Thanks to git-bisect, I identified the following commit as the problem:
commit 936940a9c7e3d99b25859bf1ff140d8c2480183a
Merge: 09ce42d 1cbd20d
Author: Linus Torvalds <email address hidden>
Date: Wed Jun 24 10:03:12 2009 -0700
Merge branch 'for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/viro/vfs-2.6
* 'for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/viro/vfs-2.6: (23 commits)
switch xfs to generic acl caching helpers
helpers for acl caching + switch to those
switch shmem to inode->i_acl
switch reiserfs to inode->i_acl
switch reiserfs to usual conventions for caching ACLs
reiserfs: minimal fix for ACL caching
switch nilfs2 to inode->i_acl
switch btrfs to inode->i_acl
switch jffs2 to inode->i_acl
switch jfs to inode->i_acl
switch ext4 to inode->i_acl
switch ext3 to inode->i_acl
switch ext2 to inode->i_acl
add caching of ACLs in struct inode
fs: Add new pre-allocation ioctls to vfs for compatibility with legacy xfs ioctls
cleanup __writeback_single_inode
... and the same for vfsmount id/mount group id
Make allocation of anon devices cheaper
update Documentation/filesystems/Locking
devpts: remove module-related code
...
Thanks to git-bisect, I identified the following commit as the problem: b25859bf1ff140d 8c2480183a
commit 936940a9c7e3d99
Merge: 09ce42d 1cbd20d
Author: Linus Torvalds <email address hidden>
Date: Wed Jun 24 10:03:12 2009 -0700
Merge branch 'for-linus' of git://git. kernel. org/pub/ scm/linux/ kernel/ git/viro/ vfs-2.6
* 'for-linus' of git://git. kernel. org/pub/ scm/linux/ kernel/ git/viro/ vfs-2.6: (23 commits) single_ inode filesystems/ Locking
switch xfs to generic acl caching helpers
helpers for acl caching + switch to those
switch shmem to inode->i_acl
switch reiserfs to inode->i_acl
switch reiserfs to usual conventions for caching ACLs
reiserfs: minimal fix for ACL caching
switch nilfs2 to inode->i_acl
switch btrfs to inode->i_acl
switch jffs2 to inode->i_acl
switch jfs to inode->i_acl
switch ext4 to inode->i_acl
switch ext3 to inode->i_acl
switch ext2 to inode->i_acl
add caching of ACLs in struct inode
fs: Add new pre-allocation ioctls to vfs for compatibility with legacy xfs ioctls
cleanup __writeback_
... and the same for vfsmount id/mount group id
Make allocation of anon devices cheaper
update Documentation/
devpts: remove module-related code
...
Note that I'm using jfs so it could be related.