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* [PATCH] ext4: move inline data cleanup to ext4_writepages to fix deadlock
@ 2026-06-09 15:45 Yun Zhou
  2026-06-10  5:08 ` [PATCH v2] ext4: drop s_writepages_rwsem around ext4_destroy_inline_data Yun Zhou
                   ` (2 more replies)
  0 siblings, 3 replies; 4+ messages in thread
From: Yun Zhou @ 2026-06-09 15:45 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: tytso, adilger.kernel, libaokun, jack, ojaswin, ritesh.list,
	yi.zhang, daeho.jeong
  Cc: linux-ext4, linux-kernel, yun.zhou

ext4_do_writepages() calls ext4_destroy_inline_data() which acquires
xattr_sem while s_writepages_rwsem is held (read).  This creates a
circular lock dependency with the xattr writeback path:

  CPU0                               CPU1
  ----                               ----
  ext4_writepages()
    ext4_writepages_down_read()
      [holds s_writepages_rwsem]
                                     ext4_evict_inode()
                                       __ext4_mark_inode_dirty()
                                         ext4_expand_extra_isize_ea()
                                           ext4_xattr_block_set()
                                             [holds xattr_sem]
                                             iput(old_bh inode)
                                               write_inode_now()
                                                 ext4_writepages()
                                                   ext4_writepages_down_read()
                                                   [BLOCKED on s_writepages_rwsem]
    ext4_do_writepages()
      ext4_destroy_inline_data()
        down_write(xattr_sem)
        [BLOCKED on xattr_sem]

Move inline data destruction from ext4_do_writepages() into
ext4_writepages(), before acquiring s_writepages_rwsem.

This is safe because the other caller of ext4_do_writepages()
(ext4_normal_submit_inode_data_buffers, invoked by jbd2 during commit)
can never encounter inline data: jbd2 only tracks inodes with
block-mapped dirty ranges registered via ext4_jbd2_inode_add_write(),
and all such registration paths either explicitly bail out when inline
data is present (ext4_journalled_write_end) or are logically
unreachable for inline data inodes (ext4_map_blocks requires block
allocation, ext4_block_zero_eof requires existing blocks).

Reported-by: syzbot+bb2455d02bda0b5701e3@syzkaller.appspotmail.com
Closes: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=bb2455d02bda0b5701e3
Fixes: c8585c6fcaf2 ("ext4: fix races between changing inode journal mode and ext4_writepages")
Signed-off-by: Yun Zhou <yun.zhou@windriver.com>
---
 fs/ext4/inode.c | 47 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------------
 1 file changed, 29 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)

diff --git a/fs/ext4/inode.c b/fs/ext4/inode.c
index c2c2d6ac7f3d..0c7461ab4fd0 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/inode.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/inode.c
@@ -2810,24 +2810,6 @@ static int ext4_do_writepages(struct mpage_da_data *mpd)
 	if (unlikely(ret))
 		goto out_writepages;
 
-	/*
-	 * If we have inline data and arrive here, it means that
-	 * we will soon create the block for the 1st page, so
-	 * we'd better clear the inline data here.
-	 */
-	if (ext4_has_inline_data(inode)) {
-		/* Just inode will be modified... */
-		handle = ext4_journal_start(inode, EXT4_HT_INODE, 1);
-		if (IS_ERR(handle)) {
-			ret = PTR_ERR(handle);
-			goto out_writepages;
-		}
-		BUG_ON(ext4_test_inode_state(inode,
-				EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA));
-		ext4_destroy_inline_data(handle, inode);
-		ext4_journal_stop(handle);
-	}
-
 	/*
 	 * data=journal mode does not do delalloc so we just need to writeout /
 	 * journal already mapped buffers. On the other hand we need to commit
@@ -3038,6 +3020,35 @@ static int ext4_writepages(struct address_space *mapping,
 	if (unlikely(ret))
 		return ret;
 
+	/*
+	 * Clearing inline data acquires xattr_sem, which ranks above
+	 * s_writepages_rwsem.  Do it here before taking the rwsem to avoid
+	 * a circular dependency:
+	 *   ext4_writepages (s_writepages_rwsem) -> ext4_destroy_inline_data
+	 *     (xattr_sem)
+	 *   ext4_xattr_block_set (xattr_sem) -> iput -> ext4_writepages
+	 *     (s_writepages_rwsem)
+	 *
+	 * This is only needed in the ext4_writepages() path.  The other
+	 * caller of ext4_do_writepages() -- ext4_normal_submit_inode_data_buffers
+	 * (jbd2 commit callback) -- cannot encounter inline data because jbd2
+	 * only tracks inodes with block-mapped dirty ranges registered via
+	 * ext4_jbd2_inode_add_write(), and all such callers either bail out
+	 * for inline data inodes (e.g. ext4_journalled_write_end) or are
+	 * unreachable for them (ext4_map_blocks, ext4_block_zero_eof).
+	 */
+	if (ext4_has_inline_data(mapping->host)) {
+		handle_t *handle;
+
+		handle = ext4_journal_start(mapping->host, EXT4_HT_INODE, 1);
+		if (IS_ERR(handle))
+			return PTR_ERR(handle);
+		BUG_ON(ext4_test_inode_state(mapping->host,
+				EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA));
+		ext4_destroy_inline_data(handle, mapping->host);
+		ext4_journal_stop(handle);
+	}
+
 	alloc_ctx = ext4_writepages_down_read(sb);
 	ret = ext4_do_writepages(&mpd);
 	/*
-- 
2.43.0


^ permalink raw reply related	[flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~2026-06-10  8:07 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 4+ messages (download: mbox.gz follow: Atom feed
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2026-06-09 15:45 [PATCH] ext4: move inline data cleanup to ext4_writepages to fix deadlock Yun Zhou
2026-06-10  5:08 ` [PATCH v2] ext4: drop s_writepages_rwsem around ext4_destroy_inline_data Yun Zhou
2026-06-10  6:37 ` [PATCH v3] ext4: drop s_writepages_rwsem around inline data handling in writepages Yun Zhou
2026-06-10  8:06 ` [syzbot ci] Re: ext4: move inline data cleanup to ext4_writepages to fix deadlock syzbot ci

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