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From: Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz>
To: Ted Tso <tytso@mit.edu>
Cc: <linux-ext4@vger.kernel.org>,
	yi1.lai@linux.intel.com, Mateusz Guzik <mjguzik@gmail.com>,
	Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz>,
	stable@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH] ext4: Fix deadlock on inode reallocation
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2026 10:04:29 +0100	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260320090428.24899-2-jack@suse.cz> (raw)

Currently there is a race in ext4 when reallocating freed inode
resulting in a deadlock:

Task1					Task2
ext4_evict_inode()
  handle = ext4_journal_start();
  ...
  if (IS_SYNC(inode))
    handle->h_sync = 1;
  ext4_free_inode()
					ext4_new_inode()
					  handle = ext4_journal_start()
					  finds the bit in inode bitmap
					    already clear
					  insert_inode_locked()
					    waits for inode to be
					      removed from the hash.
  ext4_journal_stop(handle)
    jbd2_journal_stop(handle)
      jbd2_log_wait_commit(journal, tid);
        - deadlocks waiting for transaction handle Task2 holds

Fix the problem by removing inode from the hash already in
ext4_clear_inode() by which time all IO for the inode is done so reuse
is already fine but we are still before possibly blocking on transaction
commit.

Reported-by: "Lai, Yi" <yi1.lai@linux.intel.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/abNvb2PcrKj1FBeC@ly-workstation
Fixes: 88ec797c4680 ("fs: make insert_inode_locked() wait for inode destruction")
CC: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz>
---
 fs/ext4/super.c | 21 +++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 21 insertions(+)

Ted, this is a regression recently introduced by VFS changes in
insert_inode_locked() but I think it's best fixed in ext4. If you agree, it
would be nice to merge this so that it makes it to 7.0 release. Thanks!

diff --git a/fs/ext4/super.c b/fs/ext4/super.c
index 43f680c750ae..b8122d24c083 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/super.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/super.c
@@ -1527,6 +1527,27 @@ void ext4_clear_inode(struct inode *inode)
 	invalidate_inode_buffers(inode);
 	clear_inode(inode);
 	ext4_discard_preallocations(inode);
+	/*
+	 * We must remove the inode from the hash before ext4_free_inode()
+	 * clears the bit in inode bitmap as otherwise another process reusing
+	 * the inode will block in insert_inode_hash() waiting for inode
+	 * eviction to complete while holding transaction handle open, but
+	 * ext4_evict_inode() still running for that inode could block waiting
+	 * for transaction commit if the inode is marked as IS_SYNC => deadlock.
+	 *
+	 * Removing the inode from the hash here is safe. There are two cases
+	 * to consider:
+	 * 1) The inode still has references to it (i_nlink > 0). In that case
+	 * we are keeping the inode and once we remove the inode from the hash,
+	 * iget() can create the new inode structure for the same inode number
+	 * and we are fine with that as all IO on behalf of the inode is
+	 * finished.
+	 * 2) We are deleting the inode (i_nlink == 0). In that case inode
+	 * number cannot be reused until ext4_free_inode() clears the bit in
+	 * the inode bitmap, at which point all IO is done and reuse is fine
+	 * again.
+	 */
+	remove_inode_hash(inode);
 	ext4_es_remove_extent(inode, 0, EXT_MAX_BLOCKS);
 	dquot_drop(inode);
 	if (EXT4_I(inode)->jinode) {
-- 
2.51.0


             reply	other threads:[~2026-03-20  9:04 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 3+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-03-20  9:04 Jan Kara [this message]
2026-03-25 21:07 ` [PATCH] ext4: Fix deadlock on inode reallocation Mateusz Guzik
2026-03-26 15:59   ` Jan Kara

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