linux-kernel - [PATCH] quota: fix livelock between quotactl and freeze

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Message-ID: <20260115213103.1089129-1-abhishekbapat@google.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 21:31:03 +0000
From: Abhishek Bapat <abhishekbapat@...gle.com>
To: Jan Kara <jack@...e.com>, Christian Brauner <brauner@...nel.org>
Cc: Jeremy Bongio <jbongio@...gle.com>, Khazhy Kumykov <khazhy@...gle.com>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, 
	Abhishek Bapat <abhishekbapat@...gle.com>
Subject: [PATCH] quota: fix livelock between quotactl and freeze_super

When a filesystem is frozen, quotactl_block() enters a retry loop
waiting for the filesystem to thaw. It acquires s_umount, checks the
freeze state, drops s_umount and uses sb_start_write() - sb_end_write()
pair to wait for the unfreeze.

However, this retry loop can trigger a livelock issue, specifically on
kernels with preemption disabled.

The mechanism is as follows:
1. freeze_super() sets SB_FREEZE_WRITE and calls sb_wait_write().
2. sb_wait_write() calls percpu_down_write(), which initiates
   synchronize_rcu().
3. Simultaneously, quotactl_block() spins in its retry loop, immediately
   executing the sb_start_write() - sb_end_write() pair.
4. Because the kernel is non-preemptible and the loop contains no
   scheduling points, quotactl_block() never yields the CPU. This
   prevents that CPU from reaching an RCU quiescent state.
5. synchronize_rcu() in the freezer thread waits indefinitely for the
   quotactl_block() CPU to report a quiescent state.
6. quotactl_block() spins indefinitely waiting for the freezer to
   advance, which it cannot do as it is blocked on the RCU sync.

This results in a hang of the freezer process and 100% CPU usage by the
quota process.

While this can occur intermittently on multi-core systems, it is
reliably reproducing on a node with the following script, running both
the freezer and the quota toggle on the same CPU:

  # mkfs.ext4 -O quota /dev/sda 2g && mkdir a_mount
  # mount /dev/sda -o quota,usrquota,grpquota a_mount
  # taskset -c 3 bash -c "while true; do xfs_freeze -f a_mount; \
    xfs_freeze -u a_mount; done" &
  # taskset -c 3 bash -c "while true; do quotaon a_mount; \
    quotaoff a_mount; done" &

Adding cond_resched() to the retry loop fixes the issue. It acts as an
RCU quiescent state, allowing synchronize_rcu() in percpu_down_write()
to complete.

Fixes: 576215cffdef ("fs: Drop wait_unfrozen wait queue")
Signed-off-by: Abhishek Bapat <abhishekbapat@...gle.com>
---
 fs/quota/quota.c | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

diff --git a/fs/quota/quota.c b/fs/quota/quota.c
index 7c2b75a44485..de4379a9c792 100644
--- a/fs/quota/quota.c
+++ b/fs/quota/quota.c
@@ -899,6 +899,7 @@ static struct super_block *quotactl_block(const char __user *special, int cmd)
 		sb_start_write(sb);
 		sb_end_write(sb);
 		put_super(sb);
+		cond_resched();
 		goto retry;
 	}
 	return sb;
-- 
2.52.0.457.g6b5491de43-goog