Re: [PATCH 1/3] lib/maple_tree: fix potential NULL dereference in mas_pop_node()

Alice Ryhl
2026-03-12T23:00:59Z

On Thu, Mar 12, 2026 at 08:49:20PM +0000, Josh Law wrote:
> 12 Mar 2026 20:45:32 Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>:
>
> > On Thu, 12 Mar 2026 18:40:53 +0000 Josh Law <hlcj1234567@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> If kmem_cache_alloc_from_sheaf() returns NULL (possible under
> >> GFP_NOWAIT pressure), mas_pop_node() falls through to the out label
> >> and dereferences the NULL pointer in memset(ret, 0, sizeof(*ret)).
> >
> > This is such a glaring bug that I wonder if we're missing something.
> >
> >> Add a WARN_ON_ONCE NULL check after the sheaf allocation to bail out
> >> early, matching the existing pattern for the !mas->sheaf case above.
> >>
> >> Signed-off-by: Josh Law <objecting@objecting.org>
> >> ---
> >> lib/maple_tree.c | 2 ++
> >> 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+)
> >>
> >> diff --git a/lib/maple_tree.c b/lib/maple_tree.c
> >> index 739918e859e5..87a2ba6468ca 100644
> >> --- a/lib/maple_tree.c
> >> +++ b/lib/maple_tree.c
> >> @@ -1063,6 +1063,8 @@ static __always_inline struct maple_node *mas_pop_node(struct ma_state *mas)
> >>         return NULL;
> >>
> >>     ret = kmem_cache_alloc_from_sheaf(maple_node_cache, GFP_NOWAIT, mas->sheaf);
> >> +   if (WARN_ON_ONCE(!ret))
> >> +       return NULL;
> >
> > If we're going to do this then we may as well restore !__GFP_NOWARN,
> > get more relevant information.
> >
> > But a GFP_NOWAIT allocation attempt can fail relatively easily so
> > callers must be equipped to handle it - perhaps no need for any
> > warning.
>
> Well, fair enough, but WARN_ON is equivalent to a "oops! Something
> went wrong! We will continue anyway", NOWARN is quite bad for logging
> that that went wrong, usually it's BUG_ON that causes said kernel
> panics and that, which is a bit overkill, that's why I didn't add it,
> and it warns once, then bails, that's why I'm a bit on the iffy side
> about adding NOWARN, what's your opinion on this, do you think a
> NOWARN is better then warn on once?

The WARN_ON option must only be used for conditions that indicate a
kernel bug. Memory pressure is not a kernel bug, so WARN_ON is wrong
here. In fact, depending on kernel configuration, WARN_ON_ONCE may crash
the kernel.

Alice