[PATCH] page_pool: fix memory-provider leak in page_pool_create_percpu() error path

[PATCH] page_pool: fix memory-provider leak in page_pool_create_percpu() error path

[Hasan Basbunar]

When page_pool_create_percpu() fails on page_pool_list(), it falls
through to its err_uninit: label, which calls page_pool_uninit().
At that point page_pool_init() has already taken two references
when the user requested PP_FLAG_ALLOW_UNREADABLE_NETMEM:

	pool->mp_ops->init(pool)
	static_branch_inc(&page_pool_mem_providers);

Neither is undone by page_pool_uninit(); both are only undone by
__page_pool_destroy() (success-side teardown). The error path
therefore leaks the per-provider reference taken by mp_ops->init
(io_zcrx_ifq->refs in the io_uring zcrx provider, the dmabuf
binding refcount in the devmem provider) plus one increment of
the page_pool_mem_providers static branch on every failure of
xa_alloc_cyclic() inside page_pool_list().

The leaked io_zcrx_ifq->refs in turn pins everything
io_zcrx_ifq_free() would release on cleanup: ifq->user (uid),
ifq->mm_account (mmdrop), ifq->dev (device refcount),
ifq->netdev_tracker (netdev refcount), and the rbuf region.
The leaked static branch increment forces all subsequent
page_pool_alloc_netmems() and page_pool_return_page() callers to
take the slow mp_ops branch for the lifetime of the kernel.

Reachable via the io_uring zcrx path:

	io_uring_register(IORING_REGISTER_ZCRX_IFQ)  /* CAP_NET_ADMIN */
	  -> __io_uring_register
	  -> io_register_zcrx
	  -> zcrx_register_netdev
	  -> netif_mp_open_rxq
	  -> driver ndo_queue_mem_alloc
	  -> page_pool_create_percpu
	    -> page_pool_init succeeds (mp_ops->init runs, branch++)
	    -> page_pool_list fails (xa_alloc_cyclic -ENOMEM)
	    -> goto err_uninit         <-- leak

The same shape applies to the devmem dmabuf provider via
mp_dmabuf_devmem_init()/mp_dmabuf_devmem_destroy().

Restore the cleanup symmetry by moving the mp_ops->destroy() and
static_branch_dec() calls out of __page_pool_destroy() and into
page_pool_uninit(), so page_pool_uninit() is again the strict
inverse of page_pool_init(). page_pool_uninit() has only two
callers (the err_uninit: path and __page_pool_destroy()), so this
preserves the single-call invariant on the success path while
fixing the err path. The error path of page_pool_init() itself
still skips the mp_ops cleanup correctly: mp_ops->init is the
last action that takes a reference before page_pool_init() returns
0, so when it returns an error neither the refcount nor the static
branch has been touched.

Triggering the bug requires xa_alloc_cyclic() to fail with -ENOMEM,
which under normal GFP_KERNEL retry behaviour is rare. It is
deterministic under CONFIG_FAULT_INJECTION with fail_page_alloc /
xa fault injection, or under sustained memory pressure. The leak
is silent: there is no warning, and the released kernel build
continues running with a permanently-incremented static branch.

Fixes: 0f9214046893 ("memory-provider: dmabuf devmem memory provider")
Signed-off-by: Hasan Basbunar <basbunarhasan@gmail.com>
---
 net/core/page_pool.c | 10 +++++-----
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/net/core/page_pool.c b/net/core/page_pool.c
index 877bbf7a1938..6e576dec80db 100644
--- a/net/core/page_pool.c
+++ b/net/core/page_pool.c
@@ -327,6 +327,11 @@ static void page_pool_uninit(struct page_pool *pool)
 	if (!pool->system)
 		free_percpu(pool->recycle_stats);
 #endif
+
+	if (pool->mp_ops) {
+		pool->mp_ops->destroy(pool);
+		static_branch_dec(&page_pool_mem_providers);
+	}
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1146,11 +1151,6 @@ static void __page_pool_destroy(struct page_pool *pool)
 	page_pool_unlist(pool);
 	page_pool_uninit(pool);
 
-	if (pool->mp_ops) {
-		pool->mp_ops->destroy(pool);
-		static_branch_dec(&page_pool_mem_providers);
-	}
-
 	kfree(pool);
 }
 
-- 
2.53.0

Re: [PATCH] page_pool: fix memory-provider leak in page_pool_create_percpu() error path

[patchwork-bot+netdevbpf]

Hello:

This patch was applied to netdev/net.git (main)
by Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>:

On Tue, 28 Apr 2026 19:07:39 +0200 you wrote:
> When page_pool_create_percpu() fails on page_pool_list(), it falls
> through to its err_uninit: label, which calls page_pool_uninit().
> At that point page_pool_init() has already taken two references
> when the user requested PP_FLAG_ALLOW_UNREADABLE_NETMEM:
> 
> 	pool->mp_ops->init(pool)
> 	static_branch_inc(&page_pool_mem_providers);
> 
> [...]

Here is the summary with links:
  - page_pool: fix memory-provider leak in page_pool_create_percpu() error path
    https://git.kernel.org/netdev/net/c/5ef343614db7

You are awesome, thank you!
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