Re: [PATCH] fs/dcache: allow __d_obtain_alias() to return unhashed dentries

[NeilBrown <neilb-l3A5Bk7waGM@public.gmane.org>]

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On Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:56:33 -0500 "J. Bruce Fields" <bfields-uC3wQj2KruNg9hUCZPvPmw@public.gmane.org>
wrote:

> On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 12:03:00PM -0500, J. Bruce Fields wrote:
> > On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 03:07:49PM +1100, NeilBrown wrote:
> > > On Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:58:21 +0000 Al Viro <viro-3bDd1+5oDREiFSDQTTA3OLVCufUGDwFn@public.gmane.org> wrote:
> > > 
> > > > On Tue, Mar 08, 2011 at 01:13:20PM -0500, J. Bruce Fields wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > Al, do you have this in your queue to look at?  Need me to resend?  Or
> > > > > should it take some other route?
> > > > 
> > > > It's in queue, but I'd be a lot happier if I understood what's going on
> > > > with __d_find_alias() elsewhere.  Namely, in d_splice_alias().  The thing
> > > > is, unless I'm missing something we ought to use __d_find_any_alias()
> > > > there as well.  Directories really, _really_ should not have more than
> > > > one alias.  And what we get is really weird:
> > > > 	* find (the only) alias
> > > > 	* if it doesn't exist, create one (OK, no problem)
> > > > 	* if it does exist and happens to be IS_ROOT and DCACHE_DISCONNECTED,
> > > > move it (also fine, modulo rather useless BUG_ON() in there)
> > > > 	* if it does exist and either isn't IS_ROOT or not DCACHE_DISCONNECTED,
> > > > add a new alias and say nothing.
> > > > 
> > > > The last part looks very strange.  I'd been staring at the history of this
> > > > function and I _think_ it's a rudiment of period when we used that stuff for
> > > > non-directories as well.  It used to be directory-only; then Neil had
> > > > switched it to non-directories as well (in "Fix disconnected dentries on NFS
> > > > exports" back in 2004), adding want_discon argument to __d_find_alias() in
> > > > process and using it instead of open-coded equivalent of __d_find_any_alias().
> > > > Then, two years later, in "knfsd: close a race-opportunity in d_splice_alias"
> > > > he'd made that code directory-only again, at which point we arrived to the
> > > > current situation.
> > > > 
> > > > Neil, is there some reason I'm missing that makes __d_find_alias() right in
> > > > there?  And do we still need the second argument in __d_find_alias()?
> > > > 
> > > > Anyway, Bruce's patch goes in tonight's push, but I'd love to see that
> > > > mess cleaned up as well or at least explained.
> > 
> > Nothing like seeing somebody actually run across a bug here to motivate
> > getting back to this....
> > 
> > So, like Al I'm wondering whether the __d_find_alias in d_splice_alias
> > should be a __d_find_any_alias.
> > 
> > Disclaimer: the bug manifested in rhel5, and I haven't looked closely at
> > upstream yet, though it seems like it would have the same problem.
> > 
> > In the particular case I'm seeing, the directory already has an alias
> > that is UNHASHED (but not DISCONNECTED).  So d_splice_alias adds a
> > second alias.
> 
> The reproducer I was using against rhel5 isn't going to work against
> upstream, because it depended on the dentry_unhash() call in vfs_rmdir()
> to create that UNHASHED dentry.
> 
> Though I think there's still code that can leave UNHASHED dentries
> around still on the alias list.  I'll look some more....

I was going ask how you managed to get an 'unhashed' dentry which was not
DISCONNECTED, and belonged to a directory that could be the subject of
d_splice_alias (that implies it has a name).

The bug sounds like a race between lookup and rmdir, which should be
prevented by i_mutex.

I think that using __d_find_any_alias would just be papering over the
problem, and would trigger a BUG_ON when it returned a non-DISCONNECTED alias.

NeilBrown


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