HIGH Introduced in 6.15
ceph Writeback Leak
CVE-2026-89646
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
KernelScan AI2.3LOW
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ceph: fix leaked inode reference on writeback abort at umount ceph_dirty_folio() takes a wrbuffer claim on each newly dirtied folio: it bumps i_wrbuffer_ref (taking an ihold() on the 0->1 transition) and attaches the snap_context to folio->private. That claim is released only by ceph_put_wrbuffer_cap_refs(), which for a submitted write runs from writepages_finish(). In ceph_submit_write(), if ceph_inc_osd_stopping_blocker() fails -- which happens during umount -- the request is aborted before submission: the already-collected folios are only redirtied and unlocked, so writepages_finish() never runs and the claim is leaked. redirty_page_for_writepage() -> folio_redirty_for_writepage() -> filemap_dirty_folio() sets PG_dirty directly and does not go through ->dirty_folio, so ceph_dirty_folio() is not re-entered to rebalance it. Because every subsequent writeback also fails the osd_stopping_blocker, i_wrbuffer_ref never returns to 0, the ihold() is never dropped, and the inode cannot be evicted: VFS: Busy inodes after unmount of ceph kernel BUG at fs/super.c:650! Release the orphaned claim in the abort path before redirtying, via ceph_undo_wrbuffer_claim(): detach the snap_context, drop the wrbuffer reference (letting i_wrbuffer_ref reach 0 and iput() the inode), and drop the snap_context reference -- i.e. do what writepages_finish() would have done for these never-submitted folios. Only the locked_pages entries are undone; folios still in the fbatch were never dirty-cleared by this call (folio_clear_dirty_for_io() is the ownership-transfer point, and a successful move NULLs the fbatch slot), so they hold no claim this call owns.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
A leaked inode reference during Ceph filesystem writeback abort at umount prevents inode eviction, triggering a kernel BUG. This requires a mounted Ceph filesystem and occurs during unmount when writeback fails.
Vulnerability analysis
During unmount of a Ceph filesystem, if writeback submission fails because the OSD stopping blocker is already set, already-collected dirty folios are redirtied and unlocked without releasing the writeback buffer claim taken when they were first dirtied. This leaks an inode reference count, preventing the inode from being evicted and triggering a kernel BUG at unmount. The fix adds a cleanup step in the abort path that detaches the snapshot context and releases the writeback buffer reference before redirtying, mirroring what the normal writeback completion callback would have done. This path is reachable only on systems with a mounted Ceph filesystem during unmount.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.2 | 6.15 | 7.2.4 | ac7a5a538576 |
| mainline | 6.15 | 7.3-rc1 | c25aee9c630f |
| 6.18 | 6.15 | 6.18.50 | ec32015a955c |