System panic has occurred via ext3_readdir()

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

  • A system panic has occurred on RHEL6.4 system.
  • This issue causes size-64 slab area corruption.
  • According to the panic log, each the panic was detected via ext3_readdir().
  • The panic occurred when ext3_readdir() walked a "struct rb_node". The root node was referenced by "root" member of "struct dir_private_info".
  • The problem was that the dir_private_info->root.rb_node was not a pointer to "struct rb_node" but to "prev" member of "struct slab".
  • ext3_readdir() handled the "struct slab" as "struct rb_node", so the system panic occurred.
  • Why the dir_private_info->root.rb_node pointed to "struct slab"?

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Update 4
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Kernel Versions: 2.6.32-358.23.2.el6 to 2.6.32-573.8.1.el6

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