[PATCH v2] kernfs: fix deadlock in epoll_ctl by waking pollfree

From: Sainath Manda

Date: Sun Jun 21 2026 - 06:43:28 EST


Syzbot reported a task hung in do_epoll_ctl_file(). This is caused by an
AB-BA lock inversion between epoll's ep->mtx and kernfs node teardown.

Thread A (epoll_ctl) acquires ep->mtx, then attempts to acquire the
kernfs active reference during vfs_poll().
Thread B (kernfs_remove) deactivates the node and attempts to unhook
active epoll monitors, which requires ep->mtx.

This patch fixes the deadlock by utilizing the existing epoll POLLFREE
path. By calling wake_up_pollfree(&on->poll) before the waitqueue is
freed, epoll users are notified to detach their wait entries without
requiring kernfs teardown to acquire ep->mtx.

Reported-by: syzbot+f83fa2cf571bd7650422@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Sainath Manda <sainathmanda777@xxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/kernfs/file.c | 8 ++++++++
1 file changed, 8 insertions(+)

diff --git a/fs/kernfs/file.c b/fs/kernfs/file.c
index 1163aa769..db3fed4d7 100644
--- a/fs/kernfs/file.c
+++ b/fs/kernfs/file.c
@@ -600,6 +600,14 @@ static void kernfs_unlink_open_file(struct kernfs_node *kn,
}

if (list_empty(&on->files)) {
+ /*
+ * @on->poll is embedded in @on and is about to be freed. Tell
+ * epoll users to detach their wait entries through the POLLFREE
+ * callback path before the waitqueue disappears. This path is
+ * serialized by the waitqueue lock and doesn't require taking
+ * eventpoll's ep->mtx from kernfs teardown.
+ */
+ wake_up_pollfree(&on->poll);
rcu_assign_pointer(kn->attr.open, NULL);
kfree_rcu(on, rcu_head);
}
--
2.34.1