[PATCH] ocfs2: fix circular locking dependency in reflink

From: Joseph Qi

Date: Fri Jul 31 2026 - 07:35:47 EST


Lockdep reports a possible deadlock involving ip_alloc_sem,
j_trans_barrier, and ip_xattr_sem:

Chain exists of:
&oi->ip_alloc_sem --> &journal->j_trans_barrier --> &oi->ip_xattr_sem

Possible unsafe locking scenario:

CPU0 CPU1
---- ----
lock(&oi->ip_xattr_sem);
lock(&journal->j_trans_barrier);
lock(&oi->ip_xattr_sem);
lock(&oi->ip_alloc_sem);

*** DEADLOCK ***

ocfs2_reflink() and ocfs2_try_remove_refcount_tree() acquire
ip_xattr_sem before ip_alloc_sem. This is the reverse of the
established system-wide ordering where ip_alloc_sem is outer:

- Write paths (e.g. ocfs2_write_begin_nolock) hold ip_alloc_sem
and call ocfs2_start_trans(), which takes j_trans_barrier.

- ocfs2_mknod() calls ocfs2_start_trans() (j_trans_barrier) then
ocfs2_init_acl(), which takes ip_xattr_sem on the parent dir.

Fix by swapping the lock order in both functions to acquire
ip_alloc_sem before ip_xattr_sem, consistent with the rest of the
codebase.

Fixes: 09bf27a00020 ("ocfs2: Implement ocfs2_reflink.")
Fixes: 8b2c0dba5159 ("ocfs2: Call refcount tree remove process properly.")
Reported-by: syzbot+e42eae29bba35810f43c@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Closes: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=e42eae29bba35810f43c
Signed-off-by: Joseph Qi <joseph.qi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/ocfs2/refcounttree.c | 8 ++++----
1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/refcounttree.c b/fs/ocfs2/refcounttree.c
index d9f22b4a2654..c734ce295bf0 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/refcounttree.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/refcounttree.c
@@ -955,8 +955,8 @@ int ocfs2_try_remove_refcount_tree(struct inode *inode,
struct ocfs2_inode_info *oi = OCFS2_I(inode);
struct ocfs2_dinode *di = (struct ocfs2_dinode *)di_bh->b_data;

- down_write(&oi->ip_xattr_sem);
down_write(&oi->ip_alloc_sem);
+ down_write(&oi->ip_xattr_sem);

if (oi->ip_clusters)
goto out;
@@ -972,8 +972,8 @@ int ocfs2_try_remove_refcount_tree(struct inode *inode,
if (ret)
mlog_errno(ret);
out:
- up_write(&oi->ip_alloc_sem);
up_write(&oi->ip_xattr_sem);
+ up_write(&oi->ip_alloc_sem);
return 0;
}

@@ -4292,12 +4292,12 @@ static int ocfs2_reflink(struct dentry *old_dentry, struct inode *dir,
goto out;
}

- down_write(&OCFS2_I(inode)->ip_xattr_sem);
down_write(&OCFS2_I(inode)->ip_alloc_sem);
+ down_write(&OCFS2_I(inode)->ip_xattr_sem);
error = __ocfs2_reflink(old_dentry, old_bh,
new_orphan_inode, preserve);
- up_write(&OCFS2_I(inode)->ip_alloc_sem);
up_write(&OCFS2_I(inode)->ip_xattr_sem);
+ up_write(&OCFS2_I(inode)->ip_alloc_sem);

ocfs2_inode_unlock(inode, 1);
ocfs2_rw_unlock(inode, 1);
--
2.39.3