From 1308255bbf8452762f89f44f7447ce137ecdbcff Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jan Kara Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2026 17:48:44 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] ext4: fix fsync(2) for nojournal mode When inode metadata is changed, we sometimes just call ext4_mark_inode_dirty() to track modified metadata. This copies inode metadata into block buffer which is enough when we are journalling metadata. However when we are running in nojournal mode we currently fail to write the dirtied inode buffer during fsync(2) because the inode is not marked as dirty. Use explicit ext4_write_inode() call to make sure the inode table buffer is written to the disk. This is a band aid solution but proper solution requires a much larger rewrite including changes in metadata bh tracking infrastructure. Reported-by: Free Ekanayaka Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/87il8nhxdm.fsf@x1.mail-host-address-is-not-set/ CC: stable@vger.kernel.org Signed-off-by: Jan Kara Reviewed-by: Zhang Yi Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260216164848.3074-4-jack@suse.cz Signed-off-by: Theodore Ts'o Cc: stable@kernel.org --- fs/ext4/fsync.c | 16 ++++++++++++++-- 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/fs/ext4/fsync.c b/fs/ext4/fsync.c index e476c6de3074..bd8f230fa507 100644 --- a/fs/ext4/fsync.c +++ b/fs/ext4/fsync.c @@ -83,11 +83,23 @@ static int ext4_fsync_nojournal(struct file *file, loff_t start, loff_t end, int datasync, bool *needs_barrier) { struct inode *inode = file->f_inode; + struct writeback_control wbc = { + .sync_mode = WB_SYNC_ALL, + .nr_to_write = 0, + }; int ret; ret = generic_buffers_fsync_noflush(file, start, end, datasync); - if (!ret) - ret = ext4_sync_parent(inode); + if (ret) + return ret; + + /* Force writeout of inode table buffer to disk */ + ret = ext4_write_inode(inode, &wbc); + if (ret) + return ret; + + ret = ext4_sync_parent(inode); + if (test_opt(inode->i_sb, BARRIER)) *needs_barrier = true;