linux-kernel - [PATCH] scsi: target: Fix recursive locking in __configfs_open

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Message-Id: <20260108191523.303114-1-activprithvi@gmail.com>
Date: Fri,  9 Jan 2026 00:45:23 +0530
From: Prithvi Tambewagh <activprithvi@...il.com>
To: martin.petersen@...cle.com
Cc: linux-scsi@...r.kernel.org,
	target-devel@...r.kernel.org,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	hch@....de,
	jlbec@...lplan.org,
	linux-fsdevel@...r.kernel.org,
	linux-kernel-mentees@...ts.linux.dev,
	skhan@...uxfoundation.org,
	david.hunter.linux@...il.com,
	khalid@...nel.org,
	Prithvi Tambewagh <activprithvi@...il.com>,
	syzbot+f6e8174215573a84b797@...kaller.appspotmail.com,
	stable@...r.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH] scsi: target: Fix recursive locking in __configfs_open_file()

In flush_write_buffer, &p->frag_sem is acquired and then the loaded store
function is called, which, here, is target_core_item_dbroot_store().
This function called filp_open(), following which these functions were
called (in reverse order), according to the call trace:

down_read
__configfs_open_file
do_dentry_open
vfs_open
do_open
path_openat
do_filp_open
file_open_name
filp_open
target_core_item_dbroot_store
flush_write_buffer
configfs_write_iter

Hence ultimately, __configfs_open_file() was called, indirectly by
target_core_item_dbroot_store(), and it also attempted to acquire
&p->frag_sem, which was already held by the same thread, acquired earlier
in flush_write_buffer. This poses a possibility of recursive locking,
which triggers the lockdep warning.

Fix this by modifying target_core_item_dbroot_store() to use kern_path()
instead of filp_open() to avoid opening the file using filesystem-specific
function __configfs_open_file(), and further modifying it to make this
fix compatible.

Reported-by: syzbot+f6e8174215573a84b797@...kaller.appspotmail.com
Closes: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=f6e8174215573a84b797
Tested-by: syzbot+f6e8174215573a84b797@...kaller.appspotmail.com
Cc: stable@...r.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Prithvi Tambewagh <activprithvi@...il.com>
---
 drivers/target/target_core_configfs.c | 13 +++++++------
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/target/target_core_configfs.c b/drivers/target/target_core_configfs.c
index b19acd662726..f29052e6a87d 100644
--- a/drivers/target/target_core_configfs.c
+++ b/drivers/target/target_core_configfs.c
@@ -108,8 +108,8 @@ static ssize_t target_core_item_dbroot_store(struct config_item *item,
 					const char *page, size_t count)
 {
 	ssize_t read_bytes;
-	struct file *fp;
 	ssize_t r = -EINVAL;
+	struct path path = {};
 
 	mutex_lock(&target_devices_lock);
 	if (target_devices) {
@@ -131,17 +131,18 @@ static ssize_t target_core_item_dbroot_store(struct config_item *item,
 		db_root_stage[read_bytes - 1] = '\0';
 
 	/* validate new db root before accepting it */
-	fp = filp_open(db_root_stage, O_RDONLY, 0);
-	if (IS_ERR(fp)) {
+	r = kern_path(db_root_stage, LOOKUP_FOLLOW, &path);
+	if (r) {
 		pr_err("db_root: cannot open: %s\n", db_root_stage);
 		goto unlock;
 	}
-	if (!S_ISDIR(file_inode(fp)->i_mode)) {
-		filp_close(fp, NULL);
+	if (!d_is_dir(path.dentry)) {
+		path_put(&path);
 		pr_err("db_root: not a directory: %s\n", db_root_stage);
+		r = -ENOTDIR;
 		goto unlock;
 	}
-	filp_close(fp, NULL);
+	path_put(&path);
 
 	strscpy(db_root, db_root_stage);
 	pr_debug("Target_Core_ConfigFS: db_root set to %s\n", db_root);

base-commit: 3a8660878839faadb4f1a6dd72c3179c1df56787
-- 
2.34.1