From: Souvik Banerjee <souvik@amlalabs.com>
To: miklos@szeredi.hu, amir73il@gmail.com
Cc: linux-unionfs@vger.kernel.org, linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org,
linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, stable@vger.kernel.org,
Souvik Banerjee <souvik@amlalabs.com>
Subject: [PATCH] ovl: use linked upper dentry in copy-up tmpfile
Date: Fri, 1 May 2026 23:27:35 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260501232735.2610824-1-souvik@amlalabs.com> (raw)
ovl_copy_up_tmpfile() stores the disconnected O_TMPFILE dentry as the
overlay's upper dentry reference via ovl_inode_update(). vfs_tmpfile()
allocated this dentry via d_alloc(parentpath->dentry, &slash_name), so
d_name is "/" and d_parent is c->workdir. Local upper filesystems
(ext4, btrfs, xfs, ...) immediately rename it to "#<inum>" via
d_mark_tmpfile() inside their ->tmpfile() op; FUSE and virtiofs do
not, so both fields stay that way. Neither identifies the destination
directory and filename where ovl_do_link() actually linked the file.
When the upper filesystem implements ->d_revalidate() (e.g. FUSE or
virtiofs), ovl_revalidate_real() calls it with the dentry's parent
inode and a snapshot of d_name. The server tries to look up "/" inside
c->workdir, fails, and overlayfs reports -ESTALE.
This causes persistent ESTALE errors for any file that was copied up via
the tmpfile path, breaking dpkg, apt, and other tools that do
rename-over-existing on overlayfs with a FUSE/virtiofs upper.
Before commit 6b52243f633e ("ovl: fold copy-up helpers into callers"),
the tmpfile copy-up path used a dedicated helper ovl_link_tmpfile()
that captured the linked destination dentry returned by ovl_do_link():
err = ovl_do_link(temp, udir, upper);
...
if (!err)
*newdentry = dget(upper);
and published it via ovl_inode_update(d_inode(c->dentry), newdentry).
The fold inlined ovl_do_link() into ovl_copy_up_tmpfile() but dropped
the dget(upper) capture, and rewrote the publish line as
ovl_inode_update(d_inode(c->dentry), dget(temp)) — where temp is the
disconnected O_TMPFILE dentry.
Fix by keeping a reference to the linked destination dentry after
ovl_do_link() succeeds, and publishing that dentry at the existing
ovl_inode_update() call site. The non-tmpfile/workdir path continues to
publish the renamed temporary dentry.
Reproducer:
- Mount overlayfs with virtiofs (or a FUSE fs whose server advertises
FUSE_TMPFILE) as upper
- Run: dpkg -i <any .deb>
- Observe: "error installing new file '...': Stale file handle"
Fixes: 6b52243f633e ("ovl: fold copy-up helpers into callers")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org # v4.20+
Signed-off-by: Souvik Banerjee <souvik@amlalabs.com>
---
fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c | 12 ++++++++++--
1 file changed, 10 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c b/fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c
index 13cb60b52bd6..e963701b4c87 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c
@@ -853,7 +853,7 @@ static int ovl_copy_up_tmpfile(struct ovl_copy_up_ctx *c)
{
struct ovl_fs *ofs = OVL_FS(c->dentry->d_sb);
struct inode *udir = d_inode(c->destdir);
- struct dentry *temp, *upper;
+ struct dentry *temp, *upper, *newdentry = NULL;
struct file *tmpfile;
int err;
@@ -889,6 +889,14 @@ static int ovl_copy_up_tmpfile(struct ovl_copy_up_ctx *c)
err = PTR_ERR(upper);
if (!IS_ERR(upper)) {
err = ovl_do_link(ofs, temp, udir, upper);
+ if (!err) {
+ /*
+ * Record the linked dentry -- not the disconnected
+ * O_TMPFILE dentry -- so that ->d_revalidate() on
+ * the upper fs sees the real parent/name.
+ */
+ newdentry = dget(upper);
+ }
end_creating(upper);
}
@@ -903,7 +911,7 @@ static int ovl_copy_up_tmpfile(struct ovl_copy_up_ctx *c)
if (!c->metacopy)
ovl_set_upperdata(d_inode(c->dentry));
- ovl_inode_update(d_inode(c->dentry), dget(temp));
+ ovl_inode_update(d_inode(c->dentry), newdentry);
out:
ovl_end_write(c->dentry);
--
2.51.1
next reply other threads:[~2026-05-01 23:27 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 2+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-05-01 23:27 Souvik Banerjee [this message]
2026-05-03 20:37 ` [PATCH] ovl: use linked upper dentry in copy-up tmpfile Amir Goldstein
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