[PATCH v2] md/raid1: prevent a race between write and stop request

From: Edward Adam Davis

Date: Fri Aug 28 2026 - 06:50:13 EST


A race condition exists between write and stop requests, leading to a
null-ptr-deref in [1].

CPU0 CPU1
==== ====
md_submit_bio()
md_handle_request() do_md_stop()
raid1_make_request() __md_stop()
raid1_write_request() mddev->private = NULL
wait_barrier()
conf->nr_pending //trigger [1]

The intervention of a stop request causes inconsistencies in the state
of mddev members (such as private and pers) while a write request is
executing; the mddev lock is used to synchronize write and stop requests,
thereby ensuring consistent mddev state throughout the execution of the
write request.

Additionally, when a write operation reaches the RAID1 layer, if a stop
request acquires the mddev lock first and releases mddev->private, the
bio is terminated and the write request exits.

[1]
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000120-0x0000000000000127]
RIP: 0010:_wait_barrier+0x8d/0x700 drivers/md/raid1.c:1066
Call Trace:
wait_barrier drivers/md/raid1.c:1154 [inline]
raid1_write_request drivers/md/raid1.c:1506 [inline]
raid1_make_request+0x484/0x31a0 drivers/md/raid1.c:1696
md_handle_request+0x824/0x1230 drivers/md/md.c:417
md_submit_bio+0x1e9/0x350 drivers/md/md.c:458
__submit_bio block/blk-core.c:681 [inline]
__submit_bio+0x20e/0x3d0 block/blk-core.c:670
__submit_bio_noacct block/blk-core.c:724 [inline]
submit_bio_noacct_nocheck+0x736/0xc00 block/blk-core.c:792
submit_bio_noacct+0xc93/0x2130 block/blk-core.c:925
bio_await+0x1fa/0x240 block/bio.c:1580
submit_bio_wait+0x19/0x60 block/bio.c:1598
__blkdev_direct_IO_simple+0x4cb/0x8c0 block/fops.c:98
blkdev_direct_IO+0xbee/0x2030 block/fops.c:429
blkdev_direct_write block/fops.c:699 [inline]
blkdev_write_iter+0x703/0xd30 block/fops.c:767
new_sync_write fs/read_write.c:595 [inline]
vfs_write+0x6af/0x1050 fs/read_write.c:687

Fixes: 1da177e4c3f4 ("Linux-2.6.12-rc2")
Reported-by: syzbot+3fe892ea5fc292e1353f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Closes: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=3fe892ea5fc292e1353f
Tested-by: syzbot+3fe892ea5fc292e1353f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Edward Adam Davis <eadavis@xxxxxxxx>
---
v1 -> v2: typo in comments

drivers/md/raid1.c | 28 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
1 file changed, 27 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/drivers/md/raid1.c b/drivers/md/raid1.c
index f0646fb24371..3b9f1fa65e65 100644
--- a/drivers/md/raid1.c
+++ b/drivers/md/raid1.c
@@ -1674,6 +1674,7 @@ static bool raid1_write_request(struct mddev *mddev, struct bio *bio,
static bool raid1_make_request(struct mddev *mddev, struct bio *bio)
{
sector_t sectors;
+ blk_status_t status;

if (unlikely(bio->bi_opf & REQ_PREFLUSH)
&& md_flush_request(mddev, bio))
@@ -1692,11 +1693,36 @@ static bool raid1_make_request(struct mddev *mddev, struct bio *bio)
if (bio_data_dir(bio) == READ)
raid1_read_request(mddev, bio, sectors, NULL);
else {
+ int err;
+
md_write_start(mddev, bio);
- if (!raid1_write_request(mddev, bio, sectors))
+ err = mddev_lock(mddev);
+
+ if (err < 0) {
+ md_write_end(mddev);
+ status = BLK_STS_IOERR;
+ goto done;
+ }
+
+ if (!mddev->private) {
+ mddev_unlock(mddev);
+ md_write_end(mddev);
+ status = BLK_STS_OFFLINE;
+ goto done;
+ }
+
+ err = raid1_write_request(mddev, bio, sectors);
+ mddev_unlock(mddev);
+
+ if (!err)
md_write_end(mddev);
}
+out:
return true;
+done:
+ bio->bi_status = status;
+ bio_endio(bio);
+ goto out;
}

static void raid1_status(struct seq_file *seq, struct mddev *mddev)
--
2.43.0