[PATCH] fs/buffer: publish max_buffer_heads with release semantics
From: Jaidev Shastri via B4 Relay
Date: Mon Sep 21 2026 - 21:16:02 EST
From: Jaidev Shastri <jaidevshastri@xxxxxx>
buffer_init() creates bh_cachep and then computes max_buffer_heads, both
with plain stores. recalc_bh_state() reads max_buffer_heads with a plain
load from alloc_buffer_head() and free_buffer_head(), on any CPU.
Store it with smp_store_release() and read it with smp_load_acquire().
Found with MBCheck, a static herd7-based memory consistency checker.
Signed-off-by: Jaidev Shastri <jaidevshastri@xxxxxx>
---
fs/buffer.c | 7 +++++--
1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/fs/buffer.c b/fs/buffer.c
index ed966fa73..bf5a674c1 100644
--- a/fs/buffer.c
+++ b/fs/buffer.c
@@ -2864,7 +2864,8 @@ static void recalc_bh_state(void)
__this_cpu_write(bh_accounting.ratelimit, 0);
for_each_online_cpu(i)
tot += per_cpu(bh_accounting, i).nr;
- buffer_heads_over_limit = (tot > max_buffer_heads);
+ /* Pairs with the smp_store_release() in buffer_init(). */
+ buffer_heads_over_limit = (tot > smp_load_acquire(&max_buffer_heads));
}
struct buffer_head *alloc_buffer_head(gfp_t gfp_flags)
@@ -2998,7 +2999,9 @@ void __init buffer_init(void)
* Limit the bh occupancy to 10% of ZONE_NORMAL
*/
nrpages = (nr_free_buffer_pages() * 10) / 100;
- max_buffer_heads = nrpages * (PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct buffer_head));
+ /* Pairs with the smp_load_acquire() in recalc_bh_state(). */
+ smp_store_release(&max_buffer_heads,
+ nrpages * (PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct buffer_head)));
ret = cpuhp_setup_state_nocalls(CPUHP_FS_BUFF_DEAD, "fs/buffer:dead",
NULL, buffer_exit_cpu_dead);
WARN_ON(ret < 0);
---
base-commit: 93f51579e7df248780214094418f205253383cc5
change-id: 20260921-mb-fs-buffer-0a91680176e5
Best regards,
--
Jaidev Shastri <jaidevshastri@xxxxxx>