If device_add() succeeds during CUSE initialization but a subsequent
step (cdev_alloc() or cdev_add()) fails, the error path calls
put_device() without first calling device_del(). This leaks the
devtmpfs entry created by device_add(), leaving a stale /dev/<name>
node that persists until reboot.
Since the cuse_conn is never linked into cuse_conntbl on the failure
path, cuse_channel_release() sees cc->dev == NULL and skips
device_unregister(), so no other code path cleans up the node.
This has several consequences:
- The device name is permanently poisoned: any subsequent attempt to
create a CUSE device with the same name hits the stale sysfs entry,
device_add() fails, and the new device is aborted.
- The collision manifests as ENODEV returned to userspace with no
dmesg diagnostic, making it very difficult to debug.
- The failure is self-perpetuating: once a name is leaked, all future
attempts with that name fail identically.
Fix this by introducing an err_dev label that calls device_del() to
undo device_add() before falling through to err_unlock. The existing
err_unlock path from a device_add() failure correctly skips device_del()
since the device was never added.
Testing instructions can be found at the lore link below.
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260408-wip-cuse-leak-fix-v1-0-1c028d575e97@redhat.com/
Signed-off-by: Alberto Ruiz <aruiz@redhat.com>
Fixes: 151060ac1314 ("CUSE: implement CUSE - Character device in Userspace")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Miklos Szeredi <mszeredi@redhat.com>