Re: [PATCH net] net/smc: fix socket refcount leak in smc_switch_conns()

On Tue, Aug 04, 2026 at 10:28:00AM +0200, Hidayath Khan wrote:
> smc_switch_conns() takes a reference on the SMC socket before dropping
> lgr->conns_lock, so the connection stays alive while the CDC slot is
> fetched:
> 
>         sock_hold(&smc->sk);
>         read_unlock_bh(&lgr->conns_lock);
>         /* pre-fetch buffer outside of send_lock, might sleep */
>         rc = smc_cdc_get_free_slot(conn, to_lnk, &wr_buf, NULL, &pend);
>         if (rc)
>                 goto err_out;
> 
> The err_out label only drops the wr_tx link reference, so this early exit
> returns without the matching sock_put().  The second error exit is not
> affected because sock_put() has already run by then:
> 
>         rc = smc_switch_cursor(smc, pend, wr_buf);
>         spin_unlock_bh(&conn->send_lock);
>         sock_put(&smc->sk);
>         if (rc)
>                 goto err_out;
> 
> A leaked sk_refcnt means the smc_sock is never destroyed.  Its send and
> receive buffers stay allocated, and for a user socket the reference held
> on the network namespace is never released, so the netns can no longer be
> torn down.
> 
> smc_cdc_get_free_slot() fails when the target link goes down or when the
> connection has been killed while the switch is in progress.  Both are
> reachable during the link failover this function implements, so the leak
> is triggered by the same hardware events that make smc_switch_conns() run
> in the first place.
> 
> Drop the reference on the early error path.
> 
> Fixes: 95f7f3e7dc6b ("net/smc: improved fix wait on already cleared link")
> Cc: [email protected]
> Reviewed-by: Mahanta Jambigi <[email protected]>
> Signed-off-by: Hidayath Khan <[email protected]>

Reviewed-by: Breno Leitao <[email protected]>

> ---
>  net/smc/smc_core.c | 4 +++-
>  1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
> 
> diff --git a/net/smc/smc_core.c b/net/smc/smc_core.c
> index b4208cb186c5..c0027d2fe4e8 100644
> --- a/net/smc/smc_core.c
> +++ b/net/smc/smc_core.c
> @@ -1148,8 +1148,10 @@ struct smc_link *smc_switch_conns(struct smc_link_group *lgr,
>  		read_unlock_bh(&lgr->conns_lock);
>  		/* pre-fetch buffer outside of send_lock, might sleep */
>  		rc = smc_cdc_get_free_slot(conn, to_lnk, &wr_buf, NULL, &pend);

Do you need sock_hold(smc->sk) to call smc_cdc_get_free_slot ? Otherwise
you can move the sock_hold() after the exit.