From: John Ogness Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2024 08:35:31 +0206 Subject: [PATCH 05/54] printk: nbcon: Clarify rules of the owner/waiter matching Origin: https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/projects/rt/6.11/older/patches-6.11-rt7.tar.xz The functions nbcon_owner_matches() and nbcon_waiter_matches() use a minimal set of data to determine if a context matches. The existing kerneldoc and comments were not clear enough and caused the printk folks to re-prove that the functions are indeed reliable in all cases. Update and expand the explanations so that it is clear that the implementations are sufficient for all cases. Signed-off-by: John Ogness Reviewed-by: Petr Mladek Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20240820063001.36405-6-john.ogness@linutronix.de Signed-off-by: Petr Mladek Signed-off-by: Sebastian Andrzej Siewior --- kernel/printk/nbcon.c | 56 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--------- 1 file changed, 46 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-) --- a/kernel/printk/nbcon.c +++ b/kernel/printk/nbcon.c @@ -228,6 +228,13 @@ static int nbcon_context_try_acquire_dir struct nbcon_state new; do { + /* + * Panic does not imply that the console is owned. However, it + * is critical that non-panic CPUs during panic are unable to + * acquire ownership in order to satisfy the assumptions of + * nbcon_waiter_matches(). In particular, the assumption that + * lower priorities are ignored during panic. + */ if (other_cpu_in_panic()) return -EPERM; @@ -259,18 +266,29 @@ static bool nbcon_waiter_matches(struct /* * The request context is well defined by the @req_prio because: * - * - Only a context with a higher priority can take over the request. + * - Only a context with a priority higher than the owner can become + * a waiter. + * - Only a context with a priority higher than the waiter can + * directly take over the request. * - There are only three priorities. * - Only one CPU is allowed to request PANIC priority. * - Lower priorities are ignored during panic() until reboot. * * As a result, the following scenario is *not* possible: * - * 1. Another context with a higher priority directly takes ownership. - * 2. The higher priority context releases the ownership. - * 3. A lower priority context takes the ownership. - * 4. Another context with the same priority as this context + * 1. This context is currently a waiter. + * 2. Another context with a higher priority than this context + * directly takes ownership. + * 3. The higher priority context releases the ownership. + * 4. Another lower priority context takes the ownership. + * 5. Another context with the same priority as this context * creates a request and starts waiting. + * + * Event #1 implies this context is EMERGENCY. + * Event #2 implies the new context is PANIC. + * Event #3 occurs when panic() has flushed the console. + * Events #4 and #5 are not possible due to the other_cpu_in_panic() + * check in nbcon_context_try_acquire_direct(). */ return (cur->req_prio == expected_prio); @@ -578,11 +596,29 @@ static bool nbcon_owner_matches(struct n int expected_prio) { /* - * Since consoles can only be acquired by higher priorities, - * owning contexts are uniquely identified by @prio. However, - * since contexts can unexpectedly lose ownership, it is - * possible that later another owner appears with the same - * priority. For this reason @cpu is also needed. + * A similar function, nbcon_waiter_matches(), only deals with + * EMERGENCY and PANIC priorities. However, this function must also + * deal with the NORMAL priority, which requires additional checks + * and constraints. + * + * For the case where preemption and interrupts are disabled, it is + * enough to also verify that the owning CPU has not changed. + * + * For the case where preemption or interrupts are enabled, an + * external synchronization method *must* be used. In particular, + * the driver-specific locking mechanism used in device_lock() + * (including disabling migration) should be used. It prevents + * scenarios such as: + * + * 1. [Task A] owns a context with NBCON_PRIO_NORMAL on [CPU X] and + * is scheduled out. + * 2. Another context takes over the lock with NBCON_PRIO_EMERGENCY + * and releases it. + * 3. [Task B] acquires a context with NBCON_PRIO_NORMAL on [CPU X] + * and is scheduled out. + * 4. [Task A] gets running on [CPU X] and sees that the console is + * still owned by a task on [CPU X] with NBON_PRIO_NORMAL. Thus + * [Task A] thinks it is the owner when it is not. */ if (cur->prio != expected_prio)