Re: [PATCH v3 11/70] ns: add active reference count

From: Askar Safin

Date: Wed Oct 29 2025 - 03:02:11 EST


Christian Brauner <brauner@xxxxxxxxxx>:
> Currently namespace file handles allow much broader access to namespaces
> than what is currently possible via (1)-(4). The reason is that

There is no any (4) here.


> On current kernels a namespace is visible to userspace in the
> following cases:
[...]
> (3) The namespace is a hierarchical namespace type and is the parent of
> a single or multiple child namespaces.
[...]
> To handle this nicely we introduce an active reference count which
> tracks (1)-(3). This is easy to do as all of these things are already
[...]
> + * Inactive -> Active:
> + * When walking a hierarchical namespace tree upwards and reopening
> + * parent namespaces via NS_GET_PARENT that only exist because they
> + * are a parent of an actively used namespace it is possible to
> + * necrobump an inactive namespace back to the active state.

These quoted parts contradict to each other. You say "we introduce an
active reference count which tracks (1)-(3)", and (3) says "The namespace
is a hierarchical namespace type and is the parent of a single or multiple
child namespaces". I. e. active reference will count such parents. But then
in code you say:

> + * Inactive -> Active:
> + * When walking a hierarchical namespace tree upwards and reopening
> + * parent namespaces via NS_GET_PARENT that only exist because they
> + * are a parent of an actively used namespace it is possible to
> + * necrobump an inactive namespace back to the active state.

I. e. now you say that such parents are inactive and can become active.




--
Askar Safin