Here is a proposed patch: --- drivers/net/usb/hso.c.orig 2019-01-27 14:45:58.232683119 -0500 +++ drivers/net/usb/hso.c 2019-01-27 14:47:43.592683629 -0500 @@ -2377,7 +2377,7 @@ static void hso_free_net_device(struct h remove_net_device(hso_net->parent); - if (hso_net->net) + if (hso_net->net && hso_net->net->reg_state == NETREG_REGISTERED) unregister_netdev(hso_net->net); /* start freeing */
Tuba Yavuz, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering Department University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611 Webpage: http://www.tuba.ece.ufl.edu/ Email: t...@ece.ufl.edu Phone: (352) 846 0202 ________________________________________ From: Greg KH <g...@kroah.com> Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2019 2:35 PM To: Yavuz, Tuba Cc: netdev@vger.kernel.org; da...@davemloft.net Subject: Re: Error in the hso driver On Sun, Jan 27, 2019 at 06:38:41PM +0000, Yavuz, Tuba wrote: > Hello, > > > On an error path inside the hso_create_net_device function of the hso driver > (drivers/net/usb/hso), hso_free_net_device gets called. This causes a > negative reference count in the net device if register_netdev has not been > called yet as hso_free_net_device calls unregister_netdev regardless. I think > the driver should distinguish these cases and call unregister_netdev only if > register_netdev has been called. > > > Detected on v4.14-rc2 but I believe the problem still exists in the newer > versions. Can you send a patch to solve this issue? That's the best way to handle it as you get the proper credit and we can understand exactly what you are trying to show here. thanks, greg k-h