Medium · published September 11, 2025
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
jbd2: prevent softlockup in jbd2_log_do_checkpoint()
Both jbd2_log_do_checkpoint() and jbd2_journal_shrink_checkpoint_list()
periodically release j_list_lock after processing a batch of buffers to
avoid long hold times on the j_list_lock. However, since both functions
contend for j_list_lock, the combined time spent waiting and processing
can be significant.
jbd2_journal_shrink_checkpoint_list() explicitly calls cond_resched() when
need_resched() is true to avoid softlockups during prolonged operations.
But jbd2_log_do_checkpoint() only exits its loop when need_resched() is
true, relying on potentially sleeping functions like __flush_batch() or
wait_on_buffer() to trigger rescheduling. If those functions do not sleep,
the kernel may hit a softlockup.
watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#3 stuck for 156s! [kworker/u129:2:373]
CPU: 3 PID: 373 Comm: kworker/u129:2 Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.6.0+ #10
Hardware name: Huawei TaiShan 2280 /BC11SPCD, BIOS 1.27 06/13/2017
Workqueue: writeback wb_workfn (flush-7:2)
pstate: 20000005 (nzCv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
pc : native_queued_spin_lock_slowpath+0x358/0x418
lr : jbd2_log_do_checkpoint+0x31c/0x438 [jbd2]
Call trace:
native_queued_spin_lock_slowpath+0x358/0x418
jbd2_log_do_checkpoint+0x31c/0x438 [jbd2]
__jbd2_log_wait_for_space+0xfc/0x2f8 [jbd2]
add_transaction_credits+0x3bc/0x418 [jbd2]
start_this_handle+0xf8/0x560 [jbd2]
jbd2__journal_start+0x118/0x228 [jbd2]
__ext4_journal_start_sb+0x110/0x188 [ext4]
ext4_do_writepages+0x3dc/0x740 [ext4]
ext4_writepages+0xa4/0x190 [ext4]
do_writepages+0x94/0x228
__writeback_single_inode+0x48/0x318
writeback_sb_inodes+0x204/0x590
__writeback_inodes_wb+0x54/0xf8
wb_writeback+0x2cc/0x3d8
wb_do_writeback+0x2e0/0x2f8
wb_workfn+0x80/0x2a8
process_one_work+0x178/0x3e8
worker_thread+0x234/0x3b8
kthread+0xf0/0x108
ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20
So explicitly call cond_resched() in jbd2_log_do_checkpoint() to avoid
softlockup.
| Product | Versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 2.6.16, < 5.4.297 | 5.4.297 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 5.5, < 5.10.241 | 5.10.241 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 5.11, < 5.15.190 | 5.15.190 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 5.16, < 6.1.149 | 6.1.149 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 6.2, < 6.6.103 | 6.6.103 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 6.7, < 6.12.44 | 6.12.44 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 6.13, < 6.16.4 | 6.16.4 |
| linux/linux_kernel | all versions | — |
| linux/linux_kernel | all versions | — |
| debian/debian_linux | all versions | — |