[PATCH v2 00/18] wifi: drop redundant USB device references

Johan Hovold johan at kernel.org
Fri Mar 6 00:51:26 PST 2026


Driver core holds a reference to the USB interface and its parent USB
device while the interface is bound to a driver and there is no need to
take additional references unless the structures are needed after
disconnect.

Drop redundant device references to reduce cargo culting, make it easier
to spot drivers where an extra reference is needed, and reduce the risk
of memory leaks when drivers fail to release them.

Note that I sent an ath9k patch separately here:

	https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260305105803.17011-1-johan@kernel.org/

but I included it here in v2 for completeness.

Also note that Greg had already sent a fix for rtw88 which has been
picked up by Ping-Ke, but who asked me to send a replacement. If an
incremental patch is preferred I can instead send a follow up for that
one later.

Johan


Changes in v2:
 - include ath9k, previously submitted separately
 - include ath6kl and ath10k
 - rename the ath6kl and ath10k disconnect callbacks
 - fix a reference leak in rtw88 previously reported (and fixed
   differently) by Greg


Johan Hovold (18):
  wifi: ath6kl: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: ath6kl: rename disconnect callback
  wifi: ath9k: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: ath10k: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: ath10k: rename disconnect callback
  wifi: at76c50x: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: libertas: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: libertas_tf: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: mwifiex: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: mt76: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: mt76x0u: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: mt76x2u: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: mt76: mt792xu: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: mt7601u: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: rt2x00: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: rtl818x: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: rtl8xxxu: drop redundant device reference
  wifi: rtw88: fix device leak on probe failure

 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/usb.c            |  8 ++------
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath6kl/usb.c            | 16 ++++------------
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c         |  4 ----
 drivers/net/wireless/atmel/at76c50x-usb.c        | 12 ++++--------
 drivers/net/wireless/marvell/libertas/if_usb.c   |  3 ---
 .../net/wireless/marvell/libertas_tf/if_usb.c    |  2 --
 drivers/net/wireless/marvell/mwifiex/usb.c       |  4 ----
 drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mt7615/usb.c  |  3 ---
 drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mt76x0/usb.c  |  3 ---
 drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mt76x2/usb.c  |  4 ----
 drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mt7921/usb.c  |  2 --
 drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mt7925/usb.c  |  2 --
 drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mt792x_usb.c  |  1 -
 drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt7601u/usb.c      |  3 ---
 drivers/net/wireless/ralink/rt2x00/rt2x00usb.c   | 12 +-----------
 .../net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8187/dev.c   |  4 ----
 drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8xxxu/core.c     | 11 +++--------
 drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/usb.c         |  3 +--
 18 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 82 deletions(-)

-- 
2.52.0




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