[PATCH v2 04/11] efi_loader: fix open_file_system() memory leak on fallback path

[Ilias Apalodimas]

On Sun, 21 Jun 2026 at 11:19, Heinrich Schuchardt <
heinrich.schuchardt at canonical.com> wrote:

> In dtbdump.c and smbiosdump.c, open_file_system() falls back to
> locating the UEFI system partition via locate_handle_buffer() when
> the loaded image's own partition does not expose the simple file
> system protocol. The handle buffer returned by locate_handle_buffer()
> must be freed via free_pool().
>
> The guard condition read 'if (handle)' (checking the image handle,
> which is never NULL) instead of 'if (handle_buffer)', so the buffer
> was freed unconditionally even when locate_handle_buffer() was never
> called and handle_buffer remained NULL, and it also obscured the
> intent. Change the condition to 'if (handle_buffer)'.
>
> Signed-off-by: Heinrich Schuchardt <heinrich.schuchardt at canonical.com>
> ---
>

Reviewed-by: Ilias Apalodimas <ilias.apalodimas at linaro.org>

> v2:
>         new patch
> ---
>  lib/efi_loader/dtbdump.c    | 2 +-
>  lib/efi_loader/smbiosdump.c | 2 +-
>  2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/lib/efi_loader/dtbdump.c b/lib/efi_loader/dtbdump.c
> index 1e72404ecc1..865edc33a97 100644
> --- a/lib/efi_loader/dtbdump.c
> +++ b/lib/efi_loader/dtbdump.c
> @@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ open_file_system(struct
> efi_simple_file_system_protocol **file_system)
>                                         EFI_OPEN_PROTOCOL_GET_PROTOCOL);
>         if (ret != EFI_SUCCESS)
>                 error(u"Failed to open simple file system protocol\r\n");
> -       if (handle)
> +       if (handle_buffer)
>                 bs->free_pool(handle_buffer);
>
>         return ret;
> diff --git a/lib/efi_loader/smbiosdump.c b/lib/efi_loader/smbiosdump.c
> index 974728a43af..494c3d18945 100644
> --- a/lib/efi_loader/smbiosdump.c
> +++ b/lib/efi_loader/smbiosdump.c
> @@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ open_file_system(struct
> efi_simple_file_system_protocol **file_system)
>                                         EFI_OPEN_PROTOCOL_GET_PROTOCOL);
>         if (ret != EFI_SUCCESS)
>                 error(u"Failed to open simple file system protocol\r\n");
> -       if (handle)
> +       if (handle_buffer)
>                 bs->free_pool(handle_buffer);
>
>         return ret;
> --
> 2.53.0
>
>