Re: [PATCH] loop: Fix NULL pointer dereference by synchronizing lo_release and loop_queue_rq

From: Bart Van Assche

Date: Mon May 11 2026 - 12:10:36 EST


On 5/11/26 4:43 AM, Tetsuo Handa wrote:
diff --git a/drivers/block/loop.c b/drivers/block/loop.c
index 0000913f7efc..9be47ce97dab 100644
--- a/drivers/block/loop.c
+++ b/drivers/block/loop.c
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ struct loop_cmd {
static DEFINE_IDR(loop_index_idr);
static DEFINE_MUTEX(loop_ctl_mutex);
static DEFINE_MUTEX(loop_validate_mutex);
+DEFINE_SRCU(loop_io_srcu);
/**
* loop_global_lock_killable() - take locks for safe loop_validate_file() test
@@ -1747,8 +1748,19 @@ static void lo_release(struct gendisk *disk)
need_clear = (lo->lo_state == Lo_rundown);
mutex_unlock(&lo->lo_mutex);
- if (need_clear)
+ if (need_clear) {
+ /*
+ * Now that loop_queue_rq() sees lo->lo_state != Lo_bound,
+ * wait for already started loop_queue_rq() to complete.
+ */
+ synchronize_srcu(&loop_io_srcu);
+ /*
+ * Now that no more works are scheduled by loop_queue_rq(),
+ * wait for already scheduled works to complete.
+ */
+ drain_workqueue(lo->workqueue);
__loop_clr_fd(lo);
+ }
}

There is already a mechanism in the block layer to wait for pending
.queue_rq() calls to complete. Please take a look at
blk_mq_quiesce_queue().

static void lo_free_disk(struct gendisk *disk)
@@ -1854,11 +1866,15 @@ static blk_status_t loop_queue_rq(struct blk_mq_hw_ctx *hctx,
struct request *rq = bd->rq;
struct loop_cmd *cmd = blk_mq_rq_to_pdu(rq);
struct loop_device *lo = rq->q->queuedata;
+ int idx;
blk_mq_start_request(rq);
- if (data_race(READ_ONCE(lo->lo_state)) != Lo_bound)
+ idx = srcu_read_lock(&loop_io_srcu);
+ if (data_race(READ_ONCE(lo->lo_state)) != Lo_bound) {
+ srcu_read_unlock(&loop_io_srcu, idx);
return BLK_STS_IOERR;
+ }
switch (req_op(rq)) {
case REQ_OP_FLUSH:
@@ -1888,6 +1904,7 @@ static blk_status_t loop_queue_rq(struct blk_mq_hw_ctx *hctx,
#endif
loop_queue_work(lo, cmd);
+ srcu_read_unlock(&loop_io_srcu, idx);
return BLK_STS_OK;
}

Why SRCU instead of RCU? The loop driver doesn't set BLK_MQ_F_BLOCKING
and hence must not sleep inside loop_queue_rq(). Additionally, the block
layer already holds an RCU lock around all loop_queue_rq() calls. From
block/blk-mq.h:

/* run the code block in @dispatch_ops with rcu/srcu read lock held */
#define __blk_mq_run_dispatch_ops(q, check_sleep, dispatch_ops) \
do { \
if ((q)->tag_set->flags & BLK_MQ_F_BLOCKING) { \
struct blk_mq_tag_set *__tag_set = (q)->tag_set; \
int srcu_idx; \
\
might_sleep_if(check_sleep); \
srcu_idx = srcu_read_lock(__tag_set->srcu); \
(dispatch_ops); \
srcu_read_unlock(__tag_set->srcu, srcu_idx); \
} else { \
rcu_read_lock(); \
(dispatch_ops); \
rcu_read_unlock(); \
} \
} while (0)

Thanks,

Bart.