Commit 4865c768b563 ("ext4: always allocate blocks only from groups inode can use") restricts what blocks will be allocated for indirect block based files to block numbers that fit within 32-bit block numbers. However, when using a review bot running on the latest Gemini LLM to check this commit when backporting into an LTS based kernel, it raised this concern: If ac->ac_g_ex.fe_group is >= ngroups (for instance, if the goal group was populated via stream allocation from s_mb_last_groups), then start will be >= ngroups. Does this allow allocating blocks beyond the 32-bit limit for indirect block mapped files? The commit message mentions that ext4_mb_scan_groups_linear() takes care to not select unsupported groups. However, its loop uses group = *start, and the very first iteration will call ext4_mb_scan_group() with this unsupported group because next_linear_group() is only called at the end of the iteration. After reviewing the code paths involved and considering the LLM review, I determined that this can happen when there is a file system where some files/directories are extent-mapped and others are indirect-block mapped. To address this, add a safety clamp in ext4_mb_scan_groups(). Fixes: 4865c768b563 ("ext4: always allocate blocks only from groups inode can use") Signed-off-by: Theodore Ts'o Cc: Jan Kara --- v2: * Remove extra checks that were not needed once we add the clamp in ext4_mb_scan_groups(). fs/ext4/mballoc.c | 2 ++ 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+) diff --git a/fs/ext4/mballoc.c b/fs/ext4/mballoc.c index 20e9fdaf4301..b10db5d7545b 100644 --- a/fs/ext4/mballoc.c +++ b/fs/ext4/mballoc.c @@ -1199,6 +1199,8 @@ static int ext4_mb_scan_groups(struct ext4_allocation_context *ac) /* searching for the right group start from the goal value specified */ start = ac->ac_g_ex.fe_group; + if (start >= ngroups) + start = 0; ac->ac_prefetch_grp = start; ac->ac_prefetch_nr = 0; -- 2.51.0