Re: [alsa-devel] [PATCH] ASoC: soc-core: Fix null pointer dereference in soc_find_component

[Pierre-Louis Bossart <pierre-louis.bossart@linux.intel.com>]

> The issue was that we were seeing a memory corruption bug on an AMD
> chromebooks with that function already (not observed on Intel). I was
> testing some SOF integrations and was seeing this in the kernel logs.
> I had Dylan verify my logic before I sent the patch because it took so
> long to identify the bug and it was traced to the patch that introduce
> soc_init_platform.
>
> [   10.922112] cz-da7219-max98357a AMD7219:00: ASoC: CPU DAI
> designware-i2s.1.auto not registered
> [   10.922122] cz-da7219-max98357a AMD7219:00:
> devm_snd_soc_register_card(acpd7219m98357) failed: -517
> [   11.001411] cz-da7219-max98357a AMD7219:00: ASoC: Both platform
> name/of_node are set for amd-max98357-play
> [   11.001423] cz-da7219-max98357a AMD7219:00: ASoC: failed to init
> link amd-max98357-play
> [   11.001431] cz-da7219-max98357a AMD7219:00:
> devm_snd_soc_register_card(acpd7219m98357) failed: -22
> [   11.001577] cz-da7219-max98357a: probe of AMD7219:00 failed with error -22
>
> of_node was never getting set but the pointer was becoming populated
> (outside of the probe call) which traced to soc_init_platform function
> which was not reallocating memory on a EPROBE_DEFER even though it was
> getting freed by devm. I am not very familiar with devm but my local
> maintainers say that it should be freeing the memory even on a
> PROBE_DEFER.
> The patch should mirror the memory behaviour in
> snd_soc_init_multicodec which also reallocates its memory on every
> probe. I'm not sure how the patch is causing you to defer, is your
> component list corrupt?
>
> Sorry for the duplicate spam, forgot to send via plain text mode,
> re-sending for the mailing list so it gets accepted.

There is no defer issue with the intel stuff, but we call this routine 
multiple times

snd_soc_register_card

--soc_init_dai_link

----snd_soc_init_platform

-- soc_soc_bind_card

----snd_soc_instantiate_card

------ soc_check_tplg_fes

-------- snd_soc_init_platform << ALLOC1

--------soc_init_dai_link

----------snd_soc_init_platform << ALLOC2

Initially dai_link->legacy_platform is 0, so gets set after the first 
first devm_kzalloc (ALLOC1) and after that we always allocate new memory 
(ALLOC2). The end result is that whatever we set in soc_check_tplg_fes 
is lost with the new/unnecessary alloc.

I would guess your solution is also a work-around, if devm_ effectively 
freed the memory then the pointer would become NULL. Or may that's the 
issue is that no one actually resets it.