[PATCH] speakup: handle serial IRQ request failure
From: Runyu Xiao
Date: Mon Sep 21 2026 - 10:45:45 EST
start_serial_interrupt() currently logs a failed request_irq() but
continues enabling UART interrupts and reports a successful serial
synthesizer probe. A later release then calls free_irq() without a
matching registration.
Return the request error to spk_serial_init() and unwind the I/O region
and serial state when registration fails. This keeps the UART disabled
and prevents teardown from freeing an IRQ that was never requested.
Reproducer:
Build an x86_64 kernel with CONFIG_ACCESSIBILITY=y,
CONFIG_SPEAKUP=m, and CONFIG_SERIAL_8250=m. Disable ACPI, PNP, and
SERIAL_8250_CONSOLE so that QEMU's COM1 remains available at 0x3f8 on
IRQ4. Build an out-of-tree module that first claims IRQ4 with a
non-shared handler and then registers a Speakup serial synthesizer for
ttyS0. Boot the kernel in QEMU with its default COM1, for example:
qemu-system-x86_64 -machine pc -m 1024 -smp 2 -no-acpi \
-display none -monitor none -serial file:/dev/null \
-kernel arch/x86/boot/bzImage -initrd test.cpio.gz \
-append 'console=hvc0 rdinit=/init loglevel=7'
In the guest, load the modules in this order:
insmod speakup.ko
insmod speakup_irq_failure_poc.ko
The second module keeps the non-shared IRQ4 owner installed, so the
Speakup request_irq(..., IRQF_SHARED, ...) fails with -EBUSY. On the
unfixed kernel, the probe still returns success and the harness removes
the published synthesizer, producing "Trying to free already-free IRQ
4". On the fixed kernel, the probe returns an error and no unmatched
free_irq() warning is emitted. The IRQ conflict is deliberately
injected to exercise the error path and is not expected during normal
operation.
Fixes: c6e3fd22cd53 ("Staging: add speakup to the staging directory")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Assisted-by: LLM Codex
Signed-off-by: Runyu Xiao <runyu.xiao@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/accessibility/speakup/serialio.c | 19 ++++++++++++++-----
1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
diff --git a/drivers/accessibility/speakup/serialio.c b/drivers/accessibility/speakup/serialio.c
index 3418ea31d..56efc76a7 100644
--- a/drivers/accessibility/speakup/serialio.c
+++ b/drivers/accessibility/speakup/serialio.c
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
#define SERIAL_PORT_DFNS
#endif
-static void start_serial_interrupt(int irq);
+static int start_serial_interrupt(int irq);
static const struct old_serial_port rs_table[] = {
SERIAL_PORT_DFNS
@@ -106,7 +106,13 @@ const struct old_serial_port *spk_serial_init(int index)
speakup_info.port_tts = ser->port;
serstate = ser;
- start_serial_interrupt(ser->irq);
+ err = start_serial_interrupt(ser->irq);
+ if (err) {
+ synth_release_region(ser->port, 8);
+ speakup_info.port_tts = 0;
+ serstate = NULL;
+ return NULL;
+ }
return ser;
}
@@ -125,18 +131,20 @@ static irqreturn_t synth_readbuf_handler(int irq, void *dev_id)
return IRQ_HANDLED;
}
-static void start_serial_interrupt(int irq)
+static int start_serial_interrupt(int irq)
{
int rv;
if (!synth->read_buff_add)
- return;
+ return 0;
rv = request_irq(irq, synth_readbuf_handler, IRQF_SHARED,
"serial", (void *)synth_readbuf_handler);
- if (rv)
+ if (rv) {
pr_err("Unable to request Speakup serial I R Q\n");
+ return rv;
+ }
/* Set MCR */
outb(UART_MCR_DTR | UART_MCR_RTS | UART_MCR_OUT2,
speakup_info.port_tts + UART_MCR);
@@ -148,6 +156,7 @@ static void start_serial_interrupt(int irq)
inb(speakup_info.port_tts + UART_IIR);
inb(speakup_info.port_tts + UART_MSR);
outb(1, speakup_info.port_tts + UART_FCR); /* Turn FIFO On */
+ return 0;
}
static void spk_serial_send_xchar(struct spk_synth *synth, char ch)
--
2.34.1