[PATCH] tracing: Fix lock imbalance in s_start() memory allocation failure path

[PATCH] tracing: Fix lock imbalance in s_start() memory allocation failure path

[Sasha Levin]

When s_start() fails to allocate memory for set_event_iter, it returns NULL
before acquiring event_mutex. However, the corresponding s_stop() function
always tries to unlock the mutex, causing a lock imbalance warning:

  WARNING: bad unlock balance detected!
  6.17.0-rc7-00175-g2b2e0c04f78c #7 Not tainted
  -------------------------------------
  syz.0.85611/376514 is trying to release lock (event_mutex) at:
  [<ffffffff8dafc7a4>] traverse.part.0.constprop.0+0x2c4/0x650 fs/seq_file.c:131
  but there are no more locks to release!

The issue was introduced by commit b355247df104 ("tracing: Cache ':mod:'
events for modules not loaded yet") which added the kzalloc() allocation before
the mutex lock, creating a path where s_start() could return without locking
the mutex while s_stop() would still try to unlock it.

Fix this by unconditionally acquiring the mutex immediately after allocation,
regardless of whether the allocation succeeded.

Fixes: b355247df104 ("tracing: Cache ":mod:" events for modules not loaded yet")
Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin <sashal@kernel.org>
---
 kernel/trace/trace_events.c | 3 +--
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_events.c b/kernel/trace/trace_events.c
index 9f3e9537417d5..e00da4182deb7 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_events.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_events.c
@@ -1629,11 +1629,10 @@ static void *s_start(struct seq_file *m, loff_t *pos)
 	loff_t l;
 
 	iter = kzalloc(sizeof(*iter), GFP_KERNEL);
+	mutex_lock(&event_mutex);
 	if (!iter)
 		return NULL;
 
-	mutex_lock(&event_mutex);
-
 	iter->type = SET_EVENT_FILE;
 	iter->file = list_entry(&tr->events, struct trace_event_file, list);
 
-- 
2.51.0

Re: [PATCH] tracing: Fix lock imbalance in s_start() memory allocation failure path

[Steven Rostedt]

On Mon, 29 Sep 2025 07:32:38 -0400
Sasha Levin <sashal@kernel.org> wrote:

> iff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_events.c b/kernel/trace/trace_events.c
> index 9f3e9537417d5..e00da4182deb7 100644
> --- a/kernel/trace/trace_events.c
> +++ b/kernel/trace/trace_events.c
> @@ -1629,11 +1629,10 @@ static void *s_start(struct seq_file *m, loff_t *pos)
>  	loff_t l;
>  
>  	iter = kzalloc(sizeof(*iter), GFP_KERNEL);
> +	mutex_lock(&event_mutex);
>  	if (!iter)
>  		return NULL;
>  
> -	mutex_lock(&event_mutex);
> -
>  	iter->type = SET_EVENT_FILE;
>  	iter->file = list_entry(&tr->events, struct trace_event_file, list);
>  

Good catch, thanks!

-- Steve