linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] rust: dma: update safety comments for volatile memory access

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Message-Id: <DG213XWX7XHK.1YK7VU26U6N7T@kernel.org>
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:28:54 +0100
From: "Danilo Krummrich" <dakr@...nel.org>
To: "Andreas Hindborg" <a.hindborg@...nel.org>
Cc: "Gary Guo" <gary@...yguo.net>, "Abdiel Janulgue"
 <abdiel.janulgue@...il.com>, "Daniel Almeida"
 <daniel.almeida@...labora.com>, "Robin Murphy" <robin.murphy@....com>,
 "Miguel Ojeda" <ojeda@...nel.org>, "Boqun Feng" <boqun.feng@...il.com>,
 Björn Roy Baron <bjorn3_gh@...tonmail.com>, "Benno Lossin"
 <lossin@...nel.org>, "Alice Ryhl" <aliceryhl@...gle.com>, "Trevor Gross"
 <tmgross@...ch.edu>, <rust-for-linux@...r.kernel.org>,
 <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] rust: dma: update safety comments for volatile memory
 access

On Fri Jan 30, 2026 at 4:25 PM CET, Andreas Hindborg wrote:
> "Gary Guo" <gary@...yguo.net> writes:
>
>> On Fri Jan 30, 2026 at 2:59 PM GMT, Andreas Hindborg wrote:
>>> At the time `CoherentAllocation::read_field` and
>>> `CoherentAllocation::write_field` was merged, `ptr::{read,write}_volatile`
>>> was under specified. The documentation for these functions have been
>>> updated and we can now formulate a proper safety comment for the calls.
>>>
>>> Update safety comments in `CoherentAllocation::{read,write}_field`.
>>>
>>> Link: https://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/core/ptr/fn.read_volatile.html
>>> Link: https://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/core/ptr/fn.write_volatile.html
>>> Signed-off-by: Andreas Hindborg <a.hindborg@...nel.org>
>>> ---
>>>  rust/kernel/dma.rs | 25 +++++++++----------------
>>>  1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)
>>>
>>> diff --git a/rust/kernel/dma.rs b/rust/kernel/dma.rs
>>> index acc65b1e0f245..0b55671a94faf 100644
>>> --- a/rust/kernel/dma.rs
>>> +++ b/rust/kernel/dma.rs
>>> @@ -593,14 +593,12 @@ pub fn item_from_index(&self, offset: usize) -> Result<*mut T> {
>>>      pub unsafe fn field_read<F: FromBytes>(&self, field: *const F) -> F {
>>>          // SAFETY:
>>>          // - By the safety requirements field is valid.
>>> -        // - Using read_volatile() here is not sound as per the usual rules, the usage here is
>>> -        // a special exception with the following notes in place. When dealing with a potential
>>> -        // race from a hardware or code outside kernel (e.g. user-space program), we need that
>>> -        // read on a valid memory is not UB. Currently read_volatile() is used for this, and the
>>> -        // rationale behind is that it should generate the same code as READ_ONCE() which the
>>> -        // kernel already relies on to avoid UB on data races. Note that the usage of
>>> -        // read_volatile() is limited to this particular case, it cannot be used to prevent
>>> -        // the UB caused by racing between two kernel functions nor do they provide atomicity.
>>> +        // - `field` points to memory outside any Rust allocation.
>>
>> Hmm, this isn't actually correct, as the memory behind `CoherentAllocation`
>> isn't MMIO (they're just also accessible by device). We provide `as_slice()`
>> which exposes these memory directly to the Rust memory model.
>
> I would not get too hung on the MMIO term. But if we provide `as_slice`,
> this implementation of `read_field` and `write_field` is not sound at
> all. We should fix that.

as_slice() is unsafe and the requirements do not allow you any concurrent reads
or writes as long as the slice is live.