devres-registered interfaces created by the PHY driver's own probe
(hwmon, PTP) stay live until devres_release_all(), i.e. after this store,
and the paged register helpers dereference phydev->drv unconditionally:
drivers/net/phy/phy-core.c:__phy_read_page() {
if (WARN_ONCE(!phydev->drv->read_page,
"read_page callback not available, PHY driver not loaded?\n"))
return -EOPNOTSUPP;
return phydev->drv->read_page(phydev);
}
That ordering already exists in phy_remove(), but does this patch newly
extend it to the probe-failure path?
[Severity: Medium]
This is a pre-existing issue and phy_attach_direct() is not touched by this
patch, but while looking at error-path symmetry in phy_probe(): is there any
unwind for a successful phy_probe() followed by a failed
device_bind_driver()?
drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c:phy_attach_direct() {
if (phydev->is_genphy_driven) {
err = d->driver->probe(d);
if (err >= 0)
err = device_bind_driver(d);
if (err)
goto error_module_put;
}
...
error_module_put:
module_put(d->driver->owner);
phydev->is_genphy_driven = 0;
d->driver = NULL;
error_put_device:
put_device(d);
}
Since the device was never bound, the driver core never calls phy_remove(),
and this path only does module_put()/put_device(). Does that leak the
kmalloc'ed phy->led_link_trigger and phy->phy_led_triggers[] objects that
phy_led_triggers_register() published into the global LED trigger list, plus
the phy_port objects from phy_setup_ports() and any SFP upstream
registration, while drv->remove() is never called?
phydev->drv and PHY_READY are also left set for an unbound device, and a
later attach re-runs phy_probe() which overwrites phy->phy_led_triggers and
phy->led_link_trigger. Would that orphan the earlier registrations in the
global trigger list?
return err; }
-- pw-bot: cr