Re: [PATCH v5] ext4: validate EA inode i_nlink in ext4_xattr_inode_iget
From: Jan Kara
Date: Tue Jul 28 2026 - 10:07:23 EST
On Fri 24-07-26 18:02:55, Yun Zhou wrote:
> Validate EA inode state in ext4_xattr_inode_iget() to reject corrupted
> EA inodes early, before they trigger WARN_ONCE in
> ext4_xattr_inode_update_ref().
>
> When a corrupted ext4 image has an EA inode with inconsistent i_nlink
> and ref_count values (e.g. i_nlink=65535), the code currently allows it
> through and later hits WARN_ONCE when ref_count transitions cross the
> 0/1 boundary. This is better handled as an early sanity check that
> returns -EFSCORRUPTED, consistent with how ext4 treats other on-disk
> corruption.
>
> Since ext4_xattr_inode_iget() resolves references from active xattr
> entries, the target EA inode must be in active state (i_nlink=1,
> ref_count>0). Reject any inode that does not satisfy this.
>
> Reported-by: syzbot+76916a45d2294b551fd9@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Closes: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=76916a45d2294b551fd9
> Fixes: dec214d00e0d ("ext4: xattr inode deduplication")
> Signed-off-by: Yun Zhou <yun.zhou@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Looks good. Feel free to add:
Reviewed-by: Jan Kara <jack@xxxxxxx>
Honza
> ---
> v5:
> - Use ext4_put_ea_inode() instead of make_bad_inode() + iput() to
> safely release the rejected inode regardless of jbd2 handle or
> SB_ACTIVE state.
>
> v4:
> - Take I_MUTEX_XATTR before checking orphan state to safely decide
> whether to call make_bad_inode(), avoiding orphan list corruption
> if another thread is concurrently freeing the EA inode
>
> v3:
> - Move check after Lustre branch to avoid false positives on Lustre EA inodes
> - Merge into single condition: i_nlink != 1 || !ref_count
> - Add make_bad_inode() before iput() to avoid truncation in active txn
>
> v2:
> - Add ref_count validation to also catch i_nlink=1, ref_count=0 case
>
> fs/ext4/xattr.c | 15 +++++++++++++++
> 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/fs/ext4/xattr.c b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
> index 4ae6ce111566..1eee25955107 100644
> --- a/fs/ext4/xattr.c
> +++ b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
> @@ -460,6 +460,21 @@ static int ext4_xattr_inode_iget(struct inode *parent, unsigned long ea_ino,
> inode_unlock(inode);
> }
>
> + /*
> + * Since this function resolves references from active xattr entries,
> + * the EA inode must be in active state (i_nlink=1, ref_count>0).
> + * i_nlink > 1, i_nlink == 0 (dangling reference), or ref_count == 0
> + * (inconsistent with an active entry) all indicate on-disk corruption.
> + */
> + if (inode->i_nlink != 1 || !ext4_xattr_inode_get_ref(inode)) {
> + ext4_error(parent->i_sb,
> + "EA inode %lu has unexpected i_nlink=%u ref_count=%llu",
> + ea_ino, inode->i_nlink,
> + ext4_xattr_inode_get_ref(inode));
> + ext4_put_ea_inode(inode);
> + return -EFSCORRUPTED;
> + }
> +
> *ea_inode = inode;
> return 0;
> }
> --
> 2.43.0
>
--
Jan Kara <jack@xxxxxxxx>
SUSE Labs, CR