Re: [PATCH v3 04/14] vfs: call audit_inode_child() in lookup_open() on failure too

[NeilBrown]

On Sun, 05 Jul 2026, Jori Koolstra wrote:
> audit_inode_child() is called in may_create_dentry() so that failed
> filesystem operations still register an audit entry. On success, the
> entry is overwritten when, for instance, fsnotify_create() is called.
> This is the calling convention in vfs_create() and vfs_mkdir().
> In lookup_open(), however, when atomic_open() should have created a
> file but didn't, no call to audit_inode_child() is made. The same is
> true for the regular ->create() path.
> 
> Fix the calling of audit_inode_child() in lookup_open() to match the
> vfs_create() path. For the ->atomic_open() filesystems this logic has
> been pushed into atomic_open(). This function is also reordered a bit
> to make the case distinction of the possible returns from
> ->atomic_open() more explicit (i.e. finish_open() or finish_no_open()).
> 
> When retrying delegation breaking, audit_inode_child() could be called
> more than once, but this is OK because those entries are reused.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Jori Koolstra <jkoolstra@xxxxxxxxx>
> ---
>  fs/namei.c | 75 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------------------
>  1 file changed, 45 insertions(+), 30 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/fs/namei.c b/fs/namei.c
> index ee47d3f5159f..956adcd14c4a 100644
> --- a/fs/namei.c
> +++ b/fs/namei.c
> @@ -4369,10 +4369,11 @@ static int may_o_create(struct mnt_idmap *idmap,
>   */
>  static struct dentry *atomic_open(const struct path *path, struct dentry *dentry,
>  				  struct file *file,
> -				  int open_flag, umode_t mode)
> +				  int open_flag, umode_t mode, bool create_error)
>  {
>  	struct dentry *const DENTRY_NOT_SET = (void *) -1UL;
>  	struct inode *dir =  path->dentry->d_inode;
> +	bool failed_create = false;
>  	int error;
>  
>  	file->__f_path.dentry = DENTRY_NOT_SET;
> @@ -4382,23 +4383,33 @@ static struct dentry *atomic_open(const struct path *path, struct dentry *dentry
>  	d_lookup_done(dentry);
>  	if (!error) {
>  		if (file->f_mode & FMODE_OPENED) {
> -			if (unlikely(dentry != file->f_path.dentry)) {
> +			// finish_open() called
> +			struct dentry *opened = file->f_path.dentry;
> +			if (unlikely(opened != dentry)) {
>  				dput(dentry);
> -				dentry = dget(file->f_path.dentry);
> +				dentry = dget(opened);
>  			}
> -		} else if (WARN_ON(file->f_path.dentry == DENTRY_NOT_SET)) {
> -			error = -EIO;
> -		} else {
> -			if (file->f_path.dentry) {
> +		} else if (likely(file->f_path.dentry != DENTRY_NOT_SET)) {
> +			// finish_no_open() called
> +			struct dentry *replaced = file->f_path.dentry;
> +			if (replaced) {
>  				dput(dentry);
> -				dentry = file->f_path.dentry;
> +				dentry = replaced;
>  			}
>  			if (unlikely(d_is_negative(dentry)))
>  				error = -ENOENT;

I think this can now be
   if (unlikely(d_is_negative(dentry))
         error = create_error ?: -ENOENT;
or something similar if people don't like "?:".

> +			if (error && create_error) // should have created, but errored before
> +				failed_create = true;

Why have 'failed_create' ? Why not just put the audit_inode_child() like
here?

There rest of the patch look pretty good.

Thanks,
NeilBrown


> +		} else {
> +			const char *fsname = dentry->d_sb->s_type->name;
> +			WARN(1, "%s: ->atomic_open() left file->f_path.dentry unset!\n", fsname);
> +			error = -EIO;
>  		}
>  	}
>  
>  	if (error) {
> +		if (failed_create)
> +			audit_inode_child(dir, dentry, AUDIT_TYPE_CHILD_CREATE);
>  		dput(dentry);
>  		dentry = ERR_PTR(error);
>  	} else {
> @@ -4462,7 +4473,7 @@ static struct dentry *lookup_open(struct nameidata *nd, struct file *file,
>  		dentry = NULL;
>  	}
>  	if (dentry->d_inode) {
> -		/* Cached positive dentry: will open in f_op->open */
> +		/* Cached positive dentry: will open in do_open(). */
>  		return dentry;
>  	}
>  
> @@ -4496,7 +4507,7 @@ static struct dentry *lookup_open(struct nameidata *nd, struct file *file,
>  	if (dir_inode->i_op->atomic_open) {
>  		if (nd->flags & LOOKUP_DIRECTORY)
>  			open_flag |= O_DIRECTORY;
> -		dentry = atomic_open(&nd->path, dentry, file, open_flag, mode);
> +		dentry = atomic_open(&nd->path, dentry, file, open_flag, mode, create_error);
>  		if (unlikely(create_error) && dentry == ERR_PTR(-ENOENT))
>  			dentry = ERR_PTR(create_error);
>  		return dentry;
> @@ -4515,33 +4526,37 @@ static struct dentry *lookup_open(struct nameidata *nd, struct file *file,
>  			dentry = res;
>  		}
>  	}
> +	if (dentry->d_inode || !(op->open_flag & O_CREAT)) {
> +		/* No need to create a file. If lookup returned a positive
> +		 * dentry, the file will be opened in do_open(). */
> +		return dentry;
> +	}
> +
> +	/* Negative dentry with O_CREAT flag set */
> +	audit_inode_child(dir->d_inode, dentry, AUDIT_TYPE_CHILD_CREATE);
>  
> -	if (unlikely(create_error) && !dentry->d_inode) {
> +	if (unlikely(create_error)) {
> +		/* Should have done a create, but we already errored */
>  		error = create_error;
>  		goto out_dput;
>  	}
>  
> -	/* Negative dentry, just create the file */
> -	if (!dentry->d_inode && (open_flag & O_CREAT)) {
> -		/* but break the directory lease first! */
> -		error = try_break_deleg(dir_inode, LEASE_BREAK_DIR_CREATE, delegated_inode);
> -		if (error)
> -			goto out_dput;
> +	error = try_break_deleg(dir_inode, LEASE_BREAK_DIR_CREATE, delegated_inode);
> +	if (error)
> +		goto out_dput;
>  
> -		file->f_mode |= FMODE_CREATED;
> -		audit_inode_child(dir_inode, dentry, AUDIT_TYPE_CHILD_CREATE);
> -		if (!dir_inode->i_op->create) {
> -			error = -EACCES;
> -			goto out_dput;
> -		}
> +	file->f_mode |= FMODE_CREATED;
> +	if (!dir_inode->i_op->create) {
> +		error = -EACCES;
> +		goto out_dput;
> +	}
>  
> -		error = dir_inode->i_op->create(idmap, dir_inode, dentry,
> -						mode, open_flag & O_EXCL);
> -		if (error)
> -			goto out_dput;
> +	error = dir_inode->i_op->create(idmap, dir_inode, dentry,
> +					mode, open_flag & O_EXCL);
> +	if (error)
> +		goto out_dput;
>  
> -		fsnotify_create(dir_inode, dentry);
> -	}
> +	fsnotify_create(dir_inode, dentry);
>  
>  	return dentry;
>  
> @@ -5071,7 +5086,7 @@ struct file *dentry_create(struct path *path, int flags, umode_t mode,
>  
>  		/* atomic_open will dput(dentry) on error */
>  		dget(orig_dentry);
> -		dentry = atomic_open(path, dentry, file, flags, mode);
> +		dentry = atomic_open(path, dentry, file, flags, mode, create_error);
>  		error = PTR_ERR_OR_ZERO(dentry);
>  
>  		if (IS_ERR(dentry))
> -- 
> 2.55.0
> 
>