Re: [patch] drivers: Fix bogus 0 error return in device_add()

From: Thomas Gleixner
Date: Thu Dec 10 2009 - 16:01:22 EST


On Thu, 10 Dec 2009, Greg KH wrote:
> On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 07:32:49PM -0000, Thomas Gleixner wrote:
> > If device_add() is called with a device which does not have dev->p set
> > up, then device_private_init() is called. If that succeeds, then the
> > error variable is set to 0. Now if the dev_name(dev) check further
> > down fails, then device_add() correctly terminates, but returns 0.
> > That of course lets the driver progress. If later another driver uses
> > this half set up device as parent then device_add() of the child
> > device explodes and renders sysfs completely unusable.
> >
> > Set the error to -EINVAL if dev_name() check fails.
>
> That's a good catch, thanks.
>
> Is anything currently triggering this? Or did you just find it by
> reading the code?

Hans-Juergen had a buggy vendor driver where init_name was not
initialized. So the driver probing succeeded and after that a
depending driver crashed somewhere in device_add().

Thanks,

tglx
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