Tian, Kevin wrote: > > From: Dan Williams <dan.j.williams@xxxxxxxxx> > > Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2024 6:05 AM > > + * > > + * Note that unwind order is dictated by declaration order. That > > + * contraindicates a pattern like the following: > > + * > > + * .. code-block:: c > > + * > > + * int num, ret = 0; > > + * struct pci_dev *bridge = ctrl->pcie->port; > > + * struct pci_bus *parent = bridge->subordinate; > > + * struct pci_dev *dev __free(pci_dev_put) = NULL; > > + * > > + * pci_lock_rescan_remove(); > > + * > > + * dev = pci_get_slot(parent, PCI_DEVFN(0, 0)); > > + * > > + * In this case @dev is declared in x-mas tree style in a preamble > > + * declaration block. That is problematic because it destroys the > > + * compiler's ability to infer proper unwind order. If other cleanup > > + * helpers appeared in such a function that depended on @dev being live > > + * to complete their unwind then using the "struct obj_type *obj > > + * __free(...) = NULL" style is an anti-pattern that potentially causes > > + * a use-after-free bug. Instead, the expectation is this conversion: > > + * > > an example of dependent cleanup helpers might be helpful to > better understand this expectation? The simplest example I can think of to show the danger of the "__free(...) = NULL" causing cleanup inter-dependency problems is the following: --- LIST_HEAD(list); DEFINE_MUTEX(lock); struct object { struct list_head node; }; static struct object *alloc_add(void) { struct object *obj; lockdep_assert_held(&lock); obj = kfree(sizeof(*obj), GFP_KERNEL); if (obj) { LIST_HEAD_INIT(&obj->node); list_add(obj->node, &list): } return obj; } static void remove_free(struct object *obj) { lockdep_assert_held(&lock); list_del(&obj->node); kfree(obj); } DEFINE_FREE(remove_free, struct object *, if (_T) remove_free(_T)) static int init(void) { struct object *obj __free(remove_free) = NULL; int err; guard(mutex)(lock); obj = alloc_add(); if (!obj) return -ENOMEM; err = other_init(obj); if (err) return err; // remove_free() called without the lock!! no_free_ptr(obj); return 0; } --- The fix for this bug is to replace the "__free(...) = NULL" pattern and move the assignment to the declaration. guard(mutex)(lock); struct object *obj __free(remove_free) = alloc_add(); ...so the compiler can observe LIFO order on the unwind. Yes, no one should write code like this, all of the init should happen before assigning to a list, but hopefully it illustrates the point.