possible deadlock in worker_thread

Status: upstream: reported on 2026/08/05 01:02
Reported-by: syzbot+b4162d1817cac6b21ece@syzkaller.appspotmail.com
First crash: 45d, last: 3d02h
Similar bugs (5)
Kernel Title Rank 🛈 Repro Cause bisect Fix bisect Count Last Reported Patched Status
upstream possible deadlock in worker_thread rdma 4 1 1685d 1681d 22/29 fixed on 2023/02/24 14:17
linux-5.15 possible deadlock in worker_thread 4 syz, C 9 1d08h 43d 0/3 upstream: reported C repro on 2026/08/06 23:32
upstream possible deadlock in worker_thread (4) prio:low kernel 4 3 16d 101d 0/29 upstream: reported on 2026/06/09 22:53
upstream possible deadlock in worker_thread (3) kernel prio:low 4 1 214d 210d 0/29 auto-obsoleted due to no activity on 2026/05/27 16:37
upstream possible deadlock in worker_thread (2) kernel 4 1 457d 453d 0/29 auto-obsoleted due to no activity on 2025/09/27 01:36

Sample crash report:
======================================================
WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected
syzkaller #0 Not tainted
------------------------------------------------------
kworker/0:1/14 is trying to acquire lock:
ffff888029b24030 ((work_completion)(&queue->io_work)){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: __flush_work+0x109/0xac0 kernel/workqueue.c:3072

but task is already holding lock:
ffffc90000137d00 ((work_completion)(&queue->release_work)){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: process_one_work+0x7b4/0x1160 kernel/workqueue.c:2267

which lock already depends on the new lock.


the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is:

-> #2 ((work_completion)(&queue->release_work)){+.+.}-{0:0}:
       process_one_work+0x7ec/0x1160 kernel/workqueue.c:2268
       worker_thread+0xaf5/0x12a0 kernel/workqueue.c:2439
       kthread+0x29d/0x330 kernel/kthread.c:376
       ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:295

-> #1 ((wq_completion)nvmet-wq){+.+.}-{0:0}:
       __flush_workqueue+0x165/0x1380 kernel/workqueue.c:2812
       nvmet_tcp_install_queue+0x7e/0x380 drivers/nvme/target/tcp.c:1915
       nvmet_install_queue+0x335/0x760 drivers/nvme/target/fabrics-cmd.c:185
       nvmet_execute_admin_connect+0x332/0x7e0 drivers/nvme/target/fabrics-cmd.c:266
       nvmet_tcp_execute_request drivers/nvme/target/tcp.c:599 [inline]
       nvmet_tcp_try_recv_ddgst drivers/nvme/target/tcp.c:1296 [inline]
       nvmet_tcp_try_recv_one drivers/nvme/target/tcp.c:1324 [inline]
       nvmet_tcp_try_recv drivers/nvme/target/tcp.c:1344 [inline]
       nvmet_tcp_io_work+0x1b43/0x88a0 drivers/nvme/target/tcp.c:1394
       process_one_work+0x8ab/0x1160 kernel/workqueue.c:2292
       worker_thread+0xaf5/0x12a0 kernel/workqueue.c:2439
       kthread+0x29d/0x330 kernel/kthread.c:376
       ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:295

-> #0 ((work_completion)(&queue->io_work)){+.+.}-{0:0}:
       check_prev_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3095 [inline]
       check_prevs_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3214 [inline]
       validate_chain kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3830 [inline]
       __lock_acquire+0x2d18/0x7c40 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5063
       lock_acquire+0x1bb/0x4a0 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5678
       __flush_work+0x122/0xac0 kernel/workqueue.c:3072
       __cancel_work_timer+0x3f4/0x560 kernel/workqueue.c:3163
       nvmet_tcp_release_queue_work+0x2ef/0xf30 drivers/nvme/target/tcp.c:1558
       process_one_work+0x8ab/0x1160 kernel/workqueue.c:2292
       worker_thread+0xaf5/0x12a0 kernel/workqueue.c:2439
       kthread+0x29d/0x330 kernel/kthread.c:376
       ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:295

other info that might help us debug this:

Chain exists of:
  (work_completion)(&queue->io_work) --> (wq_completion)nvmet-wq --> (work_completion)(&queue->release_work)

 Possible unsafe locking scenario:

       CPU0                    CPU1
       ----                    ----
  lock((work_completion)(&queue->release_work));
                               lock((wq_completion)nvmet-wq);
                               lock((work_completion)(&queue->release_work));
  lock((work_completion)(&queue->io_work));

 *** DEADLOCK ***

2 locks held by kworker/0:1/14:
 #0: ffff888143bed538 ((wq_completion)nvmet-wq){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: process_one_work+0x7b4/0x1160 kernel/workqueue.c:2267
 #1: ffffc90000137d00 ((work_completion)(&queue->release_work)){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: process_one_work+0x7b4/0x1160 kernel/workqueue.c:2267

stack backtrace:
CPU: 0 PID: 14 Comm: kworker/0:1 Not tainted syzkaller #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 07/24/2026
Workqueue: nvmet-wq nvmet_tcp_release_queue_work
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 dump_stack_lvl+0x188/0x24e lib/dump_stack.c:106
 check_noncircular+0x296/0x330 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:2170
 check_prev_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3095 [inline]
 check_prevs_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3214 [inline]
 validate_chain kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3830 [inline]
 __lock_acquire+0x2d18/0x7c40 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5063
 lock_acquire+0x1bb/0x4a0 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5678
 __flush_work+0x122/0xac0 kernel/workqueue.c:3072
 __cancel_work_timer+0x3f4/0x560 kernel/workqueue.c:3163
 nvmet_tcp_release_queue_work+0x2ef/0xf30 drivers/nvme/target/tcp.c:1558
 process_one_work+0x8ab/0x1160 kernel/workqueue.c:2292
 worker_thread+0xaf5/0x12a0 kernel/workqueue.c:2439
 kthread+0x29d/0x330 kernel/kthread.c:376
 ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:295
 </TASK>

Crashes (7):
Time Kernel Commit Syzkaller Config Log Report Syz repro C repro VM info Assets (help?) Manager Title
2026/09/16 12:49 linux-6.1.y 1a8763b93150 12a0a44a .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-linux-6-1-kasan possible deadlock in worker_thread
2026/09/16 12:46 linux-6.1.y 1a8763b93150 12a0a44a .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-linux-6-1-kasan possible deadlock in worker_thread
2026/09/11 20:06 linux-6.1.y cf82dcca9634 b6a5eeb7 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-linux-6-1-kasan possible deadlock in worker_thread
2026/08/14 07:25 linux-6.1.y e4f7d8be268e b13552fe .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-linux-6-1-kasan possible deadlock in worker_thread
2026/08/05 01:52 linux-6.1.y fb28aa725e05 d4abbeac .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-linux-6-1-kasan possible deadlock in worker_thread
2026/08/05 01:01 linux-6.1.y fb28aa725e05 d4abbeac .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-linux-6-1-kasan possible deadlock in worker_thread
2026/08/14 02:22 linux-6.1.y e4f7d8be268e b13552fe .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-linux-6-1-kasan-arm64 possible deadlock in worker_thread
* Struck through repros no longer work on HEAD.