Re: [PATCH] inotify: fix watch count leak when fsnotify_add_inode_mark_locked() fails
From: Jan Kara
Date: Thu Feb 26 2026 - 09:26:00 EST
On Tue 24-02-26 17:34:42, Chia-Ming Chang wrote:
> When fsnotify_add_inode_mark_locked() fails in inotify_new_watch(),
> the error path calls inotify_remove_from_idr() but does not call
> dec_inotify_watches() to undo the preceding inc_inotify_watches().
> This leaks a watch count, and repeated failures can exhaust the
> max_user_watches limit with -ENOSPC even when no watches are active.
>
> Prior to commit 1cce1eea0aff ("inotify: Convert to using per-namespace
> limits"), the watch count was incremented after fsnotify_add_mark_locked()
> succeeded, so this path was not affected. The conversion moved
> inc_inotify_watches() before the mark insertion without adding the
> corresponding rollback.
>
> Add the missing dec_inotify_watches() call in the error path.
>
> Fixes: 1cce1eea0aff ("inotify: Convert to using per-namespace limits")
> Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Signed-off-by: Chia-Ming Chang <chiamingc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Signed-off-by: robbieko <robbieko@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Thanks! I've added the patch to my tree.
Honza
> ---
> fs/notify/inotify/inotify_user.c | 1 +
> 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
>
> diff --git a/fs/notify/inotify/inotify_user.c b/fs/notify/inotify/inotify_user.c
> index b372fb2c56bd..0d813c52ff9c 100644
> --- a/fs/notify/inotify/inotify_user.c
> +++ b/fs/notify/inotify/inotify_user.c
> @@ -621,6 +621,7 @@ static int inotify_new_watch(struct fsnotify_group *group,
> if (ret) {
> /* we failed to get on the inode, get off the idr */
> inotify_remove_from_idr(group, tmp_i_mark);
> + dec_inotify_watches(group->inotify_data.ucounts);
> goto out_err;
> }
>
> --
> 2.34.1
>
>
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--
Jan Kara <jack@xxxxxxxx>
SUSE Labs, CR