Re: [PATCH 01/13] fs/proc: Don't lock root inode when creating "self" and "thread-self"

Jeff Layton
2026-02-05T12:33:30Z

On Wed, 2026-02-04 at 15:57 +1100, NeilBrown wrote:
> From: NeilBrown <neil@brown.name>
>
> proc_setup_self() and proc_setup_thread_self() are only called from
> proc_fill_super() which is before the filesystem is "live". So there is
> no need to lock the root directory when adding "self" and "thread-self".
> This is clear from simple_fill_super() which provides similar
> functionality for other filesystems and does not lock anything.
>
> The locking is not harmful, except that it may be confusing to a reader.
> As part of a an effort to centralise all locking for directories for
> name-based operations (prior to changing some locking rules), it is
> simplest to remove the locking here.
>
> Signed-off-by: NeilBrown <neil@brown.name>
> ---
> fs/proc/self.c | 3 ---
> fs/proc/thread_self.c | 3 ---
> 2 files changed, 6 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/fs/proc/self.c b/fs/proc/self.c
> index 62d2c0cfe35c..56adf1c68f7a 100644
> --- a/fs/proc/self.c
> +++ b/fs/proc/self.c
> @@ -35,11 +35,9 @@ unsigned self_inum __ro_after_init;
>
> int proc_setup_self(struct super_block *s)
> {
> - struct inode *root_inode = d_inode(s->s_root);
> struct dentry *self;
> int ret = -ENOMEM;
>
> - inode_lock(root_inode);
> self = d_alloc_name(s->s_root, "self");
> if (self) {
> struct inode *inode = new_inode(s);
> @@ -55,7 +53,6 @@ int proc_setup_self(struct super_block *s)
> }
> dput(self);
> }
> - inode_unlock(root_inode);
>
> if (ret)
> pr_err("proc_fill_super: can't allocate /proc/self\n");
> diff --git a/fs/proc/thread_self.c b/fs/proc/thread_self.c
> index d6113dbe58e0..61ac62c3fd9f 100644
> --- a/fs/proc/thread_self.c
> +++ b/fs/proc/thread_self.c
> @@ -35,11 +35,9 @@ unsigned thread_self_inum __ro_after_init;
>
> int proc_setup_thread_self(struct super_block *s)
> {
> - struct inode *root_inode = d_inode(s->s_root);
> struct dentry *thread_self;
> int ret = -ENOMEM;
>
> - inode_lock(root_inode);
> thread_self = d_alloc_name(s->s_root, "thread-self");
> if (thread_self) {
> struct inode *inode = new_inode(s);
> @@ -55,7 +53,6 @@ int proc_setup_thread_self(struct super_block *s)
> }
> dput(thread_self);
> }
> - inode_unlock(root_inode);
>
> if (ret)
> pr_err("proc_fill_super: can't allocate /proc/thread-self\n");

Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org>