Once device_register() failed, we should call put_device() to decrement reference count for cleanup. Or it could cause memory leak. device_register() includes device_add(). As comment of device_add() says, 'if device_add() succeeds, you should call device_del() when you want to get rid of it. If device_add() has not succeeded, use only put_device() to drop the reference count'. Found by code review. Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Fixes: 1da177e4c3f4 ("Linux-2.6.12-rc2") Signed-off-by: Ma Ke <make24@xxxxxxxxxxx> --- arch/arm/common/locomo.c | 1 + 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+) diff --git a/arch/arm/common/locomo.c b/arch/arm/common/locomo.c index cb6ef449b987..7274010218ec 100644 --- a/arch/arm/common/locomo.c +++ b/arch/arm/common/locomo.c @@ -255,6 +255,7 @@ locomo_init_one_child(struct locomo *lchip, struct locomo_dev_info *info) ret = device_register(&dev->dev); if (ret) { + put_device(&dev->dev); out: kfree(dev); } -- 2.25.1