linux/kernel
Linus Torvalds 7cd122b552 Some filesystems use a kinda-sorta controlled dentry refcount leak to pin
dentries of created objects in dcache (and undo it when removing those).
 Reference is grabbed and not released, but it's not actually _stored_
 anywhere.  That works, but it's hard to follow and verify; among other
 things, we have no way to tell _which_ of the increments is intended
 to be an unpaired one.  Worse, on removal we need to decide whether
 the reference had already been dropped, which can be non-trivial if
 that removal is on umount and we need to figure out if this dentry is
 pinned due to e.g. unlink() not done.  Usually that is handled by using
 kill_litter_super() as ->kill_sb(), but there are open-coded special
 cases of the same (consider e.g. /proc/self).
 
 Things get simpler if we introduce a new dentry flag (DCACHE_PERSISTENT)
 marking those "leaked" dentries.  Having it set claims responsibility
 for +1 in refcount.
 
 The end result this series is aiming for:
 
 * get these unbalanced dget() and dput() replaced with new primitives that
   would, in addition to adjusting refcount, set and clear persistency flag.
 * instead of having kill_litter_super() mess with removing the remaining
   "leaked" references (e.g. for all tmpfs files that hadn't been removed
   prior to umount), have the regular shrink_dcache_for_umount() strip
   DCACHE_PERSISTENT of all dentries, dropping the corresponding
   reference if it had been set.  After that kill_litter_super() becomes
   an equivalent of kill_anon_super().
 
 Doing that in a single step is not feasible - it would affect too many places
 in too many filesystems.  It has to be split into a series.
 
 This work has really started early in 2024; quite a few preliminary pieces
 have already gone into mainline.  This chunk is finally getting to the
 meat of that stuff - infrastructure and most of the conversions to it.
 
 Some pieces are still sitting in the local branches, but the bulk of
 that stuff is here.
 
 Signed-off-by: Al Viro <viro@zeniv.linux.org.uk>
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Merge tag 'pull-persistency' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/viro/vfs

Pull persistent dentry infrastructure and conversion from Al Viro:
 "Some filesystems use a kinda-sorta controlled dentry refcount leak to
  pin dentries of created objects in dcache (and undo it when removing
  those). A reference is grabbed and not released, but it's not actually
  _stored_ anywhere.

  That works, but it's hard to follow and verify; among other things, we
  have no way to tell _which_ of the increments is intended to be an
  unpaired one. Worse, on removal we need to decide whether the
  reference had already been dropped, which can be non-trivial if that
  removal is on umount and we need to figure out if this dentry is
  pinned due to e.g. unlink() not done. Usually that is handled by using
  kill_litter_super() as ->kill_sb(), but there are open-coded special
  cases of the same (consider e.g. /proc/self).

  Things get simpler if we introduce a new dentry flag
  (DCACHE_PERSISTENT) marking those "leaked" dentries. Having it set
  claims responsibility for +1 in refcount.

  The end result this series is aiming for:

   - get these unbalanced dget() and dput() replaced with new primitives
     that would, in addition to adjusting refcount, set and clear
     persistency flag.

   - instead of having kill_litter_super() mess with removing the
     remaining "leaked" references (e.g. for all tmpfs files that hadn't
     been removed prior to umount), have the regular
     shrink_dcache_for_umount() strip DCACHE_PERSISTENT of all dentries,
     dropping the corresponding reference if it had been set. After that
     kill_litter_super() becomes an equivalent of kill_anon_super().

  Doing that in a single step is not feasible - it would affect too many
  places in too many filesystems. It has to be split into a series.

  This work has really started early in 2024; quite a few preliminary
  pieces have already gone into mainline. This chunk is finally getting
  to the meat of that stuff - infrastructure and most of the conversions
  to it.

  Some pieces are still sitting in the local branches, but the bulk of
  that stuff is here"

* tag 'pull-persistency' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/viro/vfs: (54 commits)
  d_make_discardable(): warn if given a non-persistent dentry
  kill securityfs_recursive_remove()
  convert securityfs
  get rid of kill_litter_super()
  convert rust_binderfs
  convert nfsctl
  convert rpc_pipefs
  convert hypfs
  hypfs: swich hypfs_create_u64() to returning int
  hypfs: switch hypfs_create_str() to returning int
  hypfs: don't pin dentries twice
  convert gadgetfs
  gadgetfs: switch to simple_remove_by_name()
  convert functionfs
  functionfs: switch to simple_remove_by_name()
  functionfs: fix the open/removal races
  functionfs: need to cancel ->reset_work in ->kill_sb()
  functionfs: don't bother with ffs->ref in ffs_data_{opened,closed}()
  functionfs: don't abuse ffs_data_closed() on fs shutdown
  convert selinuxfs
  ...
2025-12-05 14:36:21 -08:00
..
bpf Some filesystems use a kinda-sorta controlled dentry refcount leak to pin 2025-12-05 14:36:21 -08:00
cgroup Significant patch series in this merge are as follows: 2025-12-05 13:52:43 -08:00
configs kcfi: Rename CONFIG_CFI_CLANG to CONFIG_CFI 2025-09-24 14:29:14 -07:00
debug kdb: Adapt kdb_msg_write to work with NBCON consoles 2025-10-24 12:56:20 +02:00
dma Significant patch series in this merge are as follows: 2025-12-05 13:52:43 -08:00
entry rseq: Switch to TIF_RSEQ if supported 2025-11-04 08:35:37 +01:00
events Performance events changes for v6.19: 2025-12-01 20:42:01 -08:00
futex Scoped user mode access and related changes: 2025-12-02 08:01:39 -08:00
gcov gcov: add support for GCC 15 2025-11-09 21:19:44 -08:00
irq Updates for [PCI] MSI related code: 2025-12-02 09:35:59 -08:00
kcsan Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer (KCSAN) updates for v6.18 2025-10-02 08:31:44 -07:00
livepatch livepatching changes for 6.19 2025-12-03 13:46:48 -08:00
locking RCU pull request for v6.19 2025-12-03 12:18:07 -08:00
module ima: Access decompressed kernel module to verify appended signature 2025-11-19 09:19:42 -05:00
power Merge branches 'pm-qos' and 'pm-tools' 2025-11-28 16:50:45 +01:00
printk Merge branch 'rework/write_atomic-unsafe' into for-linus 2025-12-01 14:17:04 +01:00
rcu RCU pull request for v6.19 2025-12-03 12:18:07 -08:00
sched sched_ext: Changes for v6.19 2025-12-03 13:25:39 -08:00
time Summary 2025-12-05 11:15:37 -08:00
trace Probes for v6.19 2025-12-05 10:55:47 -08:00
unwind unwind_user/x86: Teach FP unwind about start of function 2025-10-29 10:29:58 +01:00
.gitignore kheaders: rebuild kheaders_data.tar.xz when a file is modified within a minute 2025-06-24 20:30:37 +09:00
Kconfig.freezer
Kconfig.hz
Kconfig.kexec kho: warn and fail on metadata or preserved memory in scratch area 2025-11-09 21:19:41 -08:00
Kconfig.locks
Kconfig.preempt softirq: Allow to drop the softirq-BKL lock on PREEMPT_RT 2025-09-17 16:25:41 +02:00
Makefile kho: warn and fail on metadata or preserved memory in scratch area 2025-11-09 21:19:41 -08:00
acct.c act: use credential guards in acct_write_process() 2025-11-04 12:36:49 +01:00
async.c
audit.c audit: fix skb leak when audit rate limit is exceeded 2025-09-10 19:55:00 -04:00
audit.h audit: fix comment misindentation in audit.h 2025-10-22 19:28:06 -04:00
audit_fsnotify.c VFS/audit: introduce kern_path_parent() for audit 2025-09-23 12:37:35 +02:00
audit_tree.c mount-related stuff for this cycle 2025-10-03 10:19:44 -07:00
audit_watch.c VFS/audit: introduce kern_path_parent() for audit 2025-09-23 12:37:35 +02:00
auditfilter.c audit: Use kzalloc() instead of kmalloc()/memset() in audit_krule_to_data() 2025-11-07 16:38:34 -05:00
auditsc.c audit: merge loops in __audit_inode_child() 2025-11-07 16:50:42 -05:00
backtracetest.c
bounds.c
capability.c
cfi.c cfi: Move BPF CFI types and helpers to generic code 2025-07-31 18:23:53 -07:00
compat.c
configs.c
context_tracking.c
cpu.c cpumask: Cache num_possible_cpus() 2025-11-25 19:45:40 +01:00
cpu_pm.c
crash_core.c crash: fix crashkernel resource shrink 2025-11-15 10:52:01 -08:00
crash_core_test.c crash: add KUnit tests for crash_exclude_mem_range 2025-09-13 17:32:55 -07:00
crash_dump_dm_crypt.c crash_dump: retrieve dm crypt keys in kdump kernel 2025-05-21 10:48:21 -07:00
crash_reserve.c kdump: implement reserve_crashkernel_cma 2025-07-19 19:08:23 -07:00
cred.c kernel-6.19-rc1.cred 2025-12-01 13:45:41 -08:00
delayacct.c delayacct: remove redundant code and adjust indentation 2025-05-27 19:40:33 -07:00
dma.c
elfcorehdr.c
exec_domain.c
exit.c cgroup: Changes for v6.19 2025-12-03 13:04:07 -08:00
exit.h
extable.c
fail_function.c
fork.c Significant patch series in this merge are as follows: 2025-12-05 13:52:43 -08:00
freezer.c freezer: Clarify that only cgroup1 freezer uses PM freezer 2025-10-30 20:10:27 +01:00
gen_kheaders.sh kheaders: make it possible to override TAR 2025-08-06 10:23:36 +09:00
groups.c
hung_task.c hung_task: dump blocker task if it is not hung 2025-09-13 17:32:43 -07:00
iomem.c
irq_work.c
jump_label.c
kallsyms.c kallsyms: Fix wrong "big" kernel symbol type read from procfs 2025-11-24 16:56:24 +01:00
kallsyms_internal.h
kallsyms_selftest.c kallsyms: use kmalloc_array() instead of kmalloc() 2025-09-28 11:36:14 -07:00
kallsyms_selftest.h
kcmp.c
kcov.c kcov: use write memory barrier after memcpy() in kcov_move_area() 2025-09-13 17:32:44 -07:00
kexec.c kexec: enable CMA based contiguous allocation 2025-08-02 12:01:38 -07:00
kexec_core.c kexec_core: remove redundant 0 value initialization 2025-09-13 17:32:49 -07:00
kexec_elf.c kexec: initialize ELF lowest address to ULONG_MAX 2025-03-16 22:30:47 -07:00
kexec_file.c x86/kexec: carry forward the boot DTB on kexec 2025-09-13 17:32:43 -07:00
kexec_handover.c kho: warn and exit when unpreserved page wasn't preserved 2025-11-09 21:19:47 -08:00
kexec_handover_debug.c kho: warn and fail on metadata or preserved memory in scratch area 2025-11-09 21:19:41 -08:00
kexec_handover_internal.h kho: warn and fail on metadata or preserved memory in scratch area 2025-11-09 21:19:41 -08:00
kexec_internal.h kexec: enable CMA based contiguous allocation 2025-08-02 12:01:38 -07:00
kheaders.c
kprobes.c kprobes: Add missing kerneldoc for __get_insn_slot 2025-07-15 18:45:34 +09:00
kstack_erase.c sysctl: remove __user qualifier from stack_erasing_sysctl buffer argument 2025-11-27 15:44:53 +01:00
ksyms_common.c
ksysfs.c
kthread.c sched: Rename do_set_cpus_allowed() 2025-10-16 11:13:53 +02:00
latencytop.c
module_signature.c
notifier.c
nscommon.c ns: rename is_initial_namespace() 2025-11-11 10:01:31 +01:00
nsproxy.c nsproxy: fix free_nsproxy() and simplify create_new_namespaces() 2025-11-14 13:10:38 +01:00
nstree.c nstree: fix kernel-doc comments for internal functions 2025-11-14 13:10:38 +01:00
padata.c padata: remove __padata_list_init() 2025-11-14 18:15:49 +08:00
panic.c Merge branch 'objtool/core' 2025-11-21 11:21:20 +01:00
params.c params: Replace deprecated strcpy() with strscpy() and memcpy() 2025-08-16 21:47:25 +02:00
pid.c ns: drop custom reference count initialization for initial namespaces 2025-11-11 10:01:32 +01:00
pid_namespace.c pid: rely on common reference count behavior 2025-11-11 10:01:32 +01:00
pid_sysctl.h
profile.c
ptrace.c rseq: Introduce struct rseq_data 2025-11-04 08:30:50 +01:00
range.c
reboot.c - The 7 patch series "powerpc/crash: use generic crashkernel 2025-04-01 10:06:52 -07:00
regset.c
relay.c relay: update relay to use mmap_prepare 2025-11-16 17:28:11 -08:00
resource.c resource: improve child resource handling in release_mem_region_adjustable() 2025-09-21 14:22:34 -07:00
resource_kunit.c
rseq.c rseq: Switch to fast path processing on exit to user 2025-11-04 08:34:39 +01:00
scftorture.c
scs.c
seccomp.c Performance events updates for v6.18: 2025-09-30 11:11:21 -07:00
signal.c signal: Move MMCID exit out of sighand lock 2025-11-25 19:45:40 +01:00
smp.c smp: Introduce a helper function to check for pending IPIs 2025-11-19 18:06:50 +01:00
smpboot.c sched/smp: Use the SMP version of idle_thread_set_boot_cpu() 2025-06-13 08:47:20 +02:00
smpboot.h
softirq.c softirq: Allow to drop the softirq-BKL lock on PREEMPT_RT 2025-09-17 16:25:41 +02:00
stacktrace.c
static_call.c
static_call_inline.c Modules changes for 6.15-rc1 2025-03-30 15:44:36 -07:00
stop_machine.c sched/core: Fix migrate_swap() vs. hotplug 2025-07-01 15:02:03 +02:00
sys.c Patch series in this pull request: 2025-10-02 18:44:54 -07:00
sys_ni.c uprobes/x86: Add uprobe syscall to speed up uprobe 2025-08-21 20:09:20 +02:00
sysctl-test.c sysctl: move u8 register test to lib/test_sysctl.c 2025-04-14 14:13:41 +02:00
sysctl.c sysctl: Wrap do_proc_douintvec with the public function proc_douintvec_conv 2025-11-27 15:45:38 +01:00
task_work.c task_work: Fix NMI race condition 2025-10-29 10:29:54 +01:00
taskstats.c
torture.c torture: Delay CPU-hotplug operations until boot completes 2025-08-14 15:26:30 -07:00
tracepoint.c tracepoint: Print the function symbol when tracepoint_debug is set 2025-03-21 15:30:10 -04:00
tsacct.c pid: change bacct_add_tsk() to use task_ppid_nr_ns() 2025-08-19 13:38:20 +02:00
ucount.c ucount: use atomic_long_try_cmpxchg() in atomic_long_inc_below() 2025-08-02 12:01:38 -07:00
uid16.c
uid16.h
umh.c
up.c
user-return-notifier.c
user.c ns: drop custom reference count initialization for initial namespaces 2025-11-11 10:01:32 +01:00
user_namespace.c ns: move ns type into struct ns_common 2025-09-25 09:23:54 +02:00
utsname.c namespace-6.18-rc1 2025-09-29 11:20:29 -07:00
utsname_sysctl.c
vhost_task.c vhost: Take a reference on the task in struct vhost_task. 2025-09-21 17:44:20 -04:00
vmcore_info.c crash: export PAGE_UNACCEPTED_MAPCOUNT_VALUE to vmcoreinfo 2025-05-11 17:54:04 -07:00
watch_queue.c watch_queue: Use local kmap in post_one_notification() 2025-11-19 12:17:28 +01:00
watchdog.c Summary 2025-12-05 11:15:37 -08:00
watchdog_buddy.c watchdog: fix opencoded cpumask_next_wrap() in watchdog_next_cpu() 2025-07-31 11:28:03 -04:00
watchdog_perf.c watchdog: skip checks when panic is in progress 2025-09-13 17:32:53 -07:00
workqueue.c workqueue: Don't rely on wq->rescuer to stop rescuer 2025-11-21 09:45:36 -10:00
workqueue_internal.h