linux-kernel - [PATCH] ext4: add ext4_sb_bread_nofail() helper function for ext4_free

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Message-Id: <20250821133857.80542-1-libaokun@huaweicloud.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2025 21:38:57 +0800
From: libaokun@...weicloud.com
To: linux-ext4@...r.kernel.org
Cc: tytso@....edu,
	adilger.kernel@...ger.ca,
	jack@...e.cz,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	yi.zhang@...wei.com,
	yangerkun@...wei.com,
	libaokun1@...wei.com,
	libaokun@...weicloud.com
Subject: [PATCH] ext4: add ext4_sb_bread_nofail() helper function for ext4_free_branches()

From: Baokun Li <libaokun1@...wei.com>

The implicit __GFP_NOFAIL flag in ext4_sb_bread() was removed in commit
8a83ac54940d ("ext4: call bdev_getblk() from sb_getblk_gfp()"), meaning
the function can now fail under memory pressure.

Most callers of ext4_sb_bread() propagate the error to userspace and do not
remount the filesystem read-only. However, ext4_free_branches() handles
ext4_sb_bread() failure by remounting the filesystem read-only.

This implies that an ext3 filesystem (mounted via the ext4 driver) could be
forcibly remounted read-only due to a transient page allocation failure,
which is unacceptable.

To mitigate this, introduce a new helper function, ext4_sb_bread_nofail(),
which explicitly uses __GFP_NOFAIL, and use it in ext4_free_branches().

Fixes: 8a83ac54940d ("ext4: call bdev_getblk() from sb_getblk_gfp()")
Signed-off-by: Baokun Li <libaokun1@...wei.com>
---
 fs/ext4/ext4.h     | 2 ++
 fs/ext4/indirect.c | 2 +-
 fs/ext4/super.c    | 9 +++++++++
 3 files changed, 12 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/fs/ext4/ext4.h b/fs/ext4/ext4.h
index 106484739932..32315e51639e 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/ext4.h
+++ b/fs/ext4/ext4.h
@@ -3134,6 +3134,8 @@ extern struct buffer_head *ext4_sb_bread(struct super_block *sb,
 					 sector_t block, blk_opf_t op_flags);
 extern struct buffer_head *ext4_sb_bread_unmovable(struct super_block *sb,
 						   sector_t block);
+extern struct buffer_head *ext4_sb_bread_nofail(struct super_block *sb,
+						sector_t block);
 extern void ext4_read_bh_nowait(struct buffer_head *bh, blk_opf_t op_flags,
 				bh_end_io_t *end_io, bool simu_fail);
 extern int ext4_read_bh(struct buffer_head *bh, blk_opf_t op_flags,
diff --git a/fs/ext4/indirect.c b/fs/ext4/indirect.c
index 7de327fa7b1c..39350a18e919 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/indirect.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/indirect.c
@@ -1025,7 +1025,7 @@ static void ext4_free_branches(handle_t *handle, struct inode *inode,
 			}
 
 			/* Go read the buffer for the next level down */
-			bh = ext4_sb_bread(inode->i_sb, nr, 0);
+			bh = ext4_sb_bread_nofail(inode->i_sb, nr);
 
 			/*
 			 * A read failure? Report error and clear slot
diff --git a/fs/ext4/super.c b/fs/ext4/super.c
index c7d39da7e733..a0e2b396aa76 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/super.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/super.c
@@ -265,6 +265,15 @@ struct buffer_head *ext4_sb_bread_unmovable(struct super_block *sb,
 	return __ext4_sb_bread_gfp(sb, block, 0, gfp);
 }
 
+struct buffer_head *ext4_sb_bread_nofail(struct super_block *sb,
+					 sector_t block)
+{
+	gfp_t gfp = mapping_gfp_constraint(sb->s_bdev->bd_mapping,
+			~__GFP_FS) | __GFP_MOVABLE | __GFP_NOFAIL;
+
+	return __ext4_sb_bread_gfp(sb, block, 0, gfp);
+}
+
 void ext4_sb_breadahead_unmovable(struct super_block *sb, sector_t block)
 {
 	struct buffer_head *bh = bdev_getblk(sb->s_bdev, block,
-- 
2.39.2