After device_initialize(), the lifetime of the embedded struct device
is expected to be managed through the device core reference counting.
In counter_alloc(), if dev_set_name() fails after device_initialize(),
the error path removes the chrdev, frees the ID, and frees the backing
allocation directly instead of releasing the device reference with
put_device(). This bypasses the normal device lifetime rules and may
leave the reference count of the embedded struct device unbalanced,
resulting in a refcount leak.
The issue was identified by a static analysis tool I developed and
confirmed by manual review.
Fix this by using put_device() in the dev_set_name() failure path and
let counter_device_release() handle the final cleanup.
Fixes: 4da08477ea ("counter: Set counter device name")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Guangshuo Li <lgs201920130244@gmail.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260413134604.2861772-1-lgs201920130244@gmail.com
Signed-off-by: William Breathitt Gray <wbg@kernel.org>
d9eeb0ea0d