RE: [PATCH] Fix TOCTOU race in ReplicationSlotsComputeRequiredLSN()

Zhijie Hou (Fujitsu) <houzj.fnst@fujitsu.com>

From: "Zhijie Hou (Fujitsu)" <houzj.fnst@fujitsu.com>
To: JoongHyuk Shin <sjh910805@gmail.com>
Cc: "pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org" <pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org>
Date: 2026-04-17T06:59:14Z
Lists: pgsql-hackers
On Friday, April 17, 2026 2:50 PM JoongHyuk Shin <sjh910805@gmail.com>  wrote:
> Commit 2a5225b99d7 fixed a race in ReplicationSlotsComputeRequiredXmin()
> where ReplicationSlotControlLock was released before the global xmin
> update, allowing a concurrent backend to overwrite a correct value with
> a stale one.
> 
> ReplicationSlotsComputeRequiredLSN() has the same problem, 
> it releases the lock before calling XLogSetReplicationSlotMinimumLSN(), 
> so a stale minimum LSN can overwrite a correct (lower) one, 
> potentially leading to premature WAL removal.
> 
> The attached patch moves LWLockRelease() to after the LSN update,
> matching the xmin fix.
> Since 2a5225b99d7 was backpatched to all supported versions, 
> I believe this should be as well.

Thanks for noticing this. There is an existing thread [1] that I started
following 2a5225b99d7 to address the same issue. The patch you posted
only increases the lock scope in ReplicationSlotsComputeRequiredLSN() but does
not increase the lock level when reserving WALs, so I think it would not
fix the issue.

Please feel free to review the patch in that thread if you find it helpful.

[1] https://commitfest.postgresql.org/patch/6451/

Best Regards,
Hou zj

Commits

Same data as JSON: GET /api/v1/messages/:b64id/commits the thread's linked commits as JSON, with link sources. API reference →
  1. Fix a race condition in updating procArray->replication_slot_xmin.