linux-kernel - Re: [RFC PATCH 1/6] x86/alternative: assert text

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Date:   Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:00:06 -0700
From:   Sean Christopherson <sean.j.christopherson@...el.com>
To:     Nadav Amit <namit@...are.com>
Cc:     Masami Hiramatsu <mhiramat@...nel.org>,
        Thomas Gleixner <tglx@...utronix.de>,
        LKML <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
        Ingo Molnar <mingo@...hat.com>, X86 ML <x86@...nel.org>,
        Arnd Bergmann <arnd@...db.de>,
        linux-arch <linux-arch@...r.kernel.org>,
        Andy Lutomirski <luto@...nel.org>,
        Kees Cook <keescook@...omium.org>
Subject: Re: [RFC PATCH 1/6] x86/alternative: assert text_mutex is taken

On Wed, Aug 29, 2018 at 08:44:47PM +0000, Nadav Amit wrote:
> at 1:13 PM, Sean Christopherson <sean.j.christopherson@...el.com> wrote:
> 
> > On Wed, Aug 29, 2018 at 07:36:22PM +0000, Nadav Amit wrote:
> >> at 10:11 AM, Nadav Amit <namit@...are.com> wrote:
> >> 
> >>> at 1:59 AM, Masami Hiramatsu <mhiramat@...nel.org> wrote:
> >>> 
> >>>> On Wed, 29 Aug 2018 01:11:42 -0700
> >>>> Nadav Amit <namit@...are.com> wrote:
> >>>> 
> >>>>> Use lockdep to ensure that text_mutex is taken when text_poke() is
> >>>>> called.
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> Actually it is not always taken, specifically when it is called by kgdb,
> >>>>> so take the lock in these cases.
> >>>> 
> >>>> Can we really take a mutex in kgdb context?
> >>>> 
> >>>> kgdb_arch_remove_breakpoint
> >>>> <- dbg_deactivate_sw_breakpoints
> >>>>  <- kgdb_reenter_check
> >>>>     <- kgdb_handle_exception
> >>>>        <- __kgdb_notify
> >>>>          <- kgdb_ll_trap
> >>>>            <- do_int3
> >>>>          <- kgdb_notify
> >>>>            <- die notifier
> >>>> 
> >>>> kgdb_arch_set_breakpoint
> >>>> <- dbg_activate_sw_breakpoints
> >>>>  <- kgdb_reenter_check
> >>>>     <- kgdb_handle_exception
> >>>>         ...
> >>>> 
> >>>> Both seems called in exception context, so we can not take a mutex lock.
> >>>> I think kgdb needs a special path.
> >>> 
> >>> You are correct, but I don’t want a special path. Presumably text_mutex is
> >>> guaranteed not to be taken according to the code.
> >>> 
> >>> So I guess the only concern is lockdep. Do you see any problem if I change
> >>> mutex_lock() into mutex_trylock()? It should always succeed, and I can add a
> >>> warning and a failure path if it fails for some reason.
> >> 
> >> Err.. This will not work. I think I will drop this patch, since I cannot
> >> find a proper yet simple assertion. Creating special path just for the
> >> assertion seems wrong.
> > 
> > It's probably worth expanding the comment for text_poke() to call out
> > the kgdb case and reference kgdb_arch_{set,remove}_breakpoint(), whose
> > code and comments make it explicitly clear why its safe for them to
> > call text_poke() without acquiring the lock.  Might prevent someone
> > from going down this path again in the future.
> 
> I thought that the whole point of the patch was to avoid comments, and
> instead enforce the right behavior. I don’t understand well enough kgdb
> code, so I cannot attest it does the right thing. What happens if
> kgdb_do_roundup==0?

As is, the comment is wrong because there are obviously cases where
text_poke() is called without text_mutex being held.  I can't attest
to the kgdb code either.  My thought was to document the exception so
that if someone does want to try and enforce the right behavior they
can dive right into the problem instead of having to learn of the kgdb
gotcha the hard way.  Maybe a FIXME is the right approach?