[PATCH RFC v2 22/23] fs: start all kthreads in nullfs
From: Christian Brauner
Date: Thu Mar 05 2026 - 18:34:03 EST
Point init_task's fs_struct (root and pwd) at a private nullfs instance
instead of the mutable rootfs. All kthreads now start isolated in nullfs
and must use scoped_with_init_fs() for any path resolution.
PID 1 is moved from nullfs into the initramfs by init_userspace_fs().
Usermodehelper threads use userspace_init_fs via the umh flag in
copy_fs(). All subsystems that need init's filesystem state for path
resolution already use scoped_with_init_fs() from earlier commits in
this series.
This isolates kthreads from userspace filesystem state and makes it
hard to perform filesystem operations from kthread context.
Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/namespace.c | 10 ++++++----
1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/fs/namespace.c b/fs/namespace.c
index 668131aa5de1..2a530109eb36 100644
--- a/fs/namespace.c
+++ b/fs/namespace.c
@@ -6188,12 +6188,14 @@ static void __init init_mount_tree(void)
init_mnt_ns.nr_mounts++;
}
+ nullfs_mnt = kern_mount(&nullfs_fs_type);
+ if (IS_ERR(nullfs_mnt))
+ panic("VFS: Failed to create private nullfs instance");
+ root.mnt = nullfs_mnt;
+ root.dentry = nullfs_mnt->mnt_root;
+
init_task.nsproxy->mnt_ns = &init_mnt_ns;
get_mnt_ns(&init_mnt_ns);
-
- /* The root and pwd always point to the mutable rootfs. */
- root.mnt = mnt;
- root.dentry = mnt->mnt_root;
set_fs_pwd(current->fs, &root);
set_fs_root(current->fs, &root);
--
2.47.3