Torn page hazard in ginRedoUpdateMetapage()
Noah Misch <noah@leadboat.com>
From: Noah Misch <noah@leadboat.com>
To: pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org
Date: 2012-04-30T17:34:24Z
Lists: pgsql-hackers
Attachments
- gin-xlog-metapage-v1.patch (text/plain) patch v1
When GIN changes a metapage, we WAL-log its ex-header content and never use a backup block. This reduces WAL volume since the vast majority of the metapage is unused. However, ginRedoUpdateMetapage() only restores the WAL-logged content if the metapage LSN predates the WAL record LSN. If a metapage write tore and updated the LSN but not the other content, we would fail to complete the update. Instead, unconditionally reinitialize the metapage similar to how _bt_restore_meta() handles the situation. I found this problem by code reading and did not attempt to build a test case illustrating its practical consequences. It's possible that there's no problem in practice on account of some reason I haven't contemplated. Thanks, nm