Back to all scenarios
Scenario #352
Storage
Kubernetes v1.24, CSI driver with finalizer
PVCs Stuck in “Terminating” Due to Finalizers
After deleting PVCs, they remained in Terminating state indefinitely due to stuck finalizers.
Find this helpful?
What Happened
The CSI driver responsible for finalizer cleanup was crash-looping, preventing PVC finalizer execution.
Diagnosis Steps
- 1PVCs had finalizer external-attacher.csi.driver.io.
- 2CSI pod logs showed repeated panics due to malformed config.
Root Cause
Driver bug prevented cleanup logic, blocking PVC deletion.
Fix/Workaround
• Patched the driver deployment.
• Manually removed finalizers using kubectl patch.Lessons Learned
CSI finalizer bugs can block resource lifecycle.
How to Avoid
- 1Regularly update CSI drivers.
- 2Monitor PVC lifecycle duration metrics.