[PATCH] NFSv4: clear exception state on successful mkdir retry
From: Igor Raits
Date: Wed Apr 29 2026 - 06:55:35 EST
After a server returns NFS4ERR_DELAY for an NFSv4 CREATE issued by
mkdir(2), the client correctly waits and retries. When the retry
succeeds, however, mkdir(2) can still surface -EEXIST to userspace
even though the directory was just created on the server.
Reproducer (random 16-hex names so collisions are not the cause)
against an in-kernel Linux nfsd; reproduces under both NFSv4.0 and
NFSv4.2:
N=2000000; base=/var/gdc/export
for ((i=1; i<=N; i++)); do
d=$base/$(openssl rand -hex 8)
mkdir "$d" 2>/dev/null || echo "$(date +%T) failed loop=$i $d"
rmdir "$d" 2>/dev/null
done
Failures cluster at the cadence at which the server-side auth/export
cache refresh path causes nfsd to return NFS4ERR_DELAY for CREATE.
A wire trace of one failure (the three CREATE RPCs all come from a
single mkdir(2), generated by the do-while in nfs4_proc_mkdir()):
client -> server CREATE name=... -> NFS4ERR_DELAY
~100 ms later
client -> server CREATE name=... -> NFS4_OK (dir created)
~80 us later
client -> server CREATE name=... -> NFS4ERR_EXIST (correct)
Since commit dd862da61e91 ("nfs: fix incorrect handling of large-number
NFS errors in nfs4_do_mkdir()"), nfs4_handle_exception() is called only
when _nfs4_proc_mkdir() returned an error. That gate breaks retry-state
hygiene: nfs4_do_handle_exception() resets exception.{delay,recovering,
retry} to 0 on entry, so calling it on success is what previously
cleared the retry flag set by the preceding NFS4ERR_DELAY iteration.
With the gate in place, exception.retry stays at 1 after the successful
retry, the loop runs once more, and the resulting CREATE for an
already-created name yields NFS4ERR_EXIST -> -EEXIST to userspace.
Drop the conditional and call nfs4_handle_exception() unconditionally,
matching every other do-while in fs/nfs/nfs4proc.c (nfs4_proc_symlink(),
nfs4_proc_link(), etc.). The dentry/status separation introduced by
that commit is preserved.
Fixes: dd862da61e91 ("nfs: fix incorrect handling of large-number NFS errors in nfs4_do_mkdir()")
Reported-and-tested-by: Jan Čípa <jan.cipa@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-nfs/CA+9S74hSp_tJu2Ffe2BPNC2T25gfkhgjjDkdgSsF5c2rnJq_wA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx/
Reviewed-by: NeilBrown <neil@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Igor Raits <igor.raits@xxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/nfs/nfs4proc.c | 5 ++---
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
diff --git a/fs/nfs/nfs4proc.c b/fs/nfs/nfs4proc.c
index a0885ae55abc..ffd14141ea1d 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/nfs4proc.c
+++ b/fs/nfs/nfs4proc.c
@@ -5393,10 +5393,9 @@ static struct dentry *nfs4_proc_mkdir(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry,
do {
alias = _nfs4_proc_mkdir(dir, dentry, sattr, label, &err);
trace_nfs4_mkdir(dir, &dentry->d_name, err);
+ err = nfs4_handle_exception(NFS_SERVER(dir), err, &exception);
if (err)
- alias = ERR_PTR(nfs4_handle_exception(NFS_SERVER(dir),
- err,
- &exception));
+ alias = ERR_PTR(err);
} while (exception.retry);
nfs4_label_release_security(label);
--
2.53.0