Re: git: 99cb3dca4773 - main - vnode: Rework vput() to avoid holding the vnode lock after decrementing

From: John Baldwin <jhb_at_FreeBSD.org>
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2025 02:12:07 UTC
On 11/11/25 09:59, Mark Johnston wrote:
> The branch main has been updated by markj:
> 
> URL: https://cgit.FreeBSD.org/src/commit/?id=99cb3dca4773fe4a16c500f9cb55fcd62cd8d7f3
> 
> commit 99cb3dca4773fe4a16c500f9cb55fcd62cd8d7f3
> Author:     Mark Johnston <markj@FreeBSD.org>
> AuthorDate: 2025-11-11 14:47:06 +0000
> Commit:     Mark Johnston <markj@FreeBSD.org>
> CommitDate: 2025-11-11 14:58:59 +0000
> 
>      vnode: Rework vput() to avoid holding the vnode lock after decrementing
>      
>      It is not safe to modify the vnode structure after releasing one's
>      reference.  Modify vput() to avoid this.  Use refcount_release_if_last()
>      to opportunistically call vput_final() with the vnode lock held since we
>      need the vnode lock in order to deactivate the vnode, and it's silly to
>      drop the vnode lock and immediately reacquire it in this common case.
>      
>      Note that vunref() has a similar flaw.  D52628 aims to fix the problem
>      more holistically, but this change fixes observable panics in the
>      meantime.
>      
>      Reported by:    syzbot+6676b3ff282d590b0fb3@syzkaller.appspotmail.com
>      Reported by:    syzbot+38e26cf6f959e886f110@syzkaller.appspotmail.com
>      Reviewed by:    kib
>      MFC after:      3 days
>      Differential Revision:  https://reviews.freebsd.org/D52608
> ---
>   sys/kern/vfs_subr.c | 7 ++++---
>   1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/sys/kern/vfs_subr.c b/sys/kern/vfs_subr.c
> index 58975f7ac932..9cf983f6f89d 100644
> --- a/sys/kern/vfs_subr.c
> +++ b/sys/kern/vfs_subr.c
> @@ -3713,11 +3713,12 @@ vput(struct vnode *vp)
>   
>   	ASSERT_VOP_LOCKED(vp, __func__);
>   	ASSERT_VI_UNLOCKED(vp, __func__);
> -	if (!refcount_release(&vp->v_usecount)) {
> -		VOP_UNLOCK(vp);
> +	if (refcount_release_if_last(&vp->v_usecount)) {
> +		vput_final(vp, VPUT);
>   		return;
>   	}
> -	vput_final(vp, VPUT);
> +	VOP_UNLOCK(vp);
> +	vrele(vp);
>   }

This commit results in reliable hangs for me when I do a 'make -j 16 buildkernel'
in a VM where the source directory is mounted over NFS.  Even if there is nothing
to build so the make is just traversing all the directories.  The hung process is
stuck on a vnode lock.

Some of the stacks from procstat:

   PID    TID COMM                TDNAME              KSTACK
  1858 100343 make                -                   mi_switch+0x172 sleepq_switch+0x109 sleeplk+0x110 lockmgr_slock_hard+0x3c3 VOP_LOCK1_APV+0x32 nfs_lock+0x2c vop_sigdefer+0x30 VOP_LOCK1_APV+0x32 _vn_lock+0x53 vget_finish+0xaf cache_lookup+0x2be nfs_lookup+0x4e1 vop_sigdefer+0x30 VOP_LOOKUP_APV+0x57 vfs_lookup+0x5aa namei+0x35d vn_open_cred+0x592 openatfp+0x2b7
root@head:~ # procstat -kk 1860
  1860 100360 make                -                   mi_switch+0x172 sleepq_switch+0x109 sleeplk+0x110 lockmgr_slock_hard+0x3c3 VOP_LOCK1_APV+0x32 nfs_lock+0x2c vop_sigdefer+0x30 VOP_LOCK1_APV+0x32 _vn_lock+0x53 vget_finish+0xaf cache_lookup+0x2be nfs_lookup+0x4e1 vop_sigdefer+0x30 VOP_LOOKUP_APV+0x57 vfs_lookup+0x5aa namei+0x35d vn_open_cred+0x592 openatfp+0x2b7
root@head:~ # procstat -kk 1855
  1855 100314 make                -                   mi_switch+0x172 sleepq_switch+0x109 sleeplk+0x110 lockmgr_xlock_hard+0x3d0 VOP_LOCK1_APV+0x32 nfs_lock+0x2c vop_sigdefer+0x30 VOP_LOCK1_APV+0x32 _vn_lock+0x53 vput_final+0x269 vput+0xab vfs_lookup+0xa7a namei+0x35d vn_open_cred+0x592 openatfp+0x2b7 sys_open+0x28 amd64_syscall+0x169 fast_syscall_common+0xf8

This last one is kind of interesting as it calls vput_final?

(kgdb) p vp
$2 = (struct vnode *) 0xfffff8016bb6c898
(kgdb) p vp->v_lock
$3 = {lock_object = {lo_name = 0xffffffff81467118 <nfs_vnode_tag> "nfs",
     lo_flags = 117112832, lo_data = 0, lo_witness = 0xfffff8043fd83900},
   lk_lock = 39, lk_exslpfail = 0, lk_pri = 44, lk_timo = 6}
(kgdb) p/x vp->v_lock->lk_lock
$4 = 0x27

So there is one shared lock, and both shared and exclusive waiters.  Seems like
a vnode lock has been leaked?  Or rather, the vput_final() in this case is
called from vrele(), so the vput() for 1855 has hit the new path.  I wonder if
when it dropped its lock via VOP_UNLOCK() it is no longer eligible to re-lock
it as it needs some other sharer to also unlock before it can re-acquire the
lock in vput_final?  LK_UPGRADE attempts don't block if there are shared waiters
but only one 1 shared lock held, but if you do LK_UNLOCK and then LK_XLOCK that
will indeed honor the other waiters and not acquire the lock, so a vput that
held the last shared lock would have "worked" to ugprade before even with
other waiters, but now it can drop the lock and then get stuck.  I guess the
question though in this case is that some other thread must have snuck in
and acquired a shared lock between the VOP_UNLOCK and the vrele() and is
blocked while holding it.

Aha, so most of the other makes are stuck in VOP_LOOKUP on this same vnode
(which I believe is "/usr/src/sys/dev" as in 1855 the vput() is inside of
namei() and this is the state of ndp:

(kgdb) p *ndp
$9 = {
   ni_dirp = 0x481afdaa2d7d <error: Cannot access memory at address 0x481afdaa2d7d>, ni_segflg = UIO_USERSPACE, ni_rightsneeded = 0xfffffe00d83d2d90,
   ni_startdir = 0x0, ni_rootdir = 0xfffff80005e461b8, ni_topdir = 0x0,
   ni_dirfd = -100, ni_lcf = 0, ni_filecaps = {fc_rights = {cr_rights = {0,
         0}}, fc_ioctls = 0x0, fc_nioctls = -1, fc_fcntls = 0},
   ni_vp = 0xfffff801bc007000, ni_dvp = 0xfffff8016bb6c898, ni_resflags = 1,
   ni_debugflags = 3, ni_loopcnt = 0, ni_pathlen = 1,
   ni_next = 0xfffff8000a0b0817 "", ni_cnd = {cn_flags = 8936259908,
     cn_cred = 0xfffff80005e53c00, cn_nameiop = LOOKUP, cn_lkflags = 524288,
     cn_pnbuf = 0xfffff8000a0b0800 "/usr/src/sys/dev/acpica",
     cn_nameptr = 0xfffff8000a0b0811 "acpica", cn_namelen = 6},
   ni_cap_tracker = {tqh_first = 0x0, tqh_last = 0xfffffe00d83d2d48},
   ni_rbeneath_dpp = 0x0, ni_nctrack_mnt = 0x0, ni_dvp_seqc = 0, ni_vp_seqc = 0}

But pid 1844 is a make blocked on another vnode:

(kgdb) p vp
$24 = (struct vnode *) 0xfffff801bc007000

And that one appears to be the "acpica" child directory:

(kgdb) p *vp->v_cache_dst.tqh_first
$27 = {nc_src = {le_next = 0xfffff801bc01b9b8, le_prev = 0xfffff801bc01b898},
   nc_dst = {tqe_next = 0x0, tqe_prev = 0xfffff801bc007058}, nc_hash = {
     csle_next = 0x0}, nc_dvp = 0xfffff8016bb6c898, n_un = {
     nu_vp = 0xfffff801bc007000, nu_neg = {neg_flag = 0 '\000',
       neg_hit = 112 'p'}}, nc_flag = 12 '\f', nc_nlen = 6 '\006',
   nc_name = 0xfffff801bc01b962 "acpica"}

And note it's nc_dvp is the vnode 1855 is trying to vput and all the other
makes are trying to VOP_LOCK in nfs_lookup().

So my guess is that 1844 was able to VOP_LOCK() "/usr/src/sys/dev" in the
window between VOP_UNLOCK() and the vput_final() invoked from vrele().

Humm, except that the vnode in question shouldn't be in vput_final at all??

Back to 1855 (proc doing vput_final):

(kgdb)
#12 0xffffffff80c9bc89 in vput_final (vp=0xfffff8016bb6c898,
     func=func@entry=VRELE) at /usr/src/sys/kern/vfs_subr.c:3628
3628                            error = vn_lock(vp, LK_EXCLUSIVE | LK_INTERLOCK);
(kgdb) p vp
$6 = (struct vnode *) 0xfffff8016bb6c898
(kgdb) p vp->v_usecount
$7 = 14
(kgdb) p vp->v_holdcnt
$8 = 7

Or did the other make's manage to acquire new use counts while 1855 was blocked
on the lock in vput_final?

Anyway, it seems 14 make's are blocked on this vnode (/usr/src/sys/dev).  1844
is blocked on the "acpica" vnode, and another make process (1856) is blocked on
"acpica", but via getdirentries() instead of namei():

#4  0xffffffff80b62ec0 in sleeplk (lk=lk@entry=0xfffff801bc007070,
     flags=flags@entry=2098176, ilk=ilk@entry=0xfffff801bc007098,
     wmesg=wmesg@entry=0xffffffff81467118 <nfs_vnode_tag> "nfs",
     pri=<optimized out>, pri@entry=44, timo=timo@entry=6, queue=1)
     at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_lock.c:302
#5  0xffffffff80b60fc3 in lockmgr_slock_hard (lk=0xfffff801bc007070,
     flags=2098176, ilk=0xfffff801bc007098, file=<optimized out>, line=4333,
     lwa=0x0) at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_lock.c:693
#6  0xffffffff811b97a2 in VOP_LOCK1_APV (
     vop=0xffffffff81aeeb38 <default_vnodeops>, a=a@entry=0xfffffe00d8445c88)
     at vnode_if.c:2103
#7  0xffffffff80a6050c in nfs_lock (ap=ap@entry=0xfffffe00d8445c88)
     at /usr/src/sys/fs/nfsclient/nfs_clvnops.c:344
#8  0xffffffff80c83d90 in vop_sigdefer (vop=<optimized out>,
     a=0xfffffe00d8445c88) at /usr/src/sys/kern/vfs_default.c:1502
#9  0xffffffff811b97a2 in VOP_LOCK1_APV (
     vop=0xffffffff81aada28 <newnfs_vnodeops>, a=a@entry=0xfffffe00d8445c88)
     at vnode_if.c:2103
#10 0xffffffff80cb6b43 in VOP_LOCK1 (vp=0xfffff801bc007000, flags=2098176,
     file=0xffffffff81359deb "/usr/src/sys/kern/vfs_syscalls.c", line=4333)
     at ./vnode_if.h:1316
#11 _vn_lock (vp=vp@entry=0xfffff801bc007000, flags=flags@entry=2098176,
     file=<unavailable>, line=<unavailable>, line@entry=4333)
     at /usr/src/sys/kern/vfs_vnops.c:1970
#12 0xffffffff80cb2d94 in kern_getdirentries (td=0xfffff80006cb5000,
     fd=<optimized out>,
     buf=0x2088dba27000 <error: Cannot access memory at address 0x2088dba27000>, count=4096, basep=basep@entry=0xfffffe00d8445df0, residp=residp@entry=0x0,
     bufseg=UIO_USERSPACE) at /usr/src/sys/kern/vfs_syscalls.c:4333
#13 0xffffffff80cb32a9 in sys_getdirentries (td=<unavailable>,
     uap=0xfffff80006cb5428) at /usr/src/sys/kern/vfs_syscalls.c:4287

The "acpica" lock is held by a writer at least:

(kgdb) p vp
$9 = (struct vnode *) 0xfffff801bc007000
(kgdb) p vp->v_lock
$10 = {lock_object = {lo_name = 0xffffffff81467118 <nfs_vnode_tag> "nfs",
     lo_flags = 117112832, lo_data = 0, lo_witness = 0xfffff8043fd83900},
   lk_lock = 18446735277917198210, lk_exslpfail = 0, lk_pri = 44, lk_timo = 6}
(kgdb) p/x vp->v_lock.lk_lock
$14 = 0xfffff80011ebd782
(kgdb) set $td = (struct thread *)0xfffff80011ebd780
(kgdb) p $td->td_tid
$15 = 100314
(kgdb) p $td->td_proc->p_comm
$16 = "make", '\000' <repeats 15 times>
(kgdb) p $td->td_proc->p_pid
$17 = 1855

Oh dear, so that's the deadlock.

1855 needs to get an exclusive lock on "/usr/src/sys/dev/" to finish its vput()
_while_ it holds an exclusive lock on "/usr/src/sys/dev/acpica".  And the other
shared lock on "/usr/src/sys/dev" is held by 1844 who is blocked trying to share
lock "/usr/src/sys/dev/acpica" during lookup().

So by doing the VOP_UNLOCK() and then reacquiring the lock via vrele(), you've
introduced a vnode LOR as the vput() of the parent directory can now try to
re-lock the vnode of the parent directory while we hold a vnode on the
child vnode.

-- 
John Baldwin