Re: [PATCH v6 11/12] libnvdimm/pfn: Fix fsdax-mode namespace info-block zero-fields

From: Andrew Morton
Date: Wed Apr 17 2019 - 18:02:06 EST


On Wed, 17 Apr 2019 11:39:52 -0700 Dan Williams <dan.j.williams@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> At namespace creation time there is the potential for the "expected to
> be zero" fields of a 'pfn' info-block to be filled with indeterminate
> data. While the kernel buffer is zeroed on allocation it is immediately
> overwritten by nd_pfn_validate() filling it with the current contents of
> the on-media info-block location. For fields like, 'flags' and the
> 'padding' it potentially means that future implementations can not rely
> on those fields being zero.
>
> In preparation to stop using the 'start_pad' and 'end_trunc' fields for
> section alignment, arrange for fields that are not explicitly
> initialized to be guaranteed zero. Bump the minor version to indicate it
> is safe to assume the 'padding' and 'flags' are zero. Otherwise, this
> corruption is expected to benign since all other critical fields are
> explicitly initialized.
>
> Fixes: 32ab0a3f5170 ("libnvdimm, pmem: 'struct page' for pmem")
> Cc: <stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Signed-off-by: Dan Williams <dan.j.williams@xxxxxxxxx>

Buried at the end of a 12 patch series. Should this be a standalone
patch, suitable for a prompt merge?