Re: [PATCH 2/2] configfs: give the root inode its own lockdep class

[Breno Leitao]

On Thu, Oct 22, 2026 at 03:44:43PM +0200, Slawomir Stepien wrote:
> configfs_depend_item_unlocked() is meant to be called from configfs
> callbacks, where VFS already holds directory inode locks and configfs
> holds the subsystem's su_mutex. When the target item lives in another
> subsystem, it additionally locks the configfs root inode so that the
> target subsystem cannot be unregistered underneath it.
> 
> The root inode shares the &sb->s_type->i_mutex_key lockdep class with
> every user-created configfs directory, so lockdep cannot tell it apart
> from the directory inode locks taken by mkdir, rmdir and symlink. Any
> lock held by the depend caller therefore looks like it nests both
> inside and outside "the" configfs inode lock. f_tcm's usbg_make_tpg(),
> which depends on a gadget function item from the target subsystem's
> mkdir callback, triggers this in two ways:
> 
>   target su_mutex -> root inode (depend), while
>   rmdir under target/: directory inode -> target su_mutex
> 
>   tpg_instances_lock -> root inode (depend), while
>   mkdir functions/tcm.N: directory inode -> gadget su_mutex ->
>     func_lock -> tpg_instances_lock (tcm_alloc_inst())
> 
> Neither is a real deadlock, because no holder of the root inode lock
> waits for su_mutex, tpg_instances_lock or a directory inode lock held
> by a depend caller:
> 
>  - configfs_depend_item() and configfs_depend_item_unlocked() only look
>    up the subsystem and scan the tree under configfs_dirent_lock, a
>    spinlock.
>  - Lookup and readdir in the configfs root only take
>    configfs_dirent_lock. mkdir and symlink in the root fail with
>    -EPERM before any other lock is taken, and configfs_rmdir() of a
>    subsystem directory never gets as far as taking su_mutex.
>  - configfs_register_subsystem() only locks the inodes of the new
>    subsystem directory it is creating, which nobody else can hold yet.
>  - configfs_unregister_subsystem() does wait for the subsystem
>    directory's inode lock, but it only runs from the subsystem module's
>    exit path. Every mkdir and rmdir in that subsystem holds a reference
>    on the module, so none of them can be in progress at that point.
> 
> Put the root inode's i_rwsem into its own lock class so that lockdep
> stops aliasing it with ordinary directory inodes. Splitting a class
> cannot create new lockdep cycles, and real dependencies on the root
> inode are still tracked under the new class. This is an annotation
> only: without CONFIG_LOCKDEP the key is empty and lockdep_set_class()
> compiles away.
> 
> Fixes: d79d75b5c518 ("fs: configfs: Add unlocked version of configfs_depend_item()")
> Reported-by: syzbot+b3410eb576b568216ae5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Closes: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=b3410eb576b568216ae5
> Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-5-5
> Signed-off-by: Slawomir Stepien <sst@xxxxxxxxx>

Reviewed-by: Breno Leitao <leitao@xxxxxxxxxx>