linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] n_tty: Add memory barrier to fix race condition in receive path

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Date:	Thu, 06 Nov 2014 21:38:59 +0000
From:	Måns Rullgård <mans@...sr.com>
To:	Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>
Cc:	Christian Riesch <christian.riesch@...cron.at>,
	Jiri Slaby <jslaby@...e.cz>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	Peter Hurley <peter@...leysoftware.com>, stable@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] n_tty: Add memory barrier to fix race condition in receive path

Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org> writes:

> On Thu, Nov 06, 2014 at 09:01:36PM +0000, Måns Rullgård wrote:
>> Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org> writes:
>> 
>> > On Thu, Nov 06, 2014 at 08:49:01PM +0000, Måns Rullgård wrote:
>> >> Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org> writes:
>> >> 
>> >> > On Thu, Nov 06, 2014 at 12:39:59PM +0100, Christian Riesch wrote:
>> >> >> The current implementation of put_tty_queue() causes a race condition
>> >> >> when re-arranged by the compiler.
>> >> >> 
>> >> >> On my build with gcc 4.8.3, cross-compiling for ARM, the line
>> >> >> 
>> >> >> 	*read_buf_addr(ldata, ldata->read_head++) = c;
>> >> >> 
>> >> >> was re-arranged by the compiler to something like
>> >> >> 
>> >> >> 	x = ldata->read_head
>> >> >> 	ldata->read_head++
>> >> >> 	*read_buf_addr(ldata, x) = c;
>> >> >> 
>> >> >> which causes a race condition. Invalid data is read if data is read
>> >> >> before it is actually written to the read buffer.
>> >> >
>> >> > Really?  A compiler can rearange things like that and expect things to
>> >> > actually work?  How is that valid?
>> >> 
>> >> This is actually required by the C spec.  There is a sequence point
>> >> before a function call, after the arguments have been evaluated.  Thus
>> >> all side-effects, such as the post-increment, must be complete before
>> >> the function is called, just like in the example.
>> >> 
>> >> There is no "re-arranging" here.  The code is simply wrong.
>> >
>> > Ah, ok, time to dig out the C spec...
>> >
>> > Anyway, because of this, no need for the wmb() calls, just rearrange the
>> > logic and all should be good, right?  Christian, can you test that
>> > instead?
>> 
>> Weakly ordered SMP systems probably need some kind of barrier.  I didn't
>> look at it carefully.
>
> It shouldn't need a barier, as it is a sequence point with the function
> call.  Well, it's an inline function, but that "shouldn't" matter here,
> right?

Sequence points say nothing about the order in which stores become
visible to other CPUs.  That's why there are barrier instructions.

-- 
Måns Rullgård
mans@...sr.com
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