linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH net-next v2 5/6] rust: Add read_poll

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Message-ID: <0555e97b-86aa-44e0-b75b-0a976f73adc0@lunn.ch>
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2024 15:48:09 +0200
From: Andrew Lunn <andrew@...n.ch>
To: Boqun Feng <boqun.feng@...il.com>
Cc: FUJITA Tomonori <fujita.tomonori@...il.com>, netdev@...r.kernel.org,
	rust-for-linux@...r.kernel.org, hkallweit1@...il.com,
	tmgross@...ch.edu, ojeda@...nel.org, alex.gaynor@...il.com,
	gary@...yguo.net, bjorn3_gh@...tonmail.com, benno.lossin@...ton.me,
	a.hindborg@...sung.com, aliceryhl@...gle.com,
	anna-maria@...utronix.de, frederic@...nel.org, tglx@...utronix.de,
	arnd@...db.de, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH net-next v2 5/6] rust: Add read_poll_timeout function

On Mon, Oct 07, 2024 at 05:28:28AM -0700, Boqun Feng wrote:
> On Sun, Oct 06, 2024 at 04:45:21PM +0200, Andrew Lunn wrote:
> [...]
> > > > > +    if sleep {
> > > > > +        // SAFETY: FFI call.
> > > > > +        unsafe { bindings::might_sleep() }
> > > > > +    }
> > > > 
> > > > What is actually unsafe about might_sleep()? It is a void foo(void)
> > > 
> > > Every extern "C" function is by default unsafe, because C doesn't have
> > > the concept of safe/unsafe. If you want to avoid unsafe, you could
> > > introduce a Rust's might_sleep() which calls into
> > > `bindings::might_sleep()`:
> > > 
> > > 	pub fn might_sleep() {
> > > 	    // SAFETY: ??
> > > 	    unsafe { bindings::might_sleep() }
> > > 	}
> > > 
> > > however, if you call a might_sleep() in a preemption disabled context
> > > when CONFIG_DEBUG_ATOMIC_SLEEP=n and PREEMPT=VOLUNTERY, it could means
> > > an unexpected RCU quiescent state, which results an early RCU grace
> > > period, and that may mean a use-after-free. So it's not that safe as you
> > > may expected.
> > 
> > If you call might_sleep() in a preemption disabled context you code is
> > already unsafe, since that is the whole point of it, to find bugs
> 
> Well, in Rust, the rule is: any type-checked (compiled successfully)
> code that only calls safe Rust functions cannot be unsafe. So the fact
> that calling might_sleep() in a preemption disabled context is unsafe
> means that something has to be unsafe.
> 
> This eventually can turn into a "blaming game" in the design space: we
> can either design the preemption disable function as unsafe or the
> might_sleep() function as unsafe. But one of them has to be unsafe
> function, otherwise we are breaking the safe code guarantee.

Just keep in mind, it could of been C which put you into atomic
context before calling into Rust. An interrupt handler would be a good
example, and i'm sure there are others.

> However, this is actually a special case: currently we want to use klint
> [1] to detect all context mis-matches at compile time. So the above rule
> extends for kernel: any type-checked *and klint-checked* code that only
> calls safe Rust functions cannot be unsafe. I.e. we add additional
> compile time checking for unsafe code. So if might_sleep() has the
> proper klint annotation, and we actually enable klint for kernel code,
> then we can make it safe (along with preemption disable functions being
> safe).
> 
> > where you use a sleeping function in atomic context. Depending on why
> > you are in atomic context, it might appear to work, until it does not
> > actually work, and bad things happen. So it is not might_sleep() which
> > is unsafe, it is the Rust code calling it.
> 
> The whole point of unsafe functions is that calling it may result into
> unsafe code, so that's why all extern "C" functions are unsafe, so are
> might_sleep() (without klint in the picture).

There is a psychological part to this. might_sleep() is a good debug
tool, which costs very little in normal builds, but finds logic bugs
when enabled in debug builds. What we don't want is Rust developers
not scattering it though their code because it adds unsafe code, and
the aim is not to have any unsafe code.

	Andrew