Date:   Thu, 13 Apr 2023 22:29:57 +0000
From:   Benno Lossin <benno.lossin@...ton.me>
To:     Wedson Almeida Filho <wedsonaf@...il.com>
Cc:     rust-for-linux@...r.kernel.org, Miguel Ojeda <ojeda@...nel.org>,
        Alex Gaynor <alex.gaynor@...il.com>,
        Boqun Feng <boqun.feng@...il.com>, Gary Guo <gary@...yguo.net>,
        Björn Roy Baron <bjorn3_gh@...tonmail.com>,
        linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
        Wedson Almeida Filho <walmeida@...rosoft.com>,
        Martin Rodriguez Reboredo <yakoyoku@...il.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH v4 08/13] rust: introduce `ARef`

On 13.04.23 19:06, Wedson Almeida Filho wrote:
> On Thu, 13 Apr 2023 at 06:19, Benno Lossin <benno.lossin@...ton.me> wrote:
>>
>> On 11.04.23 07:45, Wedson Almeida Filho wrote:
>>> From: Wedson Almeida Filho <walmeida@...rosoft.com>
>>>
>>> This is an owned reference to an object that is always ref-counted. This
>>> is meant to be used in wrappers for C types that have their own ref
>>> counting functions, for example, tasks, files, inodes, dentries, etc.
>>>
>>> Reviewed-by: Martin Rodriguez Reboredo <yakoyoku@...il.com>
>>> Signed-off-by: Wedson Almeida Filho <walmeida@...rosoft.com>
>>> ---
>>> v1 -> v2: No changes
>>> v2 -> v3: No changes
>>> v3 -> v4: No changes
>>>
>>>    rust/kernel/types.rs | 107 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>>    1 file changed, 107 insertions(+)
>>>
>>> diff --git a/rust/kernel/types.rs b/rust/kernel/types.rs
>>> index a4b1e3778da7..29db59d6119a 100644
>>> --- a/rust/kernel/types.rs
>>> +++ b/rust/kernel/types.rs
>>> @@ -6,8 +6,10 @@ use crate::init::{self, PinInit};
>>>    use alloc::boxed::Box;
>>>    use core::{
>>>        cell::UnsafeCell,
>>> +    marker::PhantomData,
>>>        mem::MaybeUninit,
>>>        ops::{Deref, DerefMut},
>>> +    ptr::NonNull,
>>>    };
>>>
>>>    /// Used to transfer ownership to and from foreign (non-Rust) languages.
>>> @@ -268,6 +270,111 @@ impl<T> Opaque<T> {
>>>        }
>>>    }
>>>
>>> +/// Types that are _always_ reference counted.
>>> +///
>>> +/// It allows such types to define their own custom ref increment and decrement functions.
>>> +/// Additionally, it allows users to convert from a shared reference `&T` to an owned reference
>>> +/// [`ARef<T>`].
>>> +///
>>> +/// This is usually implemented by wrappers to existing structures on the C side of the code. For
>>> +/// Rust code, the recommendation is to use [`Arc`](crate::sync::Arc) to create reference-counted
>>> +/// instances of a type.
>>> +///
>>> +/// # Safety
>>> +///
>>> +/// Implementers must ensure that increments to the reference count keep the object alive in memory
>>> +/// at least until matching decrements are performed.
>>> +///
>>> +/// Implementers must also ensure that all instances are reference-counted. (Otherwise they
>>> +/// won't be able to honour the requirement that [`AlwaysRefCounted::inc_ref`] keep the object
>>> +/// alive.)
>>
>> `dec_ref` states below that it 'Frees the object when the count reaches
>> zero.', this should also be stated here, since implementers should adhere
>> to that when implementing `dec_ref`.
>
> This section is for safety requirements. Freeing the object doesn't
> fall into this category.

It still needs to be upheld by the implementer, since it is guaranteed by
the documentation on the `dec_ref` function. Even non-safety requirements
are listed on the `unsafe` traits, if users should be able to rely on them.
If users should not rely on this, then maybe change the docs of `dec_ref`
to "when the refcount reaches zero, the object might be freed.".

>
>>> +pub unsafe trait AlwaysRefCounted {
>>> +    /// Increments the reference count on the object.
>>> +    fn inc_ref(&self);
>>
>>
>>
>>> +
>>> +    /// Decrements the reference count on the object.
>>> +    ///
>>> +    /// Frees the object when the count reaches zero.
>>> +    ///
>>> +    /// # Safety
>>> +    ///
>>> +    /// Callers must ensure that there was a previous matching increment to the reference count,
>>> +    /// and that the object is no longer used after its reference count is decremented (as it may
>>> +    /// result in the object being freed), unless the caller owns another increment on the refcount
>>> +    /// (e.g., it calls [`AlwaysRefCounted::inc_ref`] twice, then calls
>>> +    /// [`AlwaysRefCounted::dec_ref`] once).
>>> +    unsafe fn dec_ref(obj: NonNull<Self>);
>>> +}
>>> +
>>> +/// An owned reference to an always-reference-counted object.
>>> +///
>>> +/// The object's reference count is automatically decremented when an instance of [`ARef`] is
>>> +/// dropped. It is also automatically incremented when a new instance is created via
>>> +/// [`ARef::clone`].
>>> +///
>>> +/// # Invariants
>>> +///
>>> +/// The pointer stored in `ptr` is non-null and valid for the lifetime of the [`ARef`] instance. In
>>> +/// particular, the [`ARef`] instance owns an increment on the underlying object's reference count.
>>> +pub struct ARef<T: AlwaysRefCounted> {
>>> +    ptr: NonNull<T>,
>>> +    _p: PhantomData<T>,
>>> +}
>>> +
>>> +impl<T: AlwaysRefCounted> ARef<T> {
>>> +    /// Creates a new instance of [`ARef`].
>>> +    ///
>>> +    /// It takes over an increment of the reference count on the underlying object.
>>> +    ///
>>> +    /// # Safety
>>> +    ///
>>> +    /// Callers must ensure that the reference count was incremented at least once, and that they
>>> +    /// are properly relinquishing one increment. That is, if there is only one increment, callers
>>> +    /// must not use the underlying object anymore -- it is only safe to do so via the newly
>>> +    /// created [`ARef`].
>>> +    pub unsafe fn from_raw(ptr: NonNull<T>) -> Self {
>>> +        // INVARIANT: The safety requirements guarantee that the new instance now owns the
>>> +        // increment on the refcount.
>>> +        Self {
>>> +            ptr,
>>> +            _p: PhantomData,
>>> +        }
>>> +    }
>>> +}
>>> +
>>> +impl<T: AlwaysRefCounted> Clone for ARef<T> {
>>> +    fn clone(&self) -> Self {
>>> +        self.inc_ref();
>>> +        // SAFETY: We just incremented the refcount above.
>>> +        unsafe { Self::from_raw(self.ptr) }
>>> +    }
>>> +}
>>> +
>>> +impl<T: AlwaysRefCounted> Deref for ARef<T> {
>>> +    type Target = T;
>>> +
>>> +    fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
>>> +        // SAFETY: The type invariants guarantee that the object is valid.
>>> +        unsafe { self.ptr.as_ref() }
>>> +    }
>>> +}
>>> +
>>> +impl<T: AlwaysRefCounted> From<&T> for ARef<T> {
>>> +    fn from(b: &T) -> Self {
>>> +        b.inc_ref();
>>> +        // SAFETY: We just incremented the refcount above.
>>> +        unsafe { Self::from_raw(NonNull::from(b)) }
>>> +    }
>>> +}
>>
>> This impl seems unsound to me, as we can do this:
>>
>>       struct MyStruct {
>>           raw: Opaque<bindings::my_struct>, // This has a `refcount_t` inside.
>>       }
>>
>>       impl MyStruct {
>>           fn new() -> Self { ... }
>>       }
>>
>>       unsafe impl AlwaysRefCounted for MyStruct { ... } // Implemented correctly.
>>
>>       fn evil() -> ARef<MyStruct> {
>>           let my_struct = MyStruct::new();
>>           ARef::from(&my_struct) // We return a pointer to the stack!
>>       }
>>
>> similarly, this can also be done with a `Box`:
>>
>>       fn evil2() -> ARef<MyStruct> {
>>           let my_struct = Box::new(MyStruct::new());
>>           ARef::from(&*my_struct)
>>           // Box is freed here, even just dropping the `ARef` will result in
>>           // a UAF.
>>       }
>
> This implementation of `AlwaysRefCounted` is in violation of the
> safety requirements of the trait, namely:
>
> /// Implementers must ensure that increments to the reference count
> keep the object alive in memory
> /// at least until matching decrements are performed.
> ///
> /// Implementers must also ensure that all instances are
> reference-counted. (Otherwise they
> /// won't be able to honour the requirement that
> [`AlwaysRefCounted::inc_ref`] keep the object
> /// alive.)
>
> It boils down `MyStruct::new` in your example. It's not refcounted.
>
>> Additionally, I think that `AlwaysRefCounted::inc_ref` should not be safe,
>> as the caller must not deallocate the memory until the refcount is zero.
>
> The existence of an `&T` is evidence that the refcount is non-zero, so
> it is safe to increment it. The caller cannot free the object without
> violating the safety requirements.
>
>> Another pitfall of `ARef`: it does not deallocate the memory when the
>> refcount reaches zero. People might expect that this code would not leak
>> memory:
>>
>>       let foo = Box::try_new(Foo::new())?;
>>       let foo = Box::leak(foo); // Leak the box, such that we do not
>>                                 // deallocate the memory too early.
>>       let foo = ARef::from(foo);
>>       drop(foo); // refcount is now zero, but the memory is never deallocated.
>
> This is also in violation of the safety requirements of `AlwaysRefCounted`.

It seems I have misunderstood the term "always reference counted".
We should document this in more detail, since this places a lot of
constraints on the implementers:

     Implementing `AlwaysRefCounted` for `T` places the following constraint on shared references `&T`:
     - Every `&T` points to memory that is not deallocated until the reference count reaches zero.
     - The existence of `&T` proves that the reference count is at least 1.

     This has some important consequences:
     - Exposing safe a way to get `T` is not allowed, since stack allocations are freed when the scope
       ends even though the reference count is non-zero.
     - Similarly giving safe access to `Box<T>` or other smart pointers is not allowed, since a `Box` can
       be freed independent from the reference count.

     This type is intended to be implemented for C types that embedd a `refcount_t` and that are both
     created and destroyed by C. Static references also work with this type, since they stay live
     indefinitely.

     Implementers must also ensure that they never give out `&mut T`, since
     - it can be reborrowed as `&T`,
     - converted to `ARef<T>`,
     - which can yield a `&T` that is alive at the same time as the `&mut T`.

>>> +
>>> +impl<T: AlwaysRefCounted> Drop for ARef<T> {
>>> +    fn drop(&mut self) {
>>> +        // SAFETY: The type invariants guarantee that the `ARef` owns the reference we're about to
>>> +        // decrement.
>>> +        unsafe { T::dec_ref(self.ptr) };
>>> +    }
>>> +}
>>> +
>>>    /// A sum type that always holds either a value of type `L` or `R`.
>>>    pub enum Either<L, R> {
>>>        /// Constructs an instance of [`Either`] containing a value of type `L`.
>>> --
>>> 2.34.1
>>>
>>

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