The caller of wb_get_create() should pin the memcg, because wb_get_create() relies on this guarantee. The rcu read lock only can guarantee that the memcg css returned by css_from_id() cannot be released, but the reference of the memcg can be zero. rcu_read_lock() memcg_css = css_from_id() wb_get_create(memcg_css) cgwb_create(memcg_css) // css_get can change the ref counter from 0 back to 1 css_get(memcg_css) rcu_read_unlock() Fix it by holding a reference to the css before calling wb_get_create(). This is not a problem I encountered in the real world. Just the result of a code review. Fixes: 682aa8e1a6a1 ("writeback: implement unlocked_inode_to_wb transaction and use it for stat updates") Signed-off-by: Muchun Song <songmuchun@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Acked-by: Michal Hocko <mhocko@xxxxxxxx> --- Changelog in v3: 1. Do not change GFP_ATOMIC. 2. Update commit log. Thanks for Michal's review and suggestions. Changelog in v2: 1. Replace GFP_ATOMIC with GFP_NOIO suggested by Matthew. fs/fs-writeback.c | 9 +++++++-- 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/fs/fs-writeback.c b/fs/fs-writeback.c index 3ac002561327..dedde99da40d 100644 --- a/fs/fs-writeback.c +++ b/fs/fs-writeback.c @@ -506,9 +506,14 @@ static void inode_switch_wbs(struct inode *inode, int new_wb_id) /* find and pin the new wb */ rcu_read_lock(); memcg_css = css_from_id(new_wb_id, &memory_cgrp_subsys); - if (memcg_css) - isw->new_wb = wb_get_create(bdi, memcg_css, GFP_ATOMIC); + if (memcg_css && !css_tryget(memcg_css)) + memcg_css = NULL; rcu_read_unlock(); + if (!memcg_css) + goto out_free; + + isw->new_wb = wb_get_create(bdi, memcg_css, GFP_ATOMIC); + css_put(memcg_css); if (!isw->new_wb) goto out_free; -- 2.11.0