Re: [PATCH] Add EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA check in ext4_readdir

On Thu, Aug 13, 2026 at 08:49:27AM +0000, [email protected] wrote:
> Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 1 potential issue(s) to consider:
> - [High] Returning `-EINVAL` from `ext4_readdir` on a corrupted or inconsistent directory state breaks userspace expectations and bypasses filesystem error handling.
> --
> 
> --- Patch [1]: [PATCH] Add EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA check in ext4_readdir ---
> commit 419471105d79565b3d6563ce7e941b266526160b
> Author: pipishuo <[email protected]>
> 
> Add EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA check in ext4_readdir
> 
> This commit adds a check for EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA in ext4_readdir to
> prevent reading incorrect inline data if the inode's inline state is
> inconsistent after a failure in ext4_restore_inline_data.
> 
> > diff --git a/fs/ext4/dir.c b/fs/ext4/dir.c
> > index 8d7b81e6948e7..857cf02742c0c 100644
> > --- a/fs/ext4/dir.c
> > +++ b/fs/ext4/dir.c
> 
> [ ... ]
> 
> > @@ -160,6 +161,9 @@ static int ext4_readdir(struct file *file, struct dir_context *ctx)
> >  	}
> >  
> >  	if (ext4_has_inline_data(inode)) {
> > +		if (!ext4_test_inode_state(inode, EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA))
> > +			return -EINVAL;
> > +
> 
> [Severity: High]
> Does returning -EINVAL here break userspace expectations and bypass the
> standard filesystem corruption handling?
> 
> If an operation (like ext4_convert_inline_data_nolock) fails and leaves
> EXT4_INODE_INLINE_DATA set without EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA, this
> indicates an internally corrupted or inconsistent directory state.
> 
> By returning -EINVAL directly, this code bypasses the standard
> ext4_error_file() error handler, which prevents the filesystem from taking
> corrective action (such as remounting read-only).
> 
> Additionally, returning -EINVAL from a readdir (getdents64) operation is
> typically interpreted by userspace as a buffer size issue, which completely
> misleads tools like ls. Should this instead invoke EXT4_ERROR_FILE() and
> return -EFSCORRUPTED?
Thanks for the reviews. I'll address all the comments and send v2 soon.
> 
> >  		int has_inline_data = 1;
> >  		err = ext4_read_inline_dir(file, ctx,
> >  					   &has_inline_data);
> 
> -- 
> Sashiko AI review · https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/[email protected]?part=1