Re: [patch] drivers: Fix bogus 0 error return in device_add()

[Greg KH <gregkh@suse.de>]

On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 10:01:10PM +0100, Thomas Gleixner wrote:
> On Thu, 10 Dec 2009, Greg KH wrote:
> > On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 07:32:49PM -0000, Thomas Gleixner wrote:
> > > If device_add() is called with a device which does not have dev->p set
> > > up, then device_private_init() is called. If that succeeds, then the
> > > error variable is set to 0. Now if the dev_name(dev) check further
> > > down fails, then device_add() correctly terminates, but returns 0.
> > > That of course lets the driver progress. If later another driver uses
> > > this half set up device as parent then device_add() of the child
> > > device explodes and renders sysfs completely unusable.
> > > 
> > > Set the error to -EINVAL if dev_name() check fails.
> > 
> > That's a good catch, thanks.
> > 
> > Is anything currently triggering this?  Or did you just find it by
> > reading the code?
> 
> Hans-Juergen had a buggy vendor driver where init_name was not
> initialized. So the driver probing succeeded and after that a
> depending driver crashed somewhere in device_add().

Ick, bad code :(

Good to know it's not a problem with in-tree drivers, so I don't have to
add this to the -stable trees.

thanks,

greg k-h