* [PATCH] null_blk: serialize configfs attribute updates with device setup
@ 2026-08-13 14:14 Niklas Cassel
2026-08-13 15:22 ` Niklas Cassel
0 siblings, 1 reply; 2+ messages in thread
From: Niklas Cassel @ 2026-08-13 14:14 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Jens Axboe, Shaohua Li, Kyungchan Koh
Cc: Damien Le Moal, Niklas Cassel, syzbot+643a6dd130546afdf1fb,
linux-block
The attribute store methods generated with NULLB_DEVICE_ATTR() refuse to
change the configuration of a live device by testing
NULLB_DEV_FL_CONFIGURED, but that flag is only set by
nullb_device_power_store() after null_add_dev() has returned, and the
store methods take no lock at all. configfs only serializes writes to
the same open file (buffer->mutex), so a write to any attribute can run
concurrently with null_add_dev() and change the device configuration
while it is being used.
null_add_dev() reads the configuration several times, e.g. dev->zoned is
read once to set up the queue limits and once to initialize the zone
resources:
CPU0: echo 1 > nullb0/power CPU1: echo 1 > nullb0/zoned
nullb_device_power_store()
mutex_lock(&lock)
null_add_dev()
if (dev->zoned) -> false
/* no BLK_FEAT_ZONED */ nullb_device_zoned_store()
test_bit(FL_CONFIGURED) -> 0
dev->zoned = true
blk_mq_alloc_disk()
/* queue is not zoned */
if (nullb->dev->zoned) -> true
null_register_zoned_dev()
blk_revalidate_disk_zones()
blk_revalidate_disk_zones() is then called for a queue that does not
have BLK_FEAT_ZONED set, which triggers its WARN_ON_ONCE() and fails the
device setup with -EIO:
WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 322 at block/blk-zoned.c:2357 blk_revalidate_disk_zones+0x4c/0x560
Clearing dev->zoned in the same window is worse: the queue is created
with BLK_FEAT_ZONED but the zone resources are never initialized, so
add_disk() succeeds for a zoned disk that has no zones. And a store that
lands after the last dev->zoned test leaves dev->zoned set while
dev->zones is still NULL, which null_process_zoned_cmd() dereferences on
the first write.
Fix this by taking the global lock, which nullb_device_power_store()
already holds across null_add_dev() and null_del_dev(), around both the
NULLB_DEV_FL_CONFIGURED test and the update of the device configuration.
The submit_queues and poll_queues apply callbacks are now called with
that lock held, so remove the locking they did themselves.
Since the store methods can run as soon as configfs_register_subsystem()
returns, that is, before null_init() gets to mutex_init(&lock), also
initialize the lock statically with DEFINE_MUTEX().
Fixes: 3bf2bd20734e ("nullb: add configfs interface")
Reported-by: syzbot+643a6dd130546afdf1fb@syzkaller.appspotmail.com
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-block/6a7d0b3f.ac361c09.22ff0a.004c.GAE@google.com/
Signed-off-by: Niklas Cassel <cassel@kernel.org>
---
drivers/block/null_blk/main.c | 39 ++++++++++++++++-------------------
1 file changed, 18 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-)
diff --git a/drivers/block/null_blk/main.c b/drivers/block/null_blk/main.c
index f8c0fd57e041..2e8f99873956 100644
--- a/drivers/block/null_blk/main.c
+++ b/drivers/block/null_blk/main.c
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ struct nullb_page {
#define NULLB_PAGE_FREE (MAP_SZ - 2)
static LIST_HEAD(nullb_list);
-static struct mutex lock;
+static DEFINE_MUTEX(lock);
static int null_major;
static DEFINE_IDA(nullb_indexes);
static struct blk_mq_tag_set tag_set;
@@ -340,7 +340,15 @@ static ssize_t nullb_device_bool_attr_store(bool *val, const char *page,
return count;
}
-/* The following macro should only be used with TYPE = {uint, ulong, bool}. */
+/*
+ * The following macro should only be used with TYPE = {uint, ulong, bool}.
+ *
+ * The device configuration is modified under the global lock to serialize
+ * attribute changes against null_add_dev() and null_del_dev(): without this,
+ * an attribute could be changed while null_add_dev() is running, that is,
+ * before NULLB_DEV_FL_CONFIGURED is set, which would let null_add_dev()
+ * observe inconsistent values for the device configuration.
+ */
#define NULLB_DEVICE_ATTR(NAME, TYPE, APPLY) \
static ssize_t \
nullb_device_##NAME##_show(struct config_item *item, char *page) \
@@ -360,13 +368,16 @@ nullb_device_##NAME##_store(struct config_item *item, const char *page, \
ret = nullb_device_##TYPE##_attr_store(&new_value, page, count);\
if (ret < 0) \
return ret; \
+ mutex_lock(&lock); \
if (apply_fn) \
ret = apply_fn(dev, new_value); \
else if (test_bit(NULLB_DEV_FL_CONFIGURED, &dev->flags)) \
ret = -EBUSY; \
+ if (ret >= 0) \
+ dev->NAME = new_value; \
+ mutex_unlock(&lock); \
if (ret < 0) \
return ret; \
- dev->NAME = new_value; \
return count; \
} \
CONFIGFS_ATTR(nullb_device_, NAME);
@@ -379,6 +390,8 @@ static int nullb_update_nr_hw_queues(struct nullb_device *dev,
struct blk_mq_tag_set *set;
int ret, nr_hw_queues;
+ lockdep_assert_held(&lock);
+
if (!dev->nullb)
return 0;
@@ -421,25 +434,13 @@ static int nullb_update_nr_hw_queues(struct nullb_device *dev,
static int nullb_apply_submit_queues(struct nullb_device *dev,
unsigned int submit_queues)
{
- int ret;
-
- mutex_lock(&lock);
- ret = nullb_update_nr_hw_queues(dev, submit_queues, dev->poll_queues);
- mutex_unlock(&lock);
-
- return ret;
+ return nullb_update_nr_hw_queues(dev, submit_queues, dev->poll_queues);
}
static int nullb_apply_poll_queues(struct nullb_device *dev,
unsigned int poll_queues)
{
- int ret;
-
- mutex_lock(&lock);
- ret = nullb_update_nr_hw_queues(dev, dev->submit_queues, poll_queues);
- mutex_unlock(&lock);
-
- return ret;
+ return nullb_update_nr_hw_queues(dev, dev->submit_queues, poll_queues);
}
NULLB_DEVICE_ATTR(size, ulong, NULL);
@@ -2166,8 +2167,6 @@ static int __init null_init(void)
if (ret)
return ret;
- mutex_init(&lock);
-
null_major = register_blkdev(0, "nullb");
if (null_major < 0) {
ret = null_major;
@@ -2211,8 +2210,6 @@ static void __exit null_exit(void)
if (tag_set.ops)
blk_mq_free_tag_set(&tag_set);
-
- mutex_destroy(&lock);
}
module_init(null_init);
--
2.55.0
^ permalink raw reply related [flat|nested] 2+ messages in thread* Re: [PATCH] null_blk: serialize configfs attribute updates with device setup
2026-08-13 14:14 [PATCH] null_blk: serialize configfs attribute updates with device setup Niklas Cassel
@ 2026-08-13 15:22 ` Niklas Cassel
0 siblings, 0 replies; 2+ messages in thread
From: Niklas Cassel @ 2026-08-13 15:22 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Jens Axboe, Shaohua Li, Kyungchan Koh
Cc: Damien Le Moal, syzbot+643a6dd130546afdf1fb, linux-block
On Thu, Aug 13, 2026 at 04:14:56PM +0200, Niklas Cassel wrote:
> The attribute store methods generated with NULLB_DEVICE_ATTR() refuse to
> change the configuration of a live device by testing
> NULLB_DEV_FL_CONFIGURED, but that flag is only set by
> nullb_device_power_store() after null_add_dev() has returned, and the
> store methods take no lock at all. configfs only serializes writes to
> the same open file (buffer->mutex), so a write to any attribute can run
> concurrently with null_add_dev() and change the device configuration
> while it is being used.
>
> null_add_dev() reads the configuration several times, e.g. dev->zoned is
> read once to set up the queue limits and once to initialize the zone
> resources:
>
> CPU0: echo 1 > nullb0/power CPU1: echo 1 > nullb0/zoned
> nullb_device_power_store()
> mutex_lock(&lock)
> null_add_dev()
> if (dev->zoned) -> false
> /* no BLK_FEAT_ZONED */ nullb_device_zoned_store()
> test_bit(FL_CONFIGURED) -> 0
> dev->zoned = true
> blk_mq_alloc_disk()
> /* queue is not zoned */
> if (nullb->dev->zoned) -> true
> null_register_zoned_dev()
> blk_revalidate_disk_zones()
>
> blk_revalidate_disk_zones() is then called for a queue that does not
> have BLK_FEAT_ZONED set, which triggers its WARN_ON_ONCE() and fails the
> device setup with -EIO:
>
> WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 322 at block/blk-zoned.c:2357 blk_revalidate_disk_zones+0x4c/0x560
>
> Clearing dev->zoned in the same window is worse: the queue is created
> with BLK_FEAT_ZONED but the zone resources are never initialized, so
> add_disk() succeeds for a zoned disk that has no zones. And a store that
> lands after the last dev->zoned test leaves dev->zoned set while
> dev->zones is still NULL, which null_process_zoned_cmd() dereferences on
> the first write.
>
> Fix this by taking the global lock, which nullb_device_power_store()
> already holds across null_add_dev() and null_del_dev(), around both the
> NULLB_DEV_FL_CONFIGURED test and the update of the device configuration.
> The submit_queues and poll_queues apply callbacks are now called with
> that lock held, so remove the locking they did themselves.
>
> Since the store methods can run as soon as configfs_register_subsystem()
> returns, that is, before null_init() gets to mutex_init(&lock), also
> initialize the lock statically with DEFINE_MUTEX().
>
> Fixes: 3bf2bd20734e ("nullb: add configfs interface")
> Reported-by: syzbot+643a6dd130546afdf1fb@syzkaller.appspotmail.com
> Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-block/6a7d0b3f.ac361c09.22ff0a.004c.GAE@google.com/
> Signed-off-by: Niklas Cassel <cassel@kernel.org>
Patch was verified using reproducer:
$ while :; do echo 1 > /sys/kernel/config/nullb/nullb0/power; echo 0 > /sys/kernel/config/nullb/nullb0/power; done &
$ while :; do echo 1 > /sys/kernel/config/nullb/nullb0/zoned; echo 0 > /sys/kernel/config/nullb/nullb0/zoned; done &
With the fix patch in $subject:
No WARNING after 1 minute of running.
Without the fix patch in $subject:
[ 1120.067545] WARNING: block/blk-zoned.c:2357 at blk_revalidate_disk_zones+0x274/0x2b0
within 1 second of running.
Kind regards,
Niklas
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 2+ messages in thread
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