Re: [PATCH v5 3/4] fs: handle potential filesystems which use I_DONTCACHE and drop the lock in ->drop_inode
From: Jan Kara
Date: Wed Apr 01 2026 - 13:48:10 EST
On Tue 31-03-26 18:08:50, Mateusz Guzik wrote:
> f2fs and ntfs play games where they transitioning the refcount 0->1 and release
I don't see ntfs providing .drop_inode at all in current Linu's kernel? The
f2fs case is indeed ugly and a gross hack. But I don't see easy way how to
fix that for now.
> the inode spinlock, allowing other threads to grab a ref of their own.
>
> They also return 0 in that case, making this problem harmless.
>
> However, should they start using the I_DONTCACHE machinery down the road
> while retaining the above, iput_final() will get a race where it can
> proceed to teardown an inode with references.
>
> The easiest way out for the time being is to future-proof it by
> predicating caching on the count.
>
> Developing better ->drop_inode semantics and sanitizing all users is
> left as en exercise for the reader.
>
> Signed-off-by: Mateusz Guzik <mjguzik@xxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> fs/inode.c | 27 ++++++++++++++++++---------
> 1 file changed, 18 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/fs/inode.c b/fs/inode.c
> index e397a4b56671..013470e6d144 100644
> --- a/fs/inode.c
> +++ b/fs/inode.c
> @@ -1935,20 +1935,29 @@ static void iput_final(struct inode *inode)
> else
> drop = inode_generic_drop(inode);
>
> - if (!drop &&
> - !(inode_state_read(inode) & I_DONTCACHE) &&
> - (sb->s_flags & SB_ACTIVE)) {
> + /*
> + * FIXME: there are ->drop_inode hooks playing nasty games releasing the
> + * spinlock and temporarily grabbing refs, in turn opening a possibility
> + * someone else will sneak in and grab a ref while it happens.
> + *
> + * If such a hook returns 0 (== don't drop) it ends being up harmless as long
> + * as the inode is not marked with I_DONTCACHE. Otherwise we are proceeding
> + * with teardown despite references being present.
> + *
> + * Damage-control the problem by including the count in the decision. However,
> + * assert no refs showed up if the hook decided to drop the inode.
> + */
Would be better to format the comment to fit 80 columns...
> + if (drop)
> + VFS_BUG_ON_INODE(icount_read(inode) != 0, inode);
> +
> + if (unlikely(icount_read(inode) > 0) ||
> + (!drop && !(inode_state_read(inode) & I_DONTCACHE) &&
> + (sb->s_flags & SB_ACTIVE))) {
Any reason why you want to gracefully handle the buggy filesystem code? If
a filesystem playing games with .drop_inode starts using I_DONTCACHE, it
will BUG_ON below which is good enough I'd say. I don't think we need to
handle buggy fs drivers any better...
Honza
> __inode_lru_list_add(inode, true);
> spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock);
> return;
> }
>
> - /*
> - * Re-check ->i_count in case the ->drop_inode() hooks played games.
> - * Note we only execute this if the verdict was to drop the inode.
> - */
> - VFS_BUG_ON_INODE(icount_read(inode) != 0, inode);
> -
> if (drop) {
> inode_state_set(inode, I_FREEING);
> } else {
> --
> 2.48.1
>
--
Jan Kara <jack@xxxxxxxx>
SUSE Labs, CR