Cause: kpartx doesn't hold a disk device open while it creates partition devices from it. This means that the disk device can be removed while creating the partition devices. When this happens the disk device that the partition devices reference my end up pointing to another device, including the partition device itself. Consequence: If the partition device ends up pointing to itself, the kernel can enter an infinite loop trying to set the device up. Fix: kpartx holds the disk device open while creating the partition devices, so that it cannot be removed. Result: partition devices will end up pointing to the disk the device, and the kernel will not lock up in an infinite loop while trying to create the partition device.