* [PATCH v3] loop: defer the queue limits clear to a workqueue
@ 2026-09-03 1:38 Tao Cui
0 siblings, 0 replies; only message in thread
From: Tao Cui @ 2026-09-03 1:38 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Bart Van Assche, axboe, hch, Tetsuo Handa
Cc: cui.tao, linux-block, linux-kernel, Tao Cui
From: Tao Cui <cuitao@kylinos.cn>
loop_clear_limits() calls queue_limits_commit_update() directly from
the loop workqueue that processes the request. That does a
non-atomic struct assignment to q->limits without freezing the queue,
which races with lockless readers of q->limits on other CPUs - bio
splitting reads max_hw_sectors, the discard path reads
max_hw_discard_sectors - and can let them observe torn values. The
trigger is a discard or write-zeroes request on a loop device whose
backing file does not support the corresponding fallocate operation.
The code already has an XXX comment saying this should move to a
workqueue. Do that: schedule a work item on the system workqueue, where
it is safe to freeze the queue around the limits update. Accumulate
pending modes in lo->clear_limits_mode so that failures between
scheduling and execution of the work item are not lost. A rebinding of
the device drops the accumulated modes and invalidates an already
scheduled work item, so a stale clear cannot hit the new backing file.
The work item is cancelled before the device is freed.
Signed-off-by: Tao Cui <cuitao@kylinos.cn>
---
Changes since v2:
- Skip the clear when the device was rebound since the work item
was scheduled: the modes used to be captured before the freeze,
so a LOOP_CHANGE_FD completing in between could apply the old
modes to the new backing file. The rebind generation is now
checked with the queue frozen, which excludes loop_change_fd()
because it assigns the new backing file under the same freeze,
so a rebind cannot slip in between the check and the commit.
Cancelling from loop_assign_backing_file() would instead
deadlock on the freeze held by loop_change_fd().
- Also bump the rebind generation from __loop_clr_fd(): unbinding
does not go through loop_assign_backing_file(), so a work item
scheduled before the last close could otherwise commit a stale
clear to the queue limits of the unbound device.
Changes since v1:
- Make clear_limits_mode atomic_t: loop workers can hit the |=
concurrently.
- Reset clear_limits_mode when assigning a new backing file, so
stale modes do not clear limits of the new file.
- Cancel the work item from loop_remove() before del_gendisk():
the queue can already be in RCU-delayed freeing when
lo_free_disk() cancels it.
Tested on x86-64 (qemu, vfat-backed loop device): 30s discard and
reconfigure loop exercises the clear path 577 times, no torn sysfs reads,
no difference against the unpatched kernel.
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260828072004.273519-1-cui.tao@linux.dev/
---
drivers/block/loop.c | 64 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------
1 file changed, 50 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)
diff --git a/drivers/block/loop.c b/drivers/block/loop.c
index 6f12976035b0..9f6e518e60d2 100644
--- a/drivers/block/loop.c
+++ b/drivers/block/loop.c
@@ -67,6 +67,10 @@ struct loop_device {
struct list_head rootcg_cmd_list;
struct list_head idle_worker_list;
struct rb_root worker_tree;
+ struct work_struct clear_limits_work;
+ atomic_t clear_limits_mode;
+ atomic_t rebind_gen;
+ atomic_t clear_limits_gen;
struct timer_list timer;
bool sysfs_inited;
@@ -222,26 +226,44 @@ static void loop_set_size(struct loop_device *lo, loff_t size)
kobject_uevent(&disk_to_dev(lo->lo_disk)->kobj, KOBJ_CHANGE);
}
-static void loop_clear_limits(struct loop_device *lo, int mode)
+static void loop_clear_limits_workfn(struct work_struct *work)
{
+ struct loop_device *lo =
+ container_of(work, struct loop_device, clear_limits_work);
struct queue_limits lim = queue_limits_start_update(lo->lo_queue);
-
- if (mode & FALLOC_FL_ZERO_RANGE)
- lim.max_write_zeroes_sectors = 0;
-
- if (mode & FALLOC_FL_PUNCH_HOLE) {
- lim.max_hw_discard_sectors = 0;
- lim.discard_granularity = 0;
- }
+ unsigned int memflags;
+ int mode = 0;
/*
- * XXX: this updates the queue limits without freezing the queue, which
- * is against the locking protocol and dangerous. But we can't just
- * freeze the queue as we're inside the ->queue_rq method here. So this
- * should move out into a workqueue unless we get the file operations to
- * advertise if they support specific fallocate operations.
+ * Commit the unmodified limits if the device was rebound since
+ * the work item was scheduled. The freeze excludes a rebind
+ * through loop_change_fd(), which assigns the new backing file
+ * under the freeze; the other rebinding paths, loop_configure()
+ * and __loop_clr_fd(), do not freeze the queue, but they bump
+ * rebind_gen and reset clear_limits_mode themselves, so the
+ * generation check and the atomic_xchg() below cover them.
*/
+ memflags = blk_mq_freeze_queue(lo->lo_queue);
+ if (atomic_read(&lo->clear_limits_gen) == atomic_read(&lo->rebind_gen)) {
+ mode = atomic_xchg(&lo->clear_limits_mode, 0);
+
+ if (mode & FALLOC_FL_ZERO_RANGE)
+ lim.max_write_zeroes_sectors = 0;
+
+ if (mode & FALLOC_FL_PUNCH_HOLE) {
+ lim.max_hw_discard_sectors = 0;
+ lim.discard_granularity = 0;
+ }
+ }
queue_limits_commit_update(lo->lo_queue, &lim);
+ blk_mq_unfreeze_queue(lo->lo_queue, memflags);
+}
+
+static void loop_clear_limits(struct loop_device *lo, int mode)
+{
+ atomic_set(&lo->clear_limits_gen, atomic_read(&lo->rebind_gen));
+ atomic_or(mode, &lo->clear_limits_mode);
+ schedule_work(&lo->clear_limits_work);
}
static int lo_fallocate(struct loop_device *lo, struct request *rq, loff_t pos,
@@ -516,6 +538,8 @@ static int loop_validate_file(struct file *file, struct block_device *bdev)
static void loop_assign_backing_file(struct loop_device *lo, struct file *file)
{
lo->lo_backing_file = file;
+ atomic_inc(&lo->rebind_gen);
+ atomic_set(&lo->clear_limits_mode, 0);
lo->old_gfp_mask = mapping_gfp_mask(file->f_mapping);
mapping_set_gfp_mask(file->f_mapping,
lo->old_gfp_mask & ~(__GFP_IO | __GFP_FS));
@@ -1144,6 +1168,12 @@ static void __loop_clr_fd(struct loop_device *lo)
spin_lock_irq(&lo->lo_lock);
filp = lo->lo_backing_file;
lo->lo_backing_file = NULL;
+ /*
+ * Invalidate any pending clear that was scheduled against the old
+ * backing file, like loop_assign_backing_file() does on rebind.
+ */
+ atomic_inc(&lo->rebind_gen);
+ atomic_set(&lo->clear_limits_mode, 0);
spin_unlock_irq(&lo->lo_lock);
lo->lo_device = NULL;
@@ -1781,6 +1811,7 @@ static void lo_free_disk(struct gendisk *disk)
destroy_workqueue(lo->workqueue);
loop_free_idle_workers(lo, true);
timer_shutdown_sync(&lo->timer);
+ cancel_work_sync(&lo->clear_limits_work);
mutex_destroy(&lo->lo_mutex);
kfree(lo);
}
@@ -2100,6 +2131,7 @@ static int loop_add(int i)
spin_lock_init(&lo->lo_lock);
spin_lock_init(&lo->lo_work_lock);
INIT_WORK(&lo->rootcg_work, loop_rootcg_workfn);
+ INIT_WORK(&lo->clear_limits_work, loop_clear_limits_workfn);
INIT_LIST_HEAD(&lo->rootcg_cmd_list);
disk->major = LOOP_MAJOR;
disk->first_minor = i << part_shift;
@@ -2138,6 +2170,10 @@ static int loop_add(int i)
static void loop_remove(struct loop_device *lo)
{
+ /* Cancel early: the queue may be in RCU-delayed freeing
+ * by the time lo_free_disk() runs. */
+ cancel_work_sync(&lo->clear_limits_work);
+
/* Make this loop device unreachable from pathname. */
del_gendisk(lo->lo_disk);
blk_mq_free_tag_set(&lo->tag_set);
--
2.43.0
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