For dummy devices, exit earlier at free_netdev() instead of executing the whole function. This is necessary, because dummy devices are special, and shouldn't have the second part of the function executed. Otherwise reg_state, which is NETREG_DUMMY for dummy devices, will be overwritten and there will be no way to identify that this is a dummy device. Also, this device do not need the final put_device(), since dummy devices are not registered (through register_netdevice()), where the device reference is increased (at netdev_register_kobject() -> device_add()). Suggested-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@xxxxxxxxxx> Signed-off-by: Breno Leitao <leitao@xxxxxxxxxx> --- net/core/dev.c | 3 ++- 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/net/core/dev.c b/net/core/dev.c index 92f5bddbc2de..bf0a335781aa 100644 --- a/net/core/dev.c +++ b/net/core/dev.c @@ -11051,7 +11051,8 @@ void free_netdev(struct net_device *dev) dev->xdp_bulkq = NULL; /* Compatibility with error handling in drivers */ - if (dev->reg_state == NETREG_UNINITIALIZED) { + if (dev->reg_state == NETREG_UNINITIALIZED || + dev->reg_state == NETREG_DUMMY) { netdev_freemem(dev); return; } -- 2.43.0