[PATCH 6.1 1032/1191] null_blk: serialize configfs attribute updates with device setup

From
Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
Date
2026-09-12 16:46:40
Also in
linux-patches
Reply to
Greg Kroah-Hartman, 2026-09-12
6.1-stable review patch.  If anyone has any objections, please let me know.

------------------

From: Niklas Cassel <cassel@kernel.org>

[ Upstream commit 4e1f23f9c33c156be7e313b40695af5a3a834739 ]

The attribute store methods generated with NULLB_DEVICE_ATTR() refuse to
change the configuration of a live device by testing
NULLB_DEV_FL_CONFIGURED, but that flag is only set by
nullb_device_power_store() after null_add_dev() has returned, and the
store methods take no lock at all. configfs only serializes writes to
the same open file (buffer->mutex), so a write to any attribute can run
concurrently with null_add_dev() and change the device configuration
while it is being used.

null_add_dev() reads the configuration several times, e.g. dev->zoned is
read once to set up the queue limits and once to initialize the zone
resources:

  CPU0: echo 1 > nullb0/power         CPU1: echo 1 > nullb0/zoned
  nullb_device_power_store()
    mutex_lock(&lock)
    null_add_dev()
      if (dev->zoned) -> false
        /* no BLK_FEAT_ZONED */       nullb_device_zoned_store()
                                        test_bit(FL_CONFIGURED) -> 0
                                        dev->zoned = true
      blk_mq_alloc_disk()
        /* queue is not zoned */
      if (nullb->dev->zoned) -> true
        null_register_zoned_dev()
          blk_revalidate_disk_zones()

blk_revalidate_disk_zones() is then called for a queue that does not
have BLK_FEAT_ZONED set, which triggers its WARN_ON_ONCE() and fails the
device setup with -EIO:

  WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 322 at block/blk-zoned.c:2357 blk_revalidate_disk_zones+0x4c/0x560

Clearing dev->zoned in the same window is worse: the queue is created
with BLK_FEAT_ZONED but the zone resources are never initialized, so
add_disk() succeeds for a zoned disk that has no zones. And a store that
lands after the last dev->zoned test leaves dev->zoned set while
dev->zones is still NULL, which null_process_zoned_cmd() dereferences on
the first write.

Fix this by taking the global lock, which nullb_device_power_store()
already holds across null_add_dev() and null_del_dev(), around both the
NULLB_DEV_FL_CONFIGURED test and the update of the device configuration.
The submit_queues and poll_queues apply callbacks are now called with
that lock held, so remove the locking they did themselves.

Since the store methods can run as soon as configfs_register_subsystem()
returns, that is, before null_init() gets to mutex_init(&lock), also
initialize the lock statically with DEFINE_MUTEX().

Fixes: 3bf2bd20734e ("nullb: add configfs interface")
Reported-by: <redacted>
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-block/6a7d0b3f.ac361c09.22ff0a.004c.GAE@google.com/ (local)
Signed-off-by: Niklas Cassel <cassel@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Damien Le Moal <dlemoal@kernel.org>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260813141456.1625857-2-cassel@kernel.org (local)
Signed-off-by: Jens Axboe <axboe@kernel.dk>
Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin <sashal@kernel.org>
---
 drivers/block/null_blk/main.c | 14 +++++++++++---
 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
diff --git a/drivers/block/null_blk/main.c b/drivers/block/null_blk/main.c
index 1bdf975faec97..237e9a821374c 100644
--- a/drivers/block/null_blk/main.c
+++ b/drivers/block/null_blk/main.c
@@ -311,7 +311,15 @@ static ssize_t nullb_device_bool_attr_store(bool *val, const char *page,
 	return count;
 }
 
-/* The following macro should only be used with TYPE = {uint, ulong, bool}. */
+/*
+ * The following macro should only be used with TYPE = {uint, ulong, bool}.
+ *
+ * The device configuration is modified under the global lock to serialize
+ * attribute changes against null_add_dev() and null_del_dev(): without this,
+ * an attribute could be changed while null_add_dev() is running, that is,
+ * before NULLB_DEV_FL_CONFIGURED is set, which would let null_add_dev()
+ * observe inconsistent values for the device configuration.
+ */
 #define NULLB_DEVICE_ATTR(NAME, TYPE, APPLY)				\
 static ssize_t								\
 nullb_device_##NAME##_show(struct config_item *item, char *page)	\
@@ -351,6 +359,8 @@ static int nullb_update_nr_hw_queues(struct nullb_device *dev,
 	struct blk_mq_tag_set *set;
 	int ret, nr_hw_queues;
 
+	lockdep_assert_held(&lock);
+
 	if (!dev->nullb)
 		return 0;
 
@@ -2327,8 +2337,6 @@ static void __exit null_exit(void)
 
 	if (tag_set.ops)
 		blk_mq_free_tag_set(&tag_set);
-
-	mutex_destroy(&lock);
 }
 
 module_init(null_init);
-- 
2.53.0


Thread (1,211 messages) 1,211 messages, 13 authors, last reply 2026-09-21
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