linux-kernel - [RFC][PATCH v4 0/3] make efivars/efi

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Date:	Tue, 21 Aug 2012 20:35:08 +0000
From:	Seiji Aguchi <seiji.aguchi@....com>
To:	Mike Waychison <mikew@...gle.com>,
	"linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	"Luck, Tony (tony.luck@...el.com)" <tony.luck@...el.com>,
	"Matthew Garrett (mjg@...hat.com)" <mjg@...hat.com>,
	"dzickus@...hat.com" <dzickus@...hat.com>
CC:	"dle-develop@...ts.sourceforge.net" 
	<dle-develop@...ts.sourceforge.net>,
	Satoru Moriya <satoru.moriya@....com>
Subject: [RFC][PATCH v4 0/3] make efivars/efi_pstore interrupt-safe

Changelog
v3 -> v4
  - Patch 2/3
    Move cancel_work_sync() above an efi_enabled test in efivars_exit().

v2 -> v3
  - Patch 1/3
    Replace spin_lock_irqsave/spin_unlock_irqrestore with spin_lock_irq/spin_unlock_irq in efivars_unregister(),
    efivar_create(), efivar_store_raw() and efivar_delete() which are called in a process context. 

 - Patch 2/3
    Change a name of delete_sysfs_entry() to delete_all_stale_sysfs_entries().
    Also, don't release an efivar->lock while searching efivar->list in delete_all_stale_sysfs_entries().

 - Patch 3/3
    Remove a logic in efi_pstore_erase() which freshly created in patch v2.

v1 -> v2
 - Patch 1/3
    Add spin_lock_irq/spin_unlock_irq to open/close callbacks of efi_pstore 
    instead of moving spin_locks to a read callback.    

 - Patch 2/3
    Replace a periodical timer with schedule_work().

 - Patch 3/3
    freshly create to kick a workqueue in oops case only.

[Problem]
 There are following problems related to an interrupt context in efivar/efi_pstore.

 Currently, efivars enables interrupt while taking efivars->lock.
 So, there is a risk to be deadlocking in a write callback of efi_pstore if kernel panics 
 in interrupt context while taking efi_lock.

 Also, efi_pstore creates sysfs entries ,which enable users to access to NVRAM, in a write callback.
 If a kernel panic happens in interrupt contexts, pstore may fail because it could sleep due to dynamic 
 memory allocations during creating sysfs entries.

To resolve the problems above, a goal of this patchset is making efivars/efi_pstore interrupt-safe.

[Patch Description]
 Patch 1/3 efivars: Disable external interrupt while holding efivars->lock
   This patch replaces spin_lock/spin_unlock with spin_lock_irqsave/spin_lock_irqrestore to make efivars interrupt safe

 Patch 2/3 efi_pstore: Introducing workqueue updating sysfs entries
   This patch removes sysfs operations from write callback by introducing a workqueue updating sysfs entries

 Patch 3/3 efi_pstore: Skiping scheduling a workqueue in cases other than oops
   This patch restricts a schedule of a workqueue in case where users erase entries or oops happen which is truly needed for users.

 drivers/firmware/efivars.c |  167 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--------
 include/linux/efi.h        |    3 +-
 2 files changed, 138 insertions(+), 32 deletions(-)




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