Date:   Tue, 12 Apr 2022 14:48:15 +0200
From:   Paul Heidekrüger <paul.heidekrueger@...tum.de>
To:     "Paul E. McKenney" <paulmck@...nel.org>
Cc:     Alan Stern <stern@...land.harvard.edu>,
        Andrea Parri <parri.andrea@...il.com>,
        Will Deacon <will@...nel.org>,
        Peter Zijlstra <peterz@...radead.org>,
        Boqun Feng <boqun.feng@...il.com>,
        Nicholas Piggin <npiggin@...il.com>,
        David Howells <dhowells@...hat.com>,
        Jade Alglave <j.alglave@....ac.uk>,
        Luc Maranget <luc.maranget@...ia.fr>,
        Akira Yokosawa <akiyks@...il.com>,
        Daniel Lustig <dlustig@...dia.com>,
        Joel Fernandes <joel@...lfernandes.org>,
        linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, linux-arch@...r.kernel.org,
        llvm@...ts.linux.dev, Marco Elver <elver@...gle.com>,
        Charalampos Mainas <charalampos.mainas@...il.com>,
        Pramod Bhatotia <pramod.bhatotia@...tum.de>
Subject: Re: Dangerous addr to ctrl dependency transformation in
 fs/nfs/delegation.c::nfs_server_return_marked_delegations()?

On Mon, Apr 11, 2022 at 11:21:41AM -0700, Paul E. McKenney wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 07, 2022 at 05:12:15PM +0200, Paul Heidekrüger wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > 
> > work on my dependency checker tool is progressing nicely, and it is
> > flagging, what I believe is, a harmful addr to ctrl dependency
> > transformation. For context, see [1] and [2]. I'm using the Clang
> > compiler.
> > 
> > The dependency in question runs from line 618 into the for loop
> > increment, i.e. the third expresion in the for loop condition, in line
> > 622 of fs/nfs/delegation.c::nfs_server_return_marked_delegations().
> > 
> > I did my best to reverse-engineer some pseudocode from Clang's IR for
> > showing what I think is going on.
> 
> First, thank you very much for doing this work!
> 
> > Clang's unoptimised version:
> > 
> > > restart:
> > > 	if(place_holder != NULL)
> > > 		delegation = rcu_dereference(place_holder->delegation); /* 618 */
> > > 	if(delegation != NULL)
> > > 		if(delegation != place_holder_deleg)
> > > 			delegation = list_entry_rcu(server->delegations.next, struct nfs_delegation, super_list); /* 620 */
> > > 
> > > 	for( ; &(delegation)->super_list != &server->delegations; delegation = list_entry_rcu(delegation->super_list.next, typeof(*(delegation)), super_list)) { /* 622 */
> > > 		/*
> > > 		 * Can continue, "goto restart" or "goto break" (after loop). 
> > > 		 * Can reassign "delegation", "place_holder", "place_holder_deleg".
> > > 		 * "delegation" might be assigned either a value depending on 
> > > 		 * "delegation" itself, i.e. it is part of the dependency chain, 
> > > 		 * or NULL.
> > > 		 * Can modifiy fields of the "nfs_delegation" struct "delegation" 
> > > 		 * points to.
> > > 		 * Assume line 618 has been executed and line 620 hasn't. Then, 
> > > 		 * there exists a path s.t. "delegation" isn't reassigned NULL 
> > > 		 * and the for loop's increment is executed.
> > > 		 */
> > > 	}
> > 
> > Clang's optimised version:
> > 
> > > restart:
> > > 	if(place_holder == NULL) {
> > > 		delegation = list_entry_rcu(server->delegations.next, struct nfs_delegation, super_list);
> > > 	} else {
> > > 		cmp = rcu_dereference(place_holder->delegation); /* 618 */
> > > 		if(cmp != NULL) { /* Transformation to ctrl dep */
> > > 			if(cmp == place_holder_deleg) {
> > > 				delegation = place_holder_deleg;
> > > 			} else {
> > > 				delegation = list_entry_rcu(server->delegations.nex, struct nfs_delegation, super_list);
> > > 			}
> > > 		} else {
> > > 			delegation = list_entry_rcu(server->delegations.next, struct nfs_delegation, super_list);
> > > 		}
> > > 	}
> > > 
> > > 	for( ; &(delegation)->super_list != &server->delegations; delegation = list_entry_rcu(delegation->super_list.next, typeof(*(delegation)), super_list)) {
> > > 		/*
> > > 		 * At this point, "delegation" cannot depend on line 618 anymore
> > > 		 * since the "rcu_dereference()" was only used for an assignment
> > > 		 * to "cmp" and a subsequent comparison (ctrl dependency).
> > > 		 * Therefore, the loop increment cannot depend on the
> > > 		 * "rcu_dereference()" either. The dependency chain has been
> > > 		 * broken.
> > > 		 */
> > >         }
> > 
> > The above is an abstraction of the following control flow path in
> > "nfs_server_return_marked_delegations()":
> > 
> > 1. When "nfs_server_return_marked_delegations()" gets called, it has no
> > choice but to skip the dependency beginning in line 620, since
> > "place_holder" is NULL the first time round.
> > 
> > 2. Now take a path until "place_holder", the condition for the
> > dependency beginning, becomes true and "!delegation || delegation !=
> > place_holder_deleg", the condition for the assignment in line 620,
> > becomes false. Then, enter the loop again and take a path to one of the
> > "goto restart" statements without reassigning to "delegation".
> > 
> > 3. After going back to "restart", since the condition for line 618
> > became true, "rcu_dereference()" into "delegation".
> > 
> > 4. Enter the for loop again, but avoid the "goto restart" statements in
> > the first iteration and ensure that "&(delegation)->super_list !=
> > &server->delegations", the loop condition, remains true and "delegation"
> > isn't assigned NULL.
> > 
> > 5. When the for loop condition is reached for the second time, the loop
> > increment is executed and there is an address dependency.
> > 
> > Now, why would the compiler decide to assign "place_holder_deleg" to
> > "delegation" instead of what "rcu_dereference()" returned? Here's my
> > attempt at explaining.
> > 
> > In the pseudo code above, i.e. in the optimised IR, the assignment of
> > "place_holder_deleg" is guarded by two conditions. It is executed iff
> > "place_holder" isn't NULL and the "rcu_dereference()" didn't return
> > NULL. In other words, iff "place_holder != NULL && rcu_dereference() !=
> > NULL" holds at line 617, then "delegation == rcu_dereference() ==
> > place_holder_deleg" must hold at line 622. Otherwise, the optimisation
> > would be wrong.
> > 
> > Assume control flow has just reached the first if, i.e. line 617, in
> > source code. Since "place_holder" isn't NULL, it will execute the first
> > if's body and "rcu_dereference()" into "delegation" (618). Now it has
> > reached the second if. Per our aussmption, "rcu_dereference()" returned
> > something that wasn't NULL. Therefore, "!delegation", the first part of
> > the second if condition's OR, will be false.
> > 
> > However, if we want "rcu_dereference() == delegation" to hold after the
> > two if's, we can't enter the second if anyway, as it will overwrite
> > "delegation" with a value that might not be equal to what
> > "rcu_dereference()" returned. So, we want the second part of the second
> > if condition's OR, i.e.  "delegation != place_holder_deleg" to be false
> > as well.
> > 
> > When is that the case? It is the case when "delegation ==
> > place_holder_deleg" holds.
> > 
> > So, if we want "delegation == rcu_dereference() == place_holder_deleg"
> > to hold after the two if's, "place_holder != NULL && rcu_dereference()
> > != NULL" must hold before the two if's, which is what we wanted to show
> > and what the compiler figured out too.
> > 
> > TL;DR: it appears the compiler optimisation is plausible, yet it still
> > breaks the address dependency.
> > 
> > For those interested, I have made the unoptimised and optimised IR CFGs
> > available. In the optimised one, the interesting part is the transition
> > from "if.end" to "if.end13".
> > 
> > Unoptimised: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gist/PBHDK/700bf7bdf968fe25c82506de58143bbe/raw/54bf2c1e1a72fb30120f7e812f05ef01ca86b78f/O0-nfs_server_return_marked_delegations.svg
> > 
> > Optimised: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gist/PBHDK/700bf7bdf968fe25c82506de58143bbe/raw/54bf2c1e1a72fb30120f7e812f05ef01ca86b78f/O2-nfs_server_return_marked_delegations.svg
> > 
> > What do you think?
> > 
> > Many thanks,
> > Paul
> > 
> > [1]: https://linuxplumbersconf.org/event/7/contributions/821/attachments/598/1075/LPC_2020_--_Dependency_ordering.pdf
> > [2]: https://lore.kernel.org/llvm/YXknxGFjvaB46d%2Fp@Pauls-MacBook-Pro/T/#u
> 
> If I understand this correctly (rather unlikely), this stems from
> violating the following rule in Documentation/RCU/rcu_dereference.rst:
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> -	Be very careful about comparing pointers obtained from
> 	rcu_dereference() against non-NULL values.  As Linus Torvalds
> 	explained, if the two pointers are equal, the compiler could
> 	substitute the pointer you are comparing against for the pointer
> 	obtained from rcu_dereference().  For example::
> 
> 		p = rcu_dereference(gp);
> 		if (p == &default_struct)
> 			do_default(p->a);
> 
> 	Because the compiler now knows that the value of "p" is exactly
> 	the address of the variable "default_struct", it is free to
> 	transform this code into the following::
> 
> 		p = rcu_dereference(gp);
> 		if (p == &default_struct)
> 			do_default(default_struct.a);
> 
> 	On ARM and Power hardware, the load from "default_struct.a"
> 	can now be speculated, such that it might happen before the
> 	rcu_dereference().  This could result in bugs due to misordering.
> 
> 	However, comparisons are OK in the following cases:
> 
> 	-	The comparison was against the NULL pointer.  If the
> 		compiler knows that the pointer is NULL, you had better
> 		not be dereferencing it anyway.  If the comparison is
> 		non-equal, the compiler is none the wiser.  Therefore,
> 		it is safe to compare pointers from rcu_dereference()
> 		against NULL pointers.
> 
> 	-	The pointer is never dereferenced after being compared.
> 		Since there are no subsequent dereferences, the compiler
> 		cannot use anything it learned from the comparison
> 		to reorder the non-existent subsequent dereferences.
> 		This sort of comparison occurs frequently when scanning
> 		RCU-protected circular linked lists.
> 
> 		Note that if checks for being within an RCU read-side
> 		critical section are not required and the pointer is never
> 		dereferenced, rcu_access_pointer() should be used in place
> 		of rcu_dereference().
> 
> 	-	The comparison is against a pointer that references memory
> 		that was initialized "a long time ago."  The reason
> 		this is safe is that even if misordering occurs, the
> 		misordering will not affect the accesses that follow
> 		the comparison.  So exactly how long ago is "a long
> 		time ago"?  Here are some possibilities:
> 
> 		-	Compile time.
> 
> 		-	Boot time.
> 
> 		-	Module-init time for module code.
> 
> 		-	Prior to kthread creation for kthread code.
> 
> 		-	During some prior acquisition of the lock that
> 			we now hold.
> 
> 		-	Before mod_timer() time for a timer handler.
> 
> 		There are many other possibilities involving the Linux
> 		kernel's wide array of primitives that cause code to
> 		be invoked at a later time.
> 
> 	-	The pointer being compared against also came from
> 		rcu_dereference().  In this case, both pointers depend
> 		on one rcu_dereference() or another, so you get proper
> 		ordering either way.
> 
> 		That said, this situation can make certain RCU usage
> 		bugs more likely to happen.  Which can be a good thing,
> 		at least if they happen during testing.  An example
> 		of such an RCU usage bug is shown in the section titled
> 		"EXAMPLE OF AMPLIFIED RCU-USAGE BUG".
> 
> 	-	All of the accesses following the comparison are stores,
> 		so that a control dependency preserves the needed ordering.
> 		That said, it is easy to get control dependencies wrong.
> 		Please see the "CONTROL DEPENDENCIES" section of
> 		Documentation/memory-barriers.txt for more details.
> 
> 	-	The pointers are not equal *and* the compiler does
> 		not have enough information to deduce the value of the
> 		pointer.  Note that the volatile cast in rcu_dereference()
> 		will normally prevent the compiler from knowing too much.
> 
> 		However, please note that if the compiler knows that the
> 		pointer takes on only one of two values, a not-equal
> 		comparison will provide exactly the information that the
> 		compiler needs to deduce the value of the pointer.
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> But it would be good to support this use case, for example, by having
> the compiler provide some way of marking the "delegation" variable as
> carrying a full dependency.
> 
> Or did I miss a turn in here somewhere?
> 
> 							Thanx, Paul

Actually, I think you're spot on! The original source code has a,
allbeit nested, comparison of "delegation" against a non-NULL value,
which is exactly what the documentation discourages as it helps the
compiler figure out the value of "delegation".

I'll try to prepare a patch, using my dependency checker tool to verify
that this was indeed the issue.

Many thanks,
Paul

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