Subject: [PATCH net-next 1/2] ppp: disconnect channel before nullifying pch->chan

From: Qingfang Deng <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2026 17:37:30 +0800

In ppp_unregister_channel(), pch->chan is set to NULL before calling
ppp_disconnect_channel(), which removes the channel from ppp->channels
list using list_del_rcu() + synchronize_net(). This creates an
intermediate state where the channel is still connected (on the list)
but already unregistered (pch->chan == NULL).

Call ppp_disconnect_channel() before setting pch->chan to NULL. After
the synchronize_net(), no new reader on the transmit path will hold a
reference to the channel from the list.

This eliminates the problematic state, and prepares for removing the
pch->chan NULL checks from the transmit path in a subsequent patch.

Signed-off-by: Qingfang Deng <[email-masked]>
---
 drivers/net/ppp/ppp_generic.c | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/drivers/net/ppp/ppp_generic.c b/drivers/net/ppp/ppp_generic.c
index 6344c5eb0f98..ad480b584e25 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ppp/ppp_generic.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ppp/ppp_generic.c
@@ -3032,12 +3032,12 @@ ppp_unregister_channel(struct ppp_channel *chan)
 	 * This ensures that we have returned from any calls into
 	 * the channel's start_xmit or ioctl routine before we proceed.
 	 */
+	ppp_disconnect_channel(pch);
 	down_write(&pch->chan_sem);
 	spin_lock_bh(&pch->downl);
 	WRITE_ONCE(pch->chan, NULL);
 	spin_unlock_bh(&pch->downl);
 	up_write(&pch->chan_sem);
-	ppp_disconnect_channel(pch);
 
 	pn = ppp_pernet(pch->chan_net);
 	spin_lock_bh(&pn->all_channels_lock);
-- 
2.43.0