Re: [PATCH v2] perf/ftrace: Fix WARNING in __unregister_ftrace_function

[Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org>]

Rik,

Can you reply to Sashiko here?

The below comes from Sashiko: https://sashiko.dev/?list=org.kernel.vger.linux-trace-kernel#/patchset/20260513161916.04151502%40fangorn

Thanks,

-- Steve


> commit f90ac36f39b79a19c015522bb1caf7ef903caf02
> Author: Rik van Riel <riel@surriel.com>
> perf/ftrace: Fix WARNING in __unregister_ftrace_function
> This commit attempts to fix a WARN_ON triggered during perf_event_alloc() error
> cleanup by checking FTRACE_OPS_FL_ENABLED before unregistering the ftrace
> function. The warning occurs because the ftrace_ops registration failed or was
> torn down by perf_try_init_event() earlier, but the event->destroy callback is
> executed again during the error path.
> > diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_event_perf.c b/kernel/trace/trace_event_perf.c
> > index 61e3a2620fa3c..8d64f17135e8f 100644
> > --- a/kernel/trace/trace_event_perf.c
> > +++ b/kernel/trace/trace_event_perf.c
> > @@ -495,7 +495,11 @@ static int perf_ftrace_function_register(struct perf_event *event)
> >  static int perf_ftrace_function_unregister(struct perf_event *event)
> >  {
> >  	struct ftrace_ops *ops = &event->ftrace_ops;
> > -	int ret = unregister_ftrace_function(ops);
> > +	int ret = 0;
> > +
> > +	if (ops->flags & FTRACE_OPS_FL_ENABLED)
> > +		ret = unregister_ftrace_function(ops);
> > +
> >  	ftrace_free_filter(ops);

> Does calling ftrace_free_filter() unconditionally here mask a double-teardown
> regression while leaving the underlying double-free active?
> In perf_try_init_event(), if a PMU event_init() succeeds but a subsequent
> capability check fails, it explicitly calls event->destroy(event) to roll back:
> kernel/events/core.c:perf_try_init_event() {
>     ...
> 		if (ret && event->destroy)
> 			event->destroy(event);
>     ...
> }
> However, it does not set event->destroy to NULL.
> When the event is later freed in error paths, the stale event->destroy callback
> executes a second time.
> If ftrace_free_filter() is called twice, won't it result in a direct
> double-free of ops->func_hash->filter_hash, since ftrace_free_filter() frees
> the hash but does not nullify the pointers?
> Additionally, for regular tracepoint events, wouldn't the second teardown
> execute perf_trace_event_unreg() again?
> This could double-decrement total_ref_count, potentially freeing the shared
> perf_trace_buf while other events are active, and trigger an unbalanced
> module_put() leading to module refcount underflows.
> Should the root cause be addressed by setting event->destroy = NULL in
> perf_try_init_event() immediately after invoking it?

> >  	return ret;
> >  }