Re: [BUG] lock_parent() breakage when used from shrink_dentry_list() (was Re: [PATCH v2 6/6] fs/dcache: Avoid remaining try_lock loop in shrink_dentry_list())

[Linus Torvalds]

On Fri, Feb 23, 2018 at 12:13 PM, Al Viro <viro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Look:
>         dentry placed on a shrink list
>         we pick the fucker from the list and lock it.
>         we call lock_parent() on it.
>                 dentry is not a root and it's not deleted, so we proceed.
>                 trylock fails.
>                 we grab rcu_read_lock()
>                 we drop dentry->d_lock

[ deleted the bad things ]

Should we just instead get the ref to the dentry before dropping the
lock, so that nobody else can get to dentry_kill?

This is too subtle, and your fix to check d_lockref.count < 0 sounds
wrong to me. If it's really gone, maybe it has been reused and the
refcount is positive again, but it's something else than a dentry
entirely?

Hmm.

No, you extended the rcu read section, so I guess your patch is fine.
And lock_parent already has that pattern, soiit's not new.

Ok, I agree, looks like lock_parent should just re-check that thing
that it already checked earler, but that now might be true again
because of we dropped d_lock.

              Linus