[PATCH v2 1/2] nvmet: defer setting ns->enabled to false in nvmet_ns_disable()

From: Nilay Shroff

Date: Fri Sep 18 2026 - 12:31:38 EST


nvmet_ns_disable() currently clears ns->enabled before draining
in-flight I/O references. This allows namespace configuration to be
changed while existing I/O requests can still hold a reference to the
namespace.

This can race with configuration of namespace attributes such as the
device path, UUID, NGUID etc. These attributes can be accessed by I/O
requests without holding subsys->lock and must not be modified while
such requests are still using the namespace.

In nvmet_ns_disable(), keep ns->enabled set while existing namespace
references are being drained, so namespace configuration remains blocked
until all in-flight I/O has completed. Set ns->enabled to false only
after the namespace references have been drained and the namespace
device has been disabled.

Introduce the NVMET_NS_IO_LIVE flag, which is set after the namespace
is successfully enabled in nvmet_ns_enable(). When nvmet_ns_disable()
starts, clear NVMET_NS_IO_LIVE so that the I/O path stops admitting new
I/O once the flag is cleared. Using test_and_clear_bit() in
nvmet_ns_disable() also prevents concurrent callers from starting a
second disable operation.

Signed-off-by: Nilay Shroff <nilay@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/nvme/target/core.c | 12 +++++++-----
drivers/nvme/target/nvmet.h | 2 ++
2 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/nvme/target/core.c b/drivers/nvme/target/core.c
index 43871a8f56ca..1d4b4936bcac 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/target/core.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/target/core.c
@@ -448,7 +448,8 @@ u16 nvmet_req_find_ns(struct nvmet_req *req)
struct nvmet_subsys *subsys = nvmet_req_subsys(req);

req->ns = xa_load(&subsys->namespaces, nsid);
- if (unlikely(!req->ns || !req->ns->enabled)) {
+ if (unlikely(!req->ns) ||
+ !test_bit(NVMET_NS_IO_LIVE, &req->ns->flags)) {
req->error_loc = offsetof(struct nvme_common_command, nsid);
if (!req->ns) /* ns doesn't exist! */
return NVME_SC_INVALID_NS | NVME_STATUS_DNR;
@@ -623,6 +624,7 @@ int nvmet_ns_enable(struct nvmet_ns *ns)
ns->enabled = true;
xa_set_mark(&subsys->namespaces, ns->nsid, NVMET_NS_ENABLED);
nvmet_debugfs_ns_setup(ns);
+ set_bit(NVMET_NS_IO_LIVE, &ns->flags);
ret = 0;
out_unlock:
mutex_unlock(&subsys->lock);
@@ -643,11 +645,11 @@ void nvmet_ns_disable(struct nvmet_ns *ns)
struct nvmet_subsys *subsys = ns->subsys;
struct nvmet_ctrl *ctrl;

+ if (!test_and_clear_bit(NVMET_NS_IO_LIVE, &ns->flags))
+ return;
+
mutex_lock(&subsys->lock);
- if (!ns->enabled)
- goto out_unlock;

- ns->enabled = false;
xa_clear_mark(&subsys->namespaces, ns->nsid, NVMET_NS_ENABLED);
nvmet_debugfs_ns_free(ns);

@@ -675,7 +677,7 @@ void nvmet_ns_disable(struct nvmet_ns *ns)
mutex_lock(&subsys->lock);
nvmet_ns_changed(subsys, ns->nsid);
nvmet_ns_dev_disable(ns);
-out_unlock:
+ ns->enabled = false;
mutex_unlock(&subsys->lock);
}

diff --git a/drivers/nvme/target/nvmet.h b/drivers/nvme/target/nvmet.h
index dbda55895f4f..162e2fdd848e 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/target/nvmet.h
+++ b/drivers/nvme/target/nvmet.h
@@ -112,6 +112,8 @@ struct nvmet_ns {

bool buffered_io;
bool enabled;
+#define NVMET_NS_IO_LIVE 0
+ unsigned long flags;
struct nvmet_subsys *subsys;
const char *device_path;

--
2.53.0