[PATCH 1/1] shmem: fix unicode_map leak on remount with casefold=

From: Mohammed EL Kadiri

Date: Tue Sep 29 2026 - 09:23:02 EST


shmem_parse_opt_casefold() calls utf8_load(), which allocates a fresh
struct unicode_map, and stores it in ctx->encoding.

On mount, shmem_fill_super() takes ownership of it via sb->s_encoding,
and shmem_put_super() frees it with utf8_unload(). On remount nothing
takes ownership: shmem_reconfigure() never looks at ctx->encoding, and
shmem_free_fc() only frees ctx itself. The map is leaked.

50000 x "mount -o remount,casefold=utf8-12.1.0 /t" on a casefolded tmpfs
grows kmalloc-32 from 660 to 50574 active objects, and nothing is
reclaimed on umount. A tmpfs mounted without casefold stays flat. With
this patch kmalloc-32 stays flat too.

Clearing ctx->encoding after the transfer is what makes the unload in
shmem_free_fc() safe: otherwise a failure later in mount would free the
same map twice, once via put_super and once via fc->free. This mirrors
what shmem_reconfigure() already does with ctx->mpol.

This is easy to hit once casefold= is reported in /proc/mounts, since
mount(8) then passes it back on every remount of a casefolded tmpfs.

Signed-off-by: Mohammed EL Kadiri <med08elkadiri@xxxxxxxxx>
---
mm/shmem.c | 5 +++++
1 file changed, 5 insertions(+)

diff --git a/mm/shmem.c b/mm/shmem.c
index 07b2855dfb7b..49b3cbe0c324 100644
--- a/mm/shmem.c
+++ b/mm/shmem.c
@@ -5202,6 +5202,7 @@ static int shmem_fill_super(struct super_block *sb, struct fs_context *fc)

if (ctx->encoding) {
sb->s_encoding = ctx->encoding;
+ ctx->encoding = NULL; /* transfers ownership */
set_default_d_op(sb, &shmem_ci_dentry_ops);
if (ctx->strict_encoding)
sb->s_encoding_flags = SB_ENC_STRICT_MODE_FL;
@@ -5302,6 +5303,10 @@ static void shmem_free_fc(struct fs_context *fc)
struct shmem_options *ctx = fc->fs_private;

if (ctx) {
+#if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_UNICODE)
+ if (ctx->encoding)
+ utf8_unload(ctx->encoding);
+#endif
mpol_put(ctx->mpol);
kfree(ctx);
}
--
2.53.0