CVE-2025-39782
kernel: jbd2: prevent softlockup in jbd2_log_do_checkpoint()
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · September 11, 2025
Updated · June 30, 2026
Description
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.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.1 · 5.5CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE-413 · Improper Resource Locking