WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start (2)

Status: upstream: reported C repro on 2024/10/18 00:39
Subsystems: ext4
[Documentation on labels]
Reported-by: syzbot+b75d75f957975f3d40e3@syzkaller.appspotmail.com
First crash: 730d, last: 4h15m
Cause bisection: the issue happens on the oldest tested release (bisect log)
Crash: WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start (log)
Repro: C syz .config
  
Fix bisection: the issue occurs on the latest tested release (bisect log)
  
▶ ▼ ✨ AI Patch Versions (1)
Version Stage Reported Report Link Job
1 moderation 2026/06/24 18:09 Discussion a83c4c4e-9d52-4ccc-816d-160565cbc871
▶ ▼ ✨ AI Jobs (10)
ID Workflow Result Correct Bug Created Started Finished Revision
a4337a76 assessment-security 💥 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start (2) 2026/10/05 09:56 2026/10/05 09:56 2026/10/05 10:24 57bbd979
eadab5b2 assessment-security 💥 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start (2) 2026/09/04 07:46 2026/09/04 07:46 2026/09/04 07:59 801f0966
e5e2400e assessment-security 💥 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start (2) 2026/08/05 00:05 2026/08/05 00:05 2026/08/05 00:05 d4abbeac
3424f00b assessment-security 💥 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start (2) 2026/07/05 07:32 2026/07/05 07:32 2026/07/05 07:52 93f57954
a83c4c4e patching ❓ WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start (2) 2026/06/24 14:18 2026/06/24 14:24 2026/06/24 18:09 2e5297c5
78543c0f assessment-security 💥 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start (2) 2026/06/18 07:15 2026/06/18 07:15 2026/06/18 07:27 b62b3ded
d3315e2f assessment-security 💥 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start (2) 2026/06/10 03:01 2026/06/10 03:01 2026/06/10 03:22 c36c07f6
abb9e30e assessment-security 💥 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start (2) 2026/06/04 05:49 2026/06/04 05:49 2026/06/04 06:04 62fe1528
4905f015 assessment-security 💥 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start (2) 2026/06/02 02:21 2026/06/02 02:21 2026/06/02 02:49 386cc6da
15a05b17 assessment-security 💥 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start (2) 2026/05/21 01:44 2026/05/21 01:44 2026/05/21 02:00 cf874a1c
▶ ▼ Discussions (4)
Title Replies (including bot) Last reply
[syzbot] Monthly ext4 report (Oct 2026) 0 (1) 2026/10/12 04:33
[PATCH] ext4: do not WARN when starting a journal on a frozen filesystem 3 (3) 2026/07/28 13:45
[RFC PATCH] ext4: Prevent to write when SB_FREEZE_COMPLETE 1 (1) 2025/05/09 14:52
[syzbot] [ext4?] WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start (2) 0 (2) 2025/05/09 03:44
▶ ▼ Similar bugs (4)
Kernel Title Rank 🛈 Repro Cause bisect Fix bisect Count Last Reported Patched Status
linux-5.15 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start -1 1 736d 736d 0/3 auto-obsoleted due to no activity on 2025/01/15 23:20
linux-6.6 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start origin:upstream -1 syz, C inconclusive 14 5d21h 309d 0/2 upstream: reported C repro on 2025/12/08 18:38
upstream WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start ext4 -1 syz 3 854d 902d 0/29 auto-obsoleted due to no activity on 2024/08/10 22:22
linux-6.1 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start -1 1 19d 19d 0/3 upstream: reported on 2026/09/24 16:22
▶ ▼ Last patch testing requests (11)
Created Duration User Patch Repo Result
2026/06/23 21:43 6h09m retest repro upstream log
2026/06/23 21:40 6h00m retest repro upstream log
2026/02/13 04:51 4h01m retest repro upstream report log
2025/12/05 02:58 30m retest repro upstream report log
2025/10/11 07:31 20m retest repro upstream no crash log
2025/09/25 21:50 18m retest repro upstream report log
2025/07/18 19:51 2h48m retest repro upstream report log
2025/06/29 22:03 44m retest repro upstream report log
2025/05/09 03:44 3h16m richard120310@gmail.com patch git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git c964ced77262 OK log
2025/03/11 04:59 20m retest repro upstream report log
2024/11/11 00:14 17m retest repro upstream report log

Sample crash report:
------------[ cut here ]------------
sb_rdonly(sb)
WARNING: fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.c:83 at ext4_journal_check_start+0x24f/0x2b0 fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.c:83, CPU#0: syz.3.199/6545
Modules linked in:
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 6545 Comm: syz.3.199 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT_{RT,(full)} 
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 07/24/2026
RIP: 0010:ext4_journal_check_start+0x24f/0x2b0 fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.c:83
Code: 5b 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f 5d e9 4c d3 dd 08 cc e8 06 71 46 ff 41 bf fb ff ff ff eb e0 e8 f9 70 46 ff eb d3 e8 f2 70 46 ff 90 <0f> 0b 90 eb c8 e8 e7 70 46 ff 90 0f 0b 90 43 80 7c 25 00 00 0f 85
RSP: 0018:ffffc90005956e58 EFLAGS: 00010293
RAX: ffffffff8280672e RBX: ffff888057e4a000 RCX: ffff8880342fddc0
RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000
RBP: 0000000000000001 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
R10: dffffc0000000000 R11: ffffed100b9e0881 R12: dffffc0000000000
R13: 1ffff1100afc9505 R14: ffff888057e4a828 R15: 0000000000000001
FS:  00007ff91184e6c0(0000) GS:ffff8881249bc000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 00007ff91223b8c0 CR3: 00000000479aa000 CR4: 00000000003526f0
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 __ext4_journal_start_sb+0x14b/0x780 fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.c:115
 __ext4_journal_start fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.h:238 [inline]
 ext4_dirty_inode+0x93/0x110 fs/ext4/inode.c:6733
 __mark_inode_dirty+0x3a8/0x13b0 fs/fs-writeback.c:2744
 mark_inode_dirty include/linux/fs.h:2206 [inline]
 dquot_alloc_space include/linux/quotaops.h:312 [inline]
 dquot_alloc_block include/linux/quotaops.h:329 [inline]
 ext4_mb_new_blocks+0x27ee/0x4540 fs/ext4/mballoc.c:6277
 ext4_ext_map_blocks+0x13f1/0x5680 fs/ext4/extents.c:4469
 ext4_map_create_blocks+0x116/0x530 fs/ext4/inode.c:630
 ext4_map_blocks+0x791/0x12c0 fs/ext4/inode.c:823
 ext4_getblk+0x1c3/0x7c0 fs/ext4/inode.c:991
 ext4_bread+0x2a/0x180 fs/ext4/inode.c:1054
 ext4_append+0x2b6/0x560 fs/ext4/namei.c:83
 ext4_init_new_dir+0x11f/0x1c0 fs/ext4/namei.c:2988
 ext4_mkdir+0x4ba/0xce0 fs/ext4/namei.c:3024
 vfs_mkdir+0x408/0x620 fs/namei.c:5410
 cachefiles_get_directory+0x23c/0xa30 fs/cachefiles/namei.c:132
 cachefiles_add_cache+0xb58/0xde0 fs/cachefiles/cache.c:136
 cachefiles_daemon_write+0x608/0x6c0 fs/cachefiles/daemon.c:284
 vfs_write+0x29f/0xbb0 fs/read_write.c:685
 ksys_write+0x156/0x270 fs/read_write.c:739
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:61 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x166/0x520 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:84
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
RIP: 0033:0x7ff9121ee1d9
Code: ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 e8 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48
RSP: 002b:00007ff91184e028 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000001
RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007ff912475fa0 RCX: 00007ff9121ee1d9
RDX: 0000000000000004 RSI: 0000200000000700 RDI: 0000000000000004
RBP: 00007ff912285888 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000
R13: 00007ff912476038 R14: 00007ff912475fa0 R15: 00007ffd1a7e0dd8
 </TASK>

Crashes (183):
Time Kernel Commit Syzkaller Config Log Report Syz repro C repro VM info Assets (help?) Manager Title
2026/10/09 10:49 upstream af32da41b032 b2734a59 .config console log report syz / log C [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] [mounted in repro (clean fs)] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2024/10/17 17:03 upstream c964ced77262 666f77ed .config strace log report syz / log C [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] [mounted in repro #1] [mounted in repro #2] ci-upstream-kasan-gce-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/07/13 22:50 upstream a13c140cc289 cc4833d0 .config console log report syz / log [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] [mounted in repro (corrupt fs)] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/14 04:30 upstream ca3e345926b0 7321cd29 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/10 07:40 upstream fc1c25014ff8 4f92358f .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/05 00:06 upstream a90ee4305c4a 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/04 19:23 upstream 6addb4f38557 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/04 16:34 upstream 6addb4f38557 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/04 10:43 upstream 6addb4f38557 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/04 09:20 upstream a74306e2e676 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/04 06:34 upstream a74306e2e676 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/04 05:22 upstream a74306e2e676 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/03 21:28 upstream a74306e2e676 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/03 18:36 upstream e767a4ea70a3 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/03 11:02 upstream e767a4ea70a3 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/03 08:01 upstream e767a4ea70a3 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/03 06:37 upstream 5e0f8396d480 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/03 05:21 upstream ce1e0223d8ad 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-kasan-gce-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/03 04:33 upstream 5e0f8396d480 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/03 02:35 upstream ce1e0223d8ad 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-kasan-badwrites-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/03 00:32 upstream 5e0f8396d480 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/02 20:36 upstream 5e0f8396d480 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/02 18:08 upstream 5e0f8396d480 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/02 16:22 upstream ce1e0223d8ad 6d32eb1f .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/02 10:10 upstream ce1e0223d8ad 6d32eb1f .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/02 06:56 upstream ce1e0223d8ad 6d32eb1f .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/02 06:45 upstream ce1e0223d8ad 6d32eb1f .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/09/24 11:55 upstream 62f4c998b297 0281b448 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/08/24 00:56 upstream 4352b8aee980 1e72964b .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-kasan-gce-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/08/23 10:10 upstream 2709dd5ae32f 1e72964b .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-kasan-gce-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/08/22 20:03 upstream 26260251022f 1e72964b .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-kasan-gce-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/08/22 07:24 upstream 26260251022f 1e72964b .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-kasan-gce-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/08/21 17:54 upstream 4e69c1856bfd 1e72964b .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-kasan-gce-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/08/21 17:53 upstream 4e69c1856bfd 1e72964b .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-kasan-gce-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/08/21 14:31 upstream 7f063b2f17ea 1e72964b .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-kasan-gce-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2025/05/17 06:28 upstream 3c21441eeffc f41472b0 .config console log report syz / log [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] [mounted in repro #1 (corrupt fs)] [mounted in repro #2 (corrupt fs)] [mounted in repro #3] [mounted in repro #4 (corrupt fs)] [mounted in repro #5] ci2-upstream-fs WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/13 09:38 upstream 24a19b953e2a 5a1eeac4 .config console log report [disk image (non-bootable)] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-snapshot-upstream-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/10 14:42 upstream 3857c2fe5449 4f92358f .config console log report [disk image (non-bootable)] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-snapshot-upstream-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/09/29 10:26 upstream 72d3fcf802c4 7bf4ea23 .config console log report [disk image (non-bootable)] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-snapshot-upstream-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/09/27 02:15 upstream 6812ce4e4379 a3c7249d .config console log report [disk image (non-bootable)] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-snapshot-upstream-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/08/10 15:31 linux-next 6b8c8af514d7 039457bd .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-linux-next-kasan-gce-root WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/13 08:49 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/arm64/linux.git for-kernelci 01850bca59c9 745a967f .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-gce-arm64 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/10 18:56 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/arm64/linux.git for-kernelci 71c3e5409eef 4f92358f .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-gce-arm64 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/08 04:26 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/arm64/linux.git for-kernelci 71c3e5409eef 6520ecdb .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-gce-arm64 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/05 16:31 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/arm64/linux.git for-kernelci fe98fb51bf62 1995e6c7 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-gce-arm64 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/05 08:38 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/arm64/linux.git for-kernelci fe98fb51bf62 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-gce-arm64 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/05 05:32 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/arm64/linux.git for-kernelci fe98fb51bf62 57bbd979 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-gce-arm64 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/10/02 01:37 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/arm64/linux.git for-kernelci 7ce5295296b5 6d32eb1f .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-gce-arm64 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/09/21 12:25 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/arm64/linux.git for-kernelci 38872197cae2 853b104b .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-gce-arm64 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/09/19 05:04 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/arm64/linux.git for-kernelci 38872197cae2 853b104b .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-gce-arm64 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/09/07 10:55 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/arm64/linux.git for-kernelci 5445d6419962 4f7b22a0 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-gce-arm64 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
2026/09/04 05:59 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/arm64/linux.git for-kernelci cee9395acd80 801f0966 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-gce-arm64 WARNING in ext4_journal_check_start
* Struck through repros no longer work on HEAD.