kernel/linux.git/fs/fs-writeback.c, branch v6.12.96

writeback: fix race between cgroup_writeback_umount() and inode_switch_wbs()

2026-07-18T14:52:06+00:00

commit cba38ec4cbd3a7b8b942a8d52531a05be8a9ff0d upstream. When a container exits, the following BUG_ON() is occasionally triggered: ================================================================== VFS: Busy inodes after unmount of sdb (ext4) ------------[ cut here ]------------ kernel BUG at fs/super.c:695! CPU: 3 PID: 6 Comm: containerd-shim Tainted: G OE K 6.6 #1 pstate: 63400009 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO +TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : generic_shutdown_super+0xf0/0x100 lr : generic_shutdown_super+0xf0/0x100 Call trace: generic_shutdown_super+0xf0/0x100 kill_block_super+0x20/0x48 ext4_kill_sb+0x28/0x60 deactivate_locked_super+0x54/0x130 deactivate_super+0x84/0xa0 cleanup_mnt+0xa4/0x140 __cleanup_mnt+0x18/0x28 task_work_run+0x78/0xe0 do_notify_resume+0x204/0x240 ================================================================== The root cause is a race between cgroup_writeback_umount() and inode_switch_wbs()/cleanup_offline_cgwb(). There is a window between inode_prepare_wbs_switch() returning true and the subsequent wb_queue_isw() call. Following is the process that triggers the issue: CPU A (umount) | CPU B (writeback) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ inode_switch_wbs/cleanup_offline_cgwb atomic_inc(&isw_nr_in_flight) inode_prepare_wbs_switch -> passes SB_ACTIVE check __iget(inode) generic_shutdown_super sb->s_flags &= ~SB_ACTIVE cgroup_writeback_umount(sb) smp_mb() atomic_read(&isw_nr_in_flight) rcu_barrier() -> no pending RCU callbacks flush_workqueue(isw_wq) -> nothing queued, returns evict_inodes(sb) -> Inode skipped as isw still holds a ref. sop->put_super(sb) /* destroys percpu counters */ -> VFS: Busy inodes after unmount! wb_queue_isw() queue_work(isw_wq, ...) /* later in work function */ inode_switch_wbs_work_fn process_inode_switch_wbs iput() -> evict percpu_counter_dec() // UAF! Fix this by extending the RCU read-side critical section in inode_switch_wbs() and cleanup_offline_cgwb() to cover from inode_prepare_wbs_switch() through wb_queue_isw(). Since there is no sleep in this window, rcu_read_lock() can be used. Then add a synchronize_rcu() in cgroup_writeback_umount() before the existing rcu_barrier(), so that all in-flight switchers that have passed the SB_ACTIVE check have completed queue_work() before flush_workqueue() is called. The existing rcu_barrier() is intentionally retained so this fix can be backported unchanged to stable kernels (5.10.y, 6.6.y, ...) that still queue switches via queue_rcu_work(). It is a no-op on current mainline (since commit e1b849cfa6b6 ("writeback: Avoid contention on wb->list_lock when switching inodes")) and is removed in a follow-up patch. Fixes: a1a0e23e4903 ("writeback: flush inode cgroup wb switches instead of pinning super_block") Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org Suggested-by: Jan Kara Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/mxnjq2l6guusfchvauxr3v7c4bwjasybxlleqbbh4efloeqspz@iqylk76ohufz Reviewed-by: Jan Kara Signed-off-by: Baokun Li Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260521095016.2791354-2-libaokun@linux.alibaba.com Acked-by: Tejun Heo Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner (Amutable) Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman

writeback: Fix use after free in inode_switch_wbs_work_fn()

2026-06-19T11:42:26+00:00

[ Upstream commit 6689f01d6740cf358932b3e97ee968c6099800d9 ] inode_switch_wbs_work_fn() has a loop like: wb_get(new_wb); while (1) { list = llist_del_all(&new_wb->switch_wbs_ctxs); /* Nothing to do? */ if (!list) break; ... process the items ... } Now adding of items to the list looks like: wb_queue_isw() if (llist_add(&isw->list, &wb->switch_wbs_ctxs)) queue_work(isw_wq, &wb->switch_work); Because inode_switch_wbs_work_fn() loops when processing isw items, it can happen that wb->switch_work is pending while wb->switch_wbs_ctxs is empty. This is a problem because in that case wb can get freed (no isw items -> no wb reference) while the work is still pending causing use-after-free issues. We cannot just fix this by cancelling work when freeing wb because that could still trigger problematic 0 -> 1 transitions on wb refcount due to wb_get() in inode_switch_wbs_work_fn(). It could be all handled with more careful code but that seems unnecessarily complex so let's avoid that until it is proven that the looping actually brings practical benefit. Just remove the loop from inode_switch_wbs_work_fn() instead. That way when wb_queue_isw() queues work, we are guaranteed we have added the first item to wb->switch_wbs_ctxs and nobody is going to remove it (and drop the wb reference it holds) until the queued work runs. Fixes: e1b849cfa6b6 ("writeback: Avoid contention on wb->list_lock when switching inodes") CC: stable@vger.kernel.org Signed-off-by: Jan Kara Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260413093618.17244-2-jack@suse.cz Acked-by: Tejun Heo Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin

writeback: Avoid contention on wb->list_lock when switching inodes

2026-06-19T11:42:26+00:00

[ Upstream commit e1b849cfa6b61f1c866a908c9e8dd9b5aaab820b ] There can be multiple inode switch works that are trying to switch inodes to / from the same wb. This can happen in particular if some cgroup exits which owns many (thousands) inodes and we need to switch them all. In this case several inode_switch_wbs_work_fn() instances will be just spinning on the same wb->list_lock while only one of them makes forward progress. This wastes CPU cycles and quickly leads to softlockup reports and unusable system. Instead of running several inode_switch_wbs_work_fn() instances in parallel switching to the same wb and contending on wb->list_lock, run just one work item per wb and manage a queue of isw items switching to this wb. Acked-by: Tejun Heo Signed-off-by: Jan Kara Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin

writeback: fix 100% CPU usage when dirtytime_expire_interval is 0

2026-02-06T15:55:50+00:00

[ Upstream commit 543467d6fe97e27e22a26e367fda972dbefebbff ] When vm.dirtytime_expire_seconds is set to 0, wakeup_dirtytime_writeback() schedules delayed work with a delay of 0, causing immediate execution. The function then reschedules itself with 0 delay again, creating an infinite busy loop that causes 100% kworker CPU usage. Fix by: - Only scheduling delayed work in wakeup_dirtytime_writeback() when dirtytime_expire_interval is non-zero - Cancelling the delayed work in dirtytime_interval_handler() when the interval is set to 0 - Adding a guard in start_dirtytime_writeback() for defensive coding Tested by booting kernel in QEMU with virtme-ng: - Before fix: kworker CPU spikes to ~73% - After fix: CPU remains at normal levels - Setting interval back to non-zero correctly resumes writeback Fixes: a2f4870697a5 ("fs: make sure the timestamps for lazytime inodes eventually get written") Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org Closes: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=220227 Signed-off-by: Laveesh Bansal Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260106145059.543282-2-laveeshb@laveeshbansal.com Reviewed-by: Jan Kara Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner [ adapted system_percpu_wq to system_wq for the workqueue used in dirtytime_interval_handler() ] Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman

writeback: Avoid excessively long inode switching times

2025-10-19T14:34:06+00:00

[ Upstream commit 9a6ebbdbd41235ea3bc0c4f39e2076599b8113cc ] With lazytime mount option enabled we can be switching many dirty inodes on cgroup exit to the parent cgroup. The numbers observed in practice when systemd slice of a large cron job exits can easily reach hundreds of thousands or millions. The logic in inode_do_switch_wbs() which sorts the inode into appropriate place in b_dirty list of the target wb however has linear complexity in the number of dirty inodes thus overall time complexity of switching all the inodes is quadratic leading to workers being pegged for hours consuming 100% of the CPU and switching inodes to the parent wb. Simple reproducer of the issue: FILES=10000 # Filesystem mounted with lazytime mount option MNT=/mnt/ echo "Creating files and switching timestamps" for (( j = 0; j < 50; j ++ )); do mkdir $MNT/dir$j for (( i = 0; i < $FILES; i++ )); do echo "foo" >$MNT/dir$j/file$i done touch -a -t 202501010000 $MNT/dir$j/file* done wait echo "Syncing and flushing" sync echo 3 >/proc/sys/vm/drop_caches echo "Reading all files from a cgroup" mkdir /sys/fs/cgroup/unified/mycg1 || exit echo $$ >/sys/fs/cgroup/unified/mycg1/cgroup.procs || exit for (( j = 0; j < 50; j ++ )); do cat /mnt/dir$j/file* >/dev/null & done wait echo "Switching wbs" # Now rmdir the cgroup after the script exits We need to maintain b_dirty list ordering to keep writeback happy so instead of sorting inode into appropriate place just append it at the end of the list and clobber dirtied_time_when. This may result in inode writeback starting later after cgroup switch however cgroup switches are rare so it shouldn't matter much. Since the cgroup had write access to the inode, there are no practical concerns of the possible DoS issues. Acked-by: Tejun Heo Signed-off-by: Jan Kara Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin

writeback: Avoid softlockup when switching many inodes

2025-10-19T14:34:06+00:00

[ Upstream commit 66c14dccd810d42ec5c73bb8a9177489dfd62278 ] process_inode_switch_wbs_work() can be switching over 100 inodes to a different cgroup. Since switching an inode requires counting all dirty & under-writeback pages in the address space of each inode, this can take a significant amount of time. Add a possibility to reschedule after processing each inode to avoid softlockups. Acked-by: Tejun Heo Signed-off-by: Jan Kara Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin

fs: writeback: fix use-after-free in __mark_inode_dirty()

2025-09-09T16:58:03+00:00

[ Upstream commit d02d2c98d25793902f65803ab853b592c7a96b29 ] An use-after-free issue occurred when __mark_inode_dirty() get the bdi_writeback that was in the progress of switching. CPU: 1 PID: 562 Comm: systemd-random- Not tainted 6.6.56-gb4403bd46a8e #1 ...... pstate: 60400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : __mark_inode_dirty+0x124/0x418 lr : __mark_inode_dirty+0x118/0x418 sp : ffffffc08c9dbbc0 ........ Call trace: __mark_inode_dirty+0x124/0x418 generic_update_time+0x4c/0x60 file_modified+0xcc/0xd0 ext4_buffered_write_iter+0x58/0x124 ext4_file_write_iter+0x54/0x704 vfs_write+0x1c0/0x308 ksys_write+0x74/0x10c __arm64_sys_write+0x1c/0x28 invoke_syscall+0x48/0x114 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0xc0/0xe0 do_el0_svc+0x1c/0x28 el0_svc+0x40/0xe4 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x120/0x12c el0t_64_sync+0x194/0x198 Root cause is: systemd-random-seed kworker ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ___mark_inode_dirty inode_switch_wbs_work_fn spin_lock(&inode->i_lock); inode_attach_wb locked_inode_to_wb_and_lock_list get inode->i_wb spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock); spin_lock(&wb->list_lock) spin_lock(&inode->i_lock) inode_io_list_move_locked spin_unlock(&wb->list_lock) spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock) spin_lock(&old_wb->list_lock) inode_do_switch_wbs spin_lock(&inode->i_lock) inode->i_wb = new_wb spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock) spin_unlock(&old_wb->list_lock) wb_put_many(old_wb, nr_switched) cgwb_release old wb released wb_wakeup_delayed() accesses wb, then trigger the use-after-free issue Fix this race condition by holding inode spinlock until wb_wakeup_delayed() finished. Signed-off-by: Jiufei Xue Link: https://lore.kernel.org/20250728100715.3863241-1-jiufei.xue@samsung.com Reviewed-by: Jan Kara Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin

fs/writeback: convert wbc_account_cgroup_owner to take a folio

2025-01-17T12:40:33+00:00

[ Upstream commit 30dac24e14b52e1787572d1d4e06eeabe8a63630 ] Most of the callers of wbc_account_cgroup_owner() are converting a folio to page before calling the function. wbc_account_cgroup_owner() is converting the page back to a folio to call mem_cgroup_css_from_folio(). Convert wbc_account_cgroup_owner() to take a folio instead of a page, and convert all callers to pass a folio directly except f2fs. Convert the page to folio for all the callers from f2fs as they were the only callers calling wbc_account_cgroup_owner() with a page. As f2fs is already in the process of converting to folios, these call sites might also soon be calling wbc_account_cgroup_owner() with a folio directly in the future. No functional changes. Only compile tested. Signed-off-by: Pankaj Raghav Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20240926140121.203821-1-kernel@pankajraghav.com Acked-by: David Sterba Acked-by: Tejun Heo Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner Stable-dep-of: 51d20d1dacbe ("iomap: fix zero padding data issue in concurrent append writes") Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin

inode: port __I_SYNC to var event

2024-08-30T06:22:39+00:00

Port the __I_SYNC mechanism to use the new var event mechanism. Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20240823-work-i_state-v3-3-5cd5fd207a57@kernel.org Reviewed-by: Josef Bacik Reviewed-by: Jan Kara Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner

vfs: drop one lock trip in evict()

2024-08-30T06:22:38+00:00

Most commonly neither I_LRU_ISOLATING nor I_SYNC are set, but the stock kernel takes a back-to-back relock trip to check for them. It probably can be avoided altogether, but for now massage things back to just one lock acquire. Signed-off-by: Mateusz Guzik Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20240813143626.1573445-1-mjguzik@gmail.com Reviewed-by: Zhihao Cheng Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton Reviewed-by: Jan Kara Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner