[PATCH v2] perf parse-events: Prevent null pointer dereference in __add_event()

From: zhaoguohan
Date: Fri Aug 15 2025 - 03:22:04 EST


From: GuoHan Zhao <zhaoguohan@xxxxxxxxxx>

In the error handling path of __add_event(), if evsel__new_idx() fails
and returns NULL, the subsequent calls to zfree(&evsel->name) and
zfree(&evsel->metric_id) will cause null pointer dereference.

Extend the goto chain to properly handle the case where evsel allocation
fails, avoiding unnecessary cleanup operations on a NULL pointer.

Fixes: cd63c2216825 ("perf parse-events: Minor __add_event refactoring")
Signed-off-by: GuoHan Zhao <zhaoguohan@xxxxxxxxxx>

Changes in V2:
- Extended the goto chain with separate error handling labels instead of using null pointer check
- Reordered jump targets to avoid accessing NULL evsel members
- Added Fixes tag
- Updated commit subject to use "Prevent" instead of "Fix"
---
tools/perf/util/parse-events.c | 15 +++++++++------
1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
index 8282ddf68b98..8a1fc5d024bf 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
@@ -277,18 +277,18 @@ __add_event(struct list_head *list, int *idx,

evsel = evsel__new_idx(attr, *idx);
if (!evsel)
- goto out_err;
+ goto out_free_cpus;

if (name) {
evsel->name = strdup(name);
if (!evsel->name)
- goto out_err;
+ goto out_free_evsel;
}

if (metric_id) {
evsel->metric_id = strdup(metric_id);
if (!evsel->metric_id)
- goto out_err;
+ goto out_free_evsel;
}

(*idx)++;
@@ -310,12 +310,15 @@ __add_event(struct list_head *list, int *idx,
evsel__warn_user_requested_cpus(evsel, user_cpus);

return evsel;
-out_err:
- perf_cpu_map__put(cpus);
- perf_cpu_map__put(pmu_cpus);
+
+out_free_evsel:
zfree(&evsel->name);
zfree(&evsel->metric_id);
free(evsel);
+out_free_cpus:
+ perf_cpu_map__put(cpus);
+ perf_cpu_map__put(pmu_cpus);
+
return NULL;
}

--
2.43.0