From: Mukesh Ojha <mukesh.ojha@oss.qualcomm.com>
To: MyungJoo Ham <myungjoo.ham@samsung.com>,
Kyungmin Park <kyungmin.park@samsung.com>,
Chanwoo Choi <cw00.choi@samsung.com>,
"Rafael J. Wysocki" <rafael.j.wysocki@intel.com>,
Rajagopal Venkat <rajagopal.venkat@linaro.org>
Cc: linux-pm@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
Mukesh Ojha <mukesh.ojha@oss.qualcomm.com>,
stable@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH] devfreq: stop monitor before calling governor GOV_STOP
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2026 22:41:41 +0530 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260721171141.1281754-1-mukesh.ojha@oss.qualcomm.com> (raw)
The following NULL pointer dereference is observed when devfreq_monitor
fires after userspace_exit() has freed governor_data:
pc : devfreq_userspace_func+0x10/0x2c
Code: 39402109 --> ldrb w9, [x0, #8] (x0 = NULL)
Call trace:
devfreq_userspace_func+0x10/0x2c
devfreq_monitor+0x34/0x134
process_scheduled_works+0x1d8/0x804
worker_thread+0x1c0/0x458
The fault address 0x8 is userspace_data.valid — an 8-byte unsigned long
(user_frequency) precedes it, so governor_data == NULL is the cause.
The race: devfreq_resume_device() reads df->governor without holding
devfreq_list_lock, while governor_store() updates it under that lock.
The stale pointer dispatches GOV_RESUME to the old governor
(simple_ondemand) after the switch has already completed:
CPU 0 (devfreq_resume_device) CPU 1 (governor_store)
read df->governor → simple_ondemand
lock(devfreq_list_lock)
GOV_STOP → monitor stopped
df->governor = userspace
GOV_START → governor_data alloc'd
unlock(devfreq_list_lock)
simple_ondemand->event_handler
(DEVFREQ_GOV_RESUME)
→ devfreq_monitor_resume()
stop_polling == true → re-queue work ← stray monitor!
stop_polling = false
devfreq_monitor is now queued with df->governor == userspace. When
devfreq_remove_device() or governor_store() next calls userspace GOV_STOP,
userspace_exit() frees governor_data. The stray monitor fires,
dereferences NULL governor_data, and crashes.
Call devfreq_monitor_stop() before every GOV_STOP dispatch in the core,
ensuring the polling work is fully cancelled before any governor tears down
its private data. devfreq_monitor_stop() is safe unconditionally:
IRQ_DRIVEN governors return immediately, polling governors that already
call it in their own GOV_STOP handler make the second call a no-op
(stop_polling already true), and governors that never polled get a harmless
cancel_delayed_work_sync() on an empty queue.
Four sites are fixed: devfreq_remove_device(), governor_store(),
devfreq_remove_governor() (governor module unload), and timer_store()
(timer-type change performs a GOV_STOP + GOV_START cycle).
Fixes: 7e6fdd4bad03 ("PM / devfreq: Core updates to support devices which can idle")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Mukesh Ojha <mukesh.ojha@oss.qualcomm.com>
---
drivers/devfreq/devfreq.c | 8 +++++++-
1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/drivers/devfreq/devfreq.c b/drivers/devfreq/devfreq.c
index f08fc6966eae..7538f20657b7 100644
--- a/drivers/devfreq/devfreq.c
+++ b/drivers/devfreq/devfreq.c
@@ -993,9 +993,12 @@ int devfreq_remove_device(struct devfreq *devfreq)
devfreq_cooling_unregister(devfreq->cdev);
- if (devfreq->governor)
+ if (devfreq->governor) {
+ devfreq_monitor_stop(devfreq);
devfreq->governor->event_handler(devfreq,
DEVFREQ_GOV_STOP, NULL);
+ }
+
device_unregister(&devfreq->dev);
return 0;
@@ -1344,6 +1347,7 @@ int devfreq_remove_governor(struct devfreq_governor *governor)
if (!strncmp(devfreq->governor->name, governor->name,
DEVFREQ_NAME_LEN)) {
+ devfreq_monitor_stop(devfreq);
ret = devfreq->governor->event_handler(devfreq,
DEVFREQ_GOV_STOP, NULL);
if (ret) {
@@ -1416,6 +1420,7 @@ static ssize_t governor_store(struct device *dev, struct device_attribute *attr,
* Stop the current governor and remove the specific sysfs files
* which depend on current governor.
*/
+ devfreq_monitor_stop(df);
ret = df->governor->event_handler(df, DEVFREQ_GOV_STOP, NULL);
if (ret) {
dev_warn(dev, "%s: Governor %s not stopped(%d)\n",
@@ -1863,6 +1868,7 @@ static ssize_t timer_store(struct device *dev, struct device_attribute *attr,
df->profile->timer = timer;
mutex_unlock(&df->lock);
+ devfreq_monitor_stop(df);
ret = df->governor->event_handler(df, DEVFREQ_GOV_STOP, NULL);
if (ret) {
dev_warn(dev, "%s: Governor %s not stopped(%d)\n",
--
2.53.0
next reply other threads:[~2026-07-21 17:11 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 4+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-07-21 17:11 Mukesh Ojha [this message]
2026-08-03 18:16 ` Mukesh Ojha
2026-09-24 12:32 ` Mukesh Ojha
2026-10-15 8:06 ` Jie Zhan
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