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CVE-2026-93252

ocfs2: fix circular locking dependency in ocfs2_init_acl() PUBLISHED

Description (CNA)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ocfs2: fix circular locking dependency in ocfs2_init_acl() A lockdep warning indicates a circular locking dependency between `&oi->ip_xattr_sem` and `&journal->j_trans_barrier`: WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected is trying to acquire lock: (&oi->ip_xattr_sem){++++}-{4:4}, at: ocfs2_init_acl+0x2fd/0x7e0 fs/ocfs2/acl.c:367 but task is already holding lock: (&journal->j_trans_barrier){.+.+}-{4:4}, at: ocfs2_start_trans+0x3ab/0x700 fs/ocfs2/journal.c:369 The deadlock involves two code paths: Path 1 (setxattr) where `ocfs2_xattr_set()` acquires `ip_xattr_sem` (write) and then starts a transaction, which acquires `j_trans_barrier` (read); and Path 2 (mkdir/mknod) where `ocfs2_mknod()` starts a transaction (`j_trans_barrier` read) and then calls `ocfs2_init_acl()`, which attempts to acquire `ip_xattr_sem` (read) on the parent directory to retrieve the default ACL. Because rw_semaphores are subject to writer priority, a pending writer on `j_trans_barrier` (e.g., the journal commit thread) can cause Path 1 to block, while Path 2 is blocked waiting for Path 1 to release `ip_xattr_sem`. The patch fixes the lock ordering by precomputing the ACL state before starting the OCFS2 transaction, while preserving POSIX ACL storage semantics and the existing inode/security initialization order. By reading the parent directory's default ACL and preparing the new inode's ACLs outside the transaction, `ip_xattr_sem` is always acquired before `j_trans_barrier`. `struct ocfs2_acl_state` encapsulates the prepared ACL state, while `ocfs2_acl_init_prepare()` and `ocfs2_acl_init_release()` avoid code duplication between `ocfs2_mknod()` and `ocfs2_init_security_and_acl()`. `ocfs2_calc_xattr_init()` and `ocfs2_init_acl()` use this precomputed state, removing internal `ip_xattr_sem` acquisition and redundant disk reads. Additionally, remove the `ip_xattr_sem` acquisition from `ocfs2_xattr_set_handle()`. This function is only used while initializing a new inode that has not yet been inserted into the inode hash or attached to a dentry, meaning there is no risk of concurrent access and the lock is unnecessary.

Affected (CNA)

Vendor / productVersions
Linux / Linuxaffected 16c8d569f5704a84164f30ff01b29879f3438065 before 4936d4464d1ae10b5fbba64374085a0dcc060560; affected 16c8d569f5704a84164f30ff01b29879f3438065 before caf3056936fb8b5ce92e419cf8b246ce9c437343; affected 16c8d569f5704a84164f30ff01b29879f3438065 before 5b7b3c50c39ad0dc27e7418981e01c4183273f89; affected 16c8d569f5704a84164f30ff01b29879f3438065 before 8d88f52fbbbcc18adf4091a955511d0cf605bf11; affected 16c8d569f5704a84164f30ff01b29879f3438065 before 8931403ee3dcfe8a24a5267efec9d9460ab7a1b5; affected 16c8d569f5704a84164f30ff01b29879f3438065 before f8747d81aa6d3efe3ee339a9d912ff3ca6e4d758; affected 16c8d569f5704a84164f30ff01b29879f3438065 before 1222f7a3183b35c0c566899fdaead5c7c4043076; affected 16c8d569f5704a84164f30ff01b29879f3438065 before bd7c05fb4a4776dff5a87b19008d28458647d15d; affected 15ac59a84750b3afc0a2b6f2636c4f7e6cbd6d5e; affected b35bb8a41795caa05e09c3aacf7d78f1f20bac04; affected 1d5fdc1307eeb04b334c5dc23e11dbd6068d90eb; affected a66174eb4a149b7919d174d9a7ce6ad9909c5ee2; affected 3.18.111 before 3.19; affected 4.4.134 before 4.5; affected 4.9.104 before 4.10; affected 4.14.37 before 4.15
Linux / Linuxaffected 4.16; unaffected 0 before 4.16; unaffected 5.10.270 through 5.10.*; unaffected 5.15.221 through 5.15.*; unaffected 6.1.188 through 6.1.*; unaffected 6.6.157 through 6.6.*; unaffected 6.12.110 through 6.12.*; unaffected 6.18.52 through 6.18.*; unaffected 7.2.6 through 7.2.*; unaffected 7.3 through *

CWE

No CWE identifiers supplied.

References