[PATCH] Fix buffer head reference leak in no-journal mode

[PATCH] Fix buffer head reference leak in no-journal mode

[Curt Wohlgemuth]

We found a problem with buffer head reference leaks when using an ext4
partition without a journal.  In particular, calls to ext4_forget() would
not to a brelse() on the input buffer head, which will cause pages they
belong to to not be reclaimable.

Further investigation showed that all places where ext4_journal_forget() and
ext4_journal_revoke() are called are subject to the same problem.  The patch
below changes __ext4_journal_forget/__ext4_journal_revoke to do an explicit
release of the buffer head when the journal handle isn't valid.

	Signed-off-by: Curt Wohlgemuth <curtw@google.com>
---
diff -Naur orig/fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.c new/fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.c
--- orig/fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.c	2009-07-09 09:51:41.000000000 -0700
+++ new/fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.c	2009-07-09 09:52:10.000000000 -0700
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@
 			ext4_journal_abort_handle(where, __func__, bh,
 						  handle, err);
 	}
+	else
+		brelse(bh);
 	return err;
 }

@@ -57,6 +59,8 @@
 			ext4_journal_abort_handle(where, __func__, bh,
 						  handle, err);
 	}
+	else
+		brelse(bh);
 	return err;
 }

diff -Naur orig/fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.h new/fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.h
--- orig/fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.h	2009-07-09 09:51:41.000000000 -0700
+++ new/fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.h	2009-07-09 09:52:10.000000000 -0700
@@ -131,9 +131,11 @@
 int __ext4_journal_get_write_access(const char *where, handle_t *handle,
 				struct buffer_head *bh);

+/* When called with an invalid handle, this will still do a put on the BH */
 int __ext4_journal_forget(const char *where, handle_t *handle,
 				struct buffer_head *bh);

+/* When called with an invalid handle, this will still do a put on the BH */
 int __ext4_journal_revoke(const char *where, handle_t *handle,
 				ext4_fsblk_t blocknr, struct buffer_head *bh);

diff -Naur orig/fs/ext4/inode.c new/fs/ext4/inode.c
--- orig/fs/ext4/inode.c	2009-07-09 09:51:41.000000000 -0700
+++ new/fs/ext4/inode.c	2009-07-09 09:51:52.000000000 -0700
@@ -75,16 +75,14 @@
  * but there may still be a record of it in the journal, and that record
  * still needs to be revoked.
  *
- * If the handle isn't valid we're not journaling so there's nothing to do.
+ * If the handle isn't valid we're not journaling, but we still need to
+ * call into ext4_journal_revoke() to put the buffer head.
  */
 int ext4_forget(handle_t *handle, int is_metadata, struct inode *inode,
 			struct buffer_head *bh, ext4_fsblk_t blocknr)
 {
 	int err;

-	if (!ext4_handle_valid(handle))
-		return 0;

Re: [PATCH] Fix buffer head reference leak in no-journal mode

[Theodore Tso]

On Thu, Jul 09, 2009 at 10:10:55AM -0700, Curt Wohlgemuth wrote:
> We found a problem with buffer head reference leaks when using an ext4
> partition without a journal.  In particular, calls to ext4_forget() would
> not to a brelse() on the input buffer head, which will cause pages they
> belong to to not be reclaimable.
> 
> Further investigation showed that all places where ext4_journal_forget() and
> ext4_journal_revoke() are called are subject to the same problem.  The patch
> below changes __ext4_journal_forget/__ext4_journal_revoke to do an explicit
> release of the buffer head when the journal handle isn't valid.
> 
> 	Signed-off-by: Curt Wohlgemuth <curtw@google.com>

Thanks, applied.

						- Ted