Hi, I was trying to understand the purpose of the below check for validating rec_len in the function ext2_add_link(). Before reaching line 515 we call ext2_get_page() which checks for valid entries on the page and thus validates the rec_len too. And then we call the lock_page(), so is this check redundant or to avoid cases when something could have changed on the page between the lines 497 and 501 ? ext2_add_link() { ........ 497 page = ext2_get_page(dir, n, 0); 499 if (IS_ERR(page)) 500 goto out; 501 lock_page(page); ......... 515 if (de->rec_len == 0) { 516 ext2_error(dir->i_sb, __func__, 517 "zero-length directory entry"); 518 err = -EIO; 519 goto out_unlock; 520 } .......... } Thanks - Manish -- To unsubscribe from this list: send an email with "unsubscribe kernelnewbies" to ecartis@xxxxxxxxxxxx Please read the FAQ at http://kernelnewbies.org/FAQ