[PATCH] kernfs: Relax constraint in draining guard
From: Michal Koutný
Date: Mon May 05 2025 - 08:12:45 EST
The active reference lifecycle provides the break/unbreak mechanism but
the active reference is not truly active after unbreak -- callers don't
use it afterwards but it's important for proper pairing of kn->active
counting. Assuming this mechanism is in place, the WARN check in
kernfs_should_drain_open_files() is too sensitive -- it may transiently
catch those (rightful) callers between
kernfs_unbreak_active_protection() and kernfs_put_active() as found out by Chen
Ridong:
kernfs_remove_by_name_ns kernfs_get_active // active=1
__kernfs_remove // active=0x80000002
kernfs_drain ...
wait_event
//waiting (active == 0x80000001)
kernfs_break_active_protection
// active = 0x80000001
// continue
kernfs_unbreak_active_protection
// active = 0x80000002
...
kernfs_should_drain_open_files
// warning occurs
kernfs_put_active
To avoid the false positives (mind panic_on_warn) remove the check altogether.
(This is meant as quick fix, I think active reference break/unbreak may be
simplified with larger rework.)
Fixes: bdb2fd7fc56e1 ("kernfs: Skip kernfs_drain_open_files() more aggressively")
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/kmmrseckjctb4gxcx2rdminrjnq2b4ipf7562nvfd432ld5v5m@2byj5eedkb2o/
Cc: Chen Ridong <chenridong@xxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Michal Koutný <mkoutny@xxxxxxxx>
---
fs/kernfs/dir.c | 5 +++--
fs/kernfs/file.c | 3 ++-
2 files changed, 5 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
diff --git a/fs/kernfs/dir.c b/fs/kernfs/dir.c
index fc70d72c3fe80..43487fa83eaea 100644
--- a/fs/kernfs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/kernfs/dir.c
@@ -1580,8 +1580,9 @@ void kernfs_break_active_protection(struct kernfs_node *kn)
* invoked before finishing the kernfs operation. Note that while this
* function restores the active reference, it doesn't and can't actually
* restore the active protection - @kn may already or be in the process of
- * being removed. Once kernfs_break_active_protection() is invoked, that
- * protection is irreversibly gone for the kernfs operation instance.
+ * being drained and removed. Once kernfs_break_active_protection() is
+ * invoked, that protection is irreversibly gone for the kernfs operation
+ * instance.
*
* While this function may be called at any point after
* kernfs_break_active_protection() is invoked, its most useful location
diff --git a/fs/kernfs/file.c b/fs/kernfs/file.c
index 66fe8fe41f060..a6c692cac6165 100644
--- a/fs/kernfs/file.c
+++ b/fs/kernfs/file.c
@@ -778,8 +778,9 @@ bool kernfs_should_drain_open_files(struct kernfs_node *kn)
/*
* @kn being deactivated guarantees that @kn->attr.open can't change
* beneath us making the lockless test below safe.
+ * Callers post kernfs_unbreak_active_protection may be counted in
+ * kn->active by now, do not WARN_ON because of them.
*/
- WARN_ON_ONCE(atomic_read(&kn->active) != KN_DEACTIVATED_BIAS);
rcu_read_lock();
on = rcu_dereference(kn->attr.open);
--
2.49.0