linux-ext4 - [Bug 220288] New: A typo Leads to loss of all data on disk

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Message-ID: <bug-220288-13602@https.bugzilla.kernel.org/>
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2025 22:22:50 +0000
From: bugzilla-daemon@...nel.org
To: linux-ext4@...r.kernel.org
Subject: [Bug 220288] New: A typo Leads to loss of all data on disk

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=220288

            Bug ID: 220288
           Summary: A typo Leads to loss of all data on disk
           Product: File System
           Version: 2.5
          Hardware: All
                OS: Linux
            Status: NEW
          Severity: normal
          Priority: P3
         Component: ext4
          Assignee: fs_ext4@...nel-bugs.osdl.org
          Reporter: martin.vahi@...tf1.com
        Regression: No

I wanted to run 

    fsck.ext4 /dev/sdc1

but accidentally missed the "1" at the end by typing

    fsck.ext4 /dev/sdc

and lost all data on /dev/sdc

My suggestion is that there should be some regex based test to see, if the
partition name candidate ends with a base 10 digit and if it does not, then a
confirmation prompt, possibly with red text, should be displayed that explains
the consequences and asks for confirmation. For non-interactive use of the

    fsck.ext4 /dev/sdc

there could be an extra parameter, "--skip_warning_prompts", which should be
mentioned at the text of all interactive warnings so that people, who stumble
on those interactive warnings do not need to look it up form fsck.ext4 man
page. A temporary workaround for myself is a Bash alias that wraps the
fsck.ext4, but in my opinion that's a dirty workaround and such critical
warnings should be part of the tool itself, specially given how common the
fsck.ext4 usage is with USB-HDDs and USB memory sticks. 

Thank You for reading this bug report.

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