On Fri, Aug 17, 2007 at 07:59:02AM +0800, Herbert Xu wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 16, 2007 at 09:34:41AM -0700, Paul E. McKenney wrote:
> >
> > The compiler can also reorder non-volatile accesses. For an example
> > patch that cares about this, please see:
> >
> > http://lkml.org/lkml/2007/8/7/280
> >
> > This patch uses an ORDERED_WRT_IRQ() in rcu_read_lock() and
> > rcu_read_unlock() to ensure that accesses aren't reordered with respect
> > to interrupt handlers and NMIs/SMIs running on that same CPU.
>
> Good, finally we have some code to discuss (even though it's
> not actually in the kernel yet).
There was some earlier in this thread as well.
> First of all, I think this illustrates that what you want
> here has nothing to do with atomic ops. The ORDERED_WRT_IRQ
> macro occurs a lot more times in your patch than atomic
> reads/sets. So *assuming* that it was necessary at all,
> then having an ordered variant of the atomic_read/atomic_set
> ops could do just as well.
Indeed. If I could trust atomic_read()/atomic_set() to cause the compiler
to maintain ordering, then I could just use them instead of having to
create an ORDERED_WRT_IRQ(). (Or ACCESS_ONCE(), as it is called in a
different patch.)
> However, I still don't know which atomic_read/atomic_set in
> your patch would be broken if there were no volatile. Could
> you please point them out?
Suppose I tried replacing the ORDERED_WRT_IRQ() calls with
atomic_read() and atomic_set(). Starting with __rcu_read_lock():
o If "ORDERED_WRT_IRQ(__get_cpu_var(rcu_flipctr)[idx])++"
was ordered by the compiler after
"ORDERED_WRT_IRQ(me->rcu_read_lock_nesting) = nesting + 1", then
suppose an NMI/SMI happened after the rcu_read_lock_nesting but
before the rcu_flipctr.
Then if there was an rcu_read_lock() in the SMI/NMI
handler (which is perfectly legal), the nested rcu_read_lock()
would believe that it could take the then-clause of the
enclosing "if" statement. But because the rcu_flipctr per-CPU
variable had not yet been incremented, an RCU updater would
be within its rights to assume that there were no RCU reads
in progress, thus possibly yanking a data structure out from
under the reader in the SMI/NMI function.
Fatal outcome. Note that only one CPU is involved here
because these are all either per-CPU or per-task variables.
o If "ORDERED_WRT_IRQ(me->rcu_read_lock_nesting) = nesting + 1"
was ordered by the compiler to follow the
"ORDERED_WRT_IRQ(me->rcu_flipctr_idx) = idx", and an NMI/SMI
happened between the two, then an __rcu_read_lock() in the NMI/SMI
would incorrectly take the "else" clause of the enclosing "if"
statement. If some other CPU flipped the rcu_ctrlblk.completed
in the meantime, then the __rcu_read_lock() would (correctly)
write the new value into rcu_flipctr_idx.
Well and good so far. But the problem arises in
__rcu_read_unlock(), which then decrements the wrong counter.
Depending on exactly how subsequent events played out, this could
result in either prematurely ending grace periods or never-ending
grace periods, both of which are fatal outcomes.
And the following are not needed in the current version of the
patch, but will be in a future version that either avoids disabling
irqs or that dispenses with the smp_read_barrier_depends() that I
have 99% convinced myself is unneeded:
o nesting = ORDERED_WRT_IRQ(me->rcu_read_lock_nesting);
o idx = ORDERED_WRT_IRQ(rcu_ctrlblk.completed) & 0x1;
Furthermore, in that future version, irq handlers can cause the same
mischief that SMI/NMI handlers can in this version.
Next, looking at __rcu_read_unlock():
o If "ORDERED_WRT_IRQ(me->rcu_read_lock_nesting) = nesting - 1"
was reordered by the compiler to follow the
"ORDERED_WRT_IRQ(__get_cpu_var(rcu_flipctr)[idx])--",
then if an NMI/SMI containing an rcu_read_lock() occurs between
the two, this nested rcu_read_lock() would incorrectly believe
that it was protected by an enclosing RCU read-side critical
section as described in the first reversal discussed for
__rcu_read_lock() above. Again, fatal outcome.
This is what we have now. It is not hard to imagine situations that
interact with -both- interrupt handlers -and- other CPUs, as described
earlier.
Thanx, Paul
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