[PATCH] buffer: fix NULL dereference of bh->b_folio in __bh_submit()

From: Joseph Qi

Date: Tue Sep 01 2026 - 21:39:46 EST


Commit a2c924c240e7 ("buffer: set BIO_COMPLETE_IN_TASK for dropbehind
writeback") added an unconditional folio_test_dropbehind(bh->b_folio) in
__bh_submit(). But jbd2 shadow buffers have a NULL b_folio since commit
5febcba29792 ("jbd2: point the shadow buffer at the frozen data
directly") made them point b_data at the kmalloced frozen data rather
than a folio. Submitting such a buffer during journal commit oopses:

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
RIP: 0010:__bh_submit.constprop.0+0x87/0x120
Call Trace:
jbd2_journal_commit_transaction+0x932/0x1b10
kjournald2+0xb2/0x250

Hit by the ocfs2-testsuite fill_verify_holes test running with
data=writeback.

Dropbehind only applies to buffers backed by a folio, so skip the check
when b_folio is NULL.

Fixes: 5febcba29792 ("jbd2: point the shadow buffer at the frozen data directly")
Tested-by: Srikanth Aithal <Srikanth.Aithal@xxxxxxx>
Tested-by: Luca Weiss <luca.weiss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> # sm7225-fairphone-fp4
Reviewed-by: Jan Kara <jack@xxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Joseph Qi <joseph.qi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/buffer.c | 3 ++-
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/fs/buffer.c b/fs/buffer.c
index 427d8a817cd5..f46fa6413032 100644
--- a/fs/buffer.c
+++ b/fs/buffer.c
@@ -1106,7 +1106,8 @@ static void __bh_submit(struct buffer_head *bh, blk_opf_t opf,

bio = bio_alloc(bh->b_bdev, 1, opf, GFP_NOIO);

- if (folio_test_dropbehind(bh->b_folio) && op_is_write(opf))
+ if (bh->b_folio && folio_test_dropbehind(bh->b_folio) &&
+ op_is_write(opf))
bio_set_flag(bio, BIO_COMPLETE_IN_TASK);

if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_FS_ENCRYPTION))
--
2.39.3