Re: [PATCH 2/2] ext4: protect WRITE_ZEROES written extents with orphan list
From: Jan Kara
Date: Wed Jul 29 2026 - 06:06:40 EST
On Wed 29-07-26 16:59:18, Zhang Yi wrote:
> From: Zhang Yi <yi.zhang@xxxxxxxxxx>
>
> In ext4_alloc_file_blocks(), the WRITE_ZEROES path converts unwritten
> extents to written in one transaction, while i_disksize is updated to
> cover them only in a later transaction. A crash in between leaves
> written extents beyond i_disksize on disk, which fsck will complain
> about.
>
> To fix this, add the inode to the orphan list in the same handle that
> does the conversion, and remove it once i_disksize has caught up.
> Also add a sanity check to ensure conversion does not extend beyond EOF.
>
> Since ext4_alloc_file_blocks() is called from the fallocate() path,
> partial allocation is safe. On partial conversion failure, advance
> i_disksize only up to the boundary of successfully converted blocks, so
> that orphan cleanup sees a consistent state. Document this behavior in
> the function comment.
>
> Reported-by: Jan Kara <jack@xxxxxxx>
> Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-ext4/3f6ao5amv7glbgigndtegcucgo3n34ij3lau6l3da3hgdxgn3v@ev66wv3r5umt/
> Fixes: f4265b8d32c4 ("ext4: add FALLOC_FL_WRITE_ZEROES support")
> Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Signed-off-by: Zhang Yi <yi.zhang@xxxxxxxxxx>
Looks good. Feel free to add:
Reviewed-by: Jan Kara <jack@xxxxxxx>
Honza
> ---
> fs/ext4/extents.c | 78 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----
> 1 file changed, 70 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/fs/ext4/extents.c b/fs/ext4/extents.c
> index 1ab1a6e2ed83..a3dde7ba0d23 100644
> --- a/fs/ext4/extents.c
> +++ b/fs/ext4/extents.c
> @@ -4571,6 +4571,22 @@ int ext4_ext_truncate(handle_t *handle, struct inode *inode)
> return err;
> }
>
> +/*
> + * Pre-allocate blocks for the range [@offset, @offset + @len). Allocated
> + * blocks are marked as unwritten by default. If EXT4_GET_BLOCKS_ZERO is
> + * set, the allocated blocks are zeroed on disk and their extents are
> + * converted to written state.
> + *
> + * When @new_size is nonzero, the caller intends to extend the file, and
> + * the file size should be updated to the end of the allocated blocks.
> + *
> + * Allocation may partially succeed due to some non-fatal issues. In that
> + * case, i_disksize (and i_size) is advanced up to the successfully
> + * processed portion of the range.
> + *
> + * Return 0 on success, or a negative error code on failure or partial
> + * failure.
> + */
> static int ext4_alloc_file_blocks(struct file *file, loff_t offset, loff_t len,
> loff_t new_size, int flags)
> {
> @@ -4585,6 +4601,7 @@ static int ext4_alloc_file_blocks(struct file *file, loff_t offset, loff_t len,
> loff_t epos = 0, old_size = i_size_read(inode);
> unsigned int blkbits = inode->i_blkbits;
> bool alloc_zero = false;
> + bool orphan = false;
>
> BUG_ON(!ext4_test_inode_flag(inode, EXT4_INODE_EXTENTS));
> map.m_lblk = offset >> blkbits;
> @@ -4659,19 +4676,49 @@ static int ext4_alloc_file_blocks(struct file *file, loff_t offset, loff_t len,
>
> if (alloc_zero &&
> (map.m_flags & (EXT4_MAP_MAPPED | EXT4_MAP_UNWRITTEN))) {
> + ext4_lblk_t converted;
> +
> + WARN_ON_ONCE(map.m_lblk + map.m_len >
> + EXT4_B_TO_LBLK(inode, new_size ?: old_size));
> +
> ret = ext4_issue_zeroout(inode, map.m_lblk, map.m_pblk,
> map.m_len);
> - if (likely(!ret))
> - ret = ext4_convert_unwritten_extents(NULL,
> - inode, (loff_t)map.m_lblk << blkbits,
> - (loff_t)map.m_len << blkbits, NULL);
> - if (ret)
> + if (unlikely(ret))
> break;
> +
> + handle = ext4_journal_start(inode, EXT4_HT_MAP_BLOCKS,
> + credits);
> + if (IS_ERR(handle)) {
> + ret = PTR_ERR(handle);
> + break;
> + }
> +
> + ret = ext4_convert_unwritten_extents(handle,
> + inode, (loff_t)map.m_lblk << blkbits,
> + (loff_t)map.m_len << blkbits,
> + &converted);
> + if (ret)
> + map.m_len = converted;
> +
> + /*
> + * If blocks beyond i_disksize are converted, add
> + * the inode to the orphan list and advance the epos.
> + */
> + if (new_size && converted) {
> + ret2 = ext4_orphan_add(handle, inode);
> + ret = ret ? ret : ret2;
> + orphan = true;
> + }
> +
> + ret3 = ext4_journal_stop(handle);
> + ret = ret ? ret : ret3;
> }
>
> map.m_lblk += map.m_len;
> map.m_len = len_lblk = len_lblk - map.m_len;
> epos = EXT4_LBLK_TO_B(inode, map.m_lblk);
> + if (ret)
> + break;
> }
>
> if (ret == -ENOSPC && ext4_should_retry_alloc(inode->i_sb, &retries))
> @@ -4687,11 +4734,23 @@ static int ext4_alloc_file_blocks(struct file *file, loff_t offset, loff_t len,
> if (epos > new_size)
> epos = new_size;
>
> - handle = ext4_journal_start(inode, EXT4_HT_MISC, 1);
> - if (IS_ERR(handle))
> - return ret ? ret : PTR_ERR(handle);
> + handle = ext4_journal_start(inode, EXT4_HT_MISC, 2);
> + if (IS_ERR(handle)) {
> + /*
> + * The conversion has successfully completed. Not much to
> + * do with the error here so just cleanup the orphan list
> + * and hope for the best.
> + */
> + if (orphan && inode->i_nlink)
> + ext4_orphan_del(NULL, inode);
> + ret2 = PTR_ERR(handle);
> + goto out;
> + }
>
> ext4_update_inode_size(inode, epos);
> + if (orphan && inode->i_nlink)
> + ext4_orphan_del(handle, inode);
> +
> ret2 = ext4_mark_inode_dirty(handle, inode);
> ext4_update_inode_fsync_trans(handle, inode, 1);
> ret3 = ext4_journal_stop(handle);
> @@ -4699,6 +4758,9 @@ static int ext4_alloc_file_blocks(struct file *file, loff_t offset, loff_t len,
>
> if (epos > old_size)
> pagecache_isize_extended(inode, old_size, epos);
> +out:
> + if (ret2)
> + ext4_std_error(inode->i_sb, ret2);
>
> return ret ? ret : ret2;
> }
> --
> 2.52.0
>
--
Jan Kara <jack@xxxxxxxx>
SUSE Labs, CR