[PATCH net-next v5 2/4] net: phy: put the driver module the attach took
From: Aleksei Sviridkin
Date: Fri Oct 09 2026 - 14:10:44 EST
phy_attach_direct() pins the PHY driver module through d->driver, and
phy_detach() releases it by reading d->driver again. Unbinding the PHY
driver while the PHY is attached clears that pointer, so a detach that
runs while the driver is still unbound skips the put and the module can
no longer be unloaded; if a different driver binds in between, the put
lands on a module that was never pinned. The NULL test added by
commit c2b727df7caa ("net: phy: Avoid NPD upon phy_detach() when driver
is unbound") avoids the oops but skips the put.
Found by reading phy_detach() while chasing a PHY driver unbind race on
a Keenetic KN-1012 (MT7981, air_en8811h built as a module). The leak
itself was not observed there: unbinding air_en8811h under the attached
lan4 DSA port and then unbinding the switch faults earlier on that
board, in phy_free_interrupt() or under phy_stop(), before
phy_detach() gets to the put.
Remember which module was pinned and release that one.
Fixes: cafe8df8b9bc ("net: phy: Fix lack of reference count on PHY driver")
Assisted-by: LLM
Signed-off-by: Aleksei Sviridkin <f@xxxxxx>
---
Changes in v5:
- The driver module is read once, so the module pinned and the module
recorded cannot differ.
- Rebased on net-next: the failed generic bind unwind keeps the
interrupt restore it got there.
- On its own, this patch can still leak a reference when one consumer
attaches while another detaches the same PHY. Patch 3 closes that.
drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c | 12 ++++++++----
include/linux/phy.h | 2 ++
2 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c b/drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c
index 6bc9cdb7fa69..68691c487eee 100644
--- a/drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c
+++ b/drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c
@@ -1728,8 +1728,8 @@ static void phy_detach_internal(struct phy_device *phydev, bool notify_bus)
phydev->phy_link_change = NULL;
phydev->phylink = NULL;
- if (phydev->mdio.dev.driver)
- module_put(phydev->mdio.dev.driver->owner);
+ module_put(phydev->drv_owner);
+ phydev->drv_owner = NULL;
/* If the device had no specific driver before (i.e. - it
* was using the generic driver), we unbind the device
@@ -1794,6 +1794,7 @@ int phy_attach_direct(struct net_device *dev, struct phy_device *phydev,
struct mii_bus *bus = phydev->mdio.bus;
struct device *d = &phydev->mdio.dev;
struct module *ndev_owner = NULL;
+ struct module *drv_owner;
int irq = phydev->irq;
int err;
@@ -1830,11 +1831,13 @@ int phy_attach_direct(struct net_device *dev, struct phy_device *phydev,
phydev->is_genphy_driven = 1;
}
- if (!try_module_get(d->driver->owner)) {
+ drv_owner = d->driver->owner;
+ if (!try_module_get(drv_owner)) {
phydev_err(phydev, "failed to get the device driver module\n");
err = -EIO;
goto error_put_device;
}
+ phydev->drv_owner = drv_owner;
if (phydev->is_genphy_driven) {
err = d->driver->probe(d);
@@ -1942,7 +1945,8 @@ int phy_attach_direct(struct net_device *dev, struct phy_device *phydev,
return err;
error_module_put:
- module_put(d->driver->owner);
+ module_put(phydev->drv_owner);
+ phydev->drv_owner = NULL;
phydev->irq = irq;
phydev->is_genphy_driven = 0;
d->driver = NULL;
diff --git a/include/linux/phy.h b/include/linux/phy.h
index 7c5098a0dd6c..a5a419bc400e 100644
--- a/include/linux/phy.h
+++ b/include/linux/phy.h
@@ -578,6 +578,7 @@ struct phy_oatc14_sqi_capability {
*
* @mdio: MDIO bus this PHY is on
* @drv: Pointer to the driver for this PHY instance
+ * @drv_owner: Driver module phy_attach_direct() took a reference on
* @devlink: Create a link between phy dev and mac dev, if the external phy
* used by current mac interface is managed by another mac interface.
* @phyindex: Unique id across the phy's parent tree of phys to address the PHY
@@ -689,6 +690,7 @@ struct phy_device {
/* Information about the PHY type */
/* And management functions */
const struct phy_driver *drv;
+ struct module *drv_owner;
struct device_link *devlink;
--
2.53.0