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cpuset exit NULL dereference fix

PATCH In review Paul Jackson 3 participants 3 messages May 27, 2005

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PATCH 1/1 cpuset exit NULL dereference fix

Andrew,

Resubmitting the same patch I submitted yesterday. Simon Derr and I agree that we need this patch now to fix a kernel crash.

The potential scaling issues are theoretical at this time. When they become more real, we will be in a better position to consider more ambitious changes to cpuset locking and reference counting.

Meanwhile -- this patch is small, simple, and needed.

===

There is a race in the kernel cpuset code, between the code to handle notify_on_release, and the code to remove a cpuset. The notify_on_release code can end up trying to access a cpuset that has been removed. In the most common case, this causes a NULL pointer dereference from the routine cpuset_path. However all manner of bad things are possible, in theory at least.

The existing code decrements the cpuset use count, and if the count goes to zero, processes the notify_on_release request, if appropriate. However, once the count goes to zero, unless we are holding the global cpuset_sem semaphore, there is nothing to stop another task from immediately removing the cpuset entirely, and recycling its memory.

The obvious fix would be to always hold the cpuset_sem semaphore while decrementing the use count and dealing with notify_on_release. However we don't want to force a global semaphore into the mainline task exit path, as that might create a scaling problem.

The actual fix is almost as easy - since this is only an issue for cpusets using notify_on_release, which the top level big cpusets don't normally need to use, only take the cpuset_sem for cpusets using notify_on_release.

This code has been run for hours without a hiccup, while running a cpuset create/destroy stress test that could crash the existing kernel in seconds. This patch applies to the current -linus git kernel.

kernel/cpuset.c +19 -5
Index: 2.6-cpuset_path_fix/kernel/cpuset.c
===================================================================
@@ -166,9 +166,8 @@ static struct super_block *cpuset_sb = N
  * The hooks from fork and exit, cpuset_fork() and cpuset_exit(), don't
  * (usually) grab cpuset_sem.  These are the two most performance
  * critical pieces of code here.  The exception occurs on exit(),
- * if the last task using a cpuset exits, and the cpuset was marked
- * notify_on_release.  In that case, the cpuset_sem is taken, the
- * path to the released cpuset calculated, and a usermode call made
+ * when a task in a notify_on_release cpuset exits.  Then cpuset_sem
+ * is taken, and if the cpuset count is zero, a usermode call made
  * to /sbin/cpuset_release_agent with the name of the cpuset (path
  * relative to the root of cpuset file system) as the argument.
  *
@@ -1404,6 +1403,18 @@ void cpuset_fork(struct task_struct *tsk
  *
  * Description: Detach cpuset from @tsk and release it.
  *
+ * Note that cpusets marked notify_on_release force every task
+ * in them to take the global cpuset_sem semaphore when exiting.
+ * This could impact scaling on very large systems.  Be reluctant
+ * to use notify_on_release cpusets where very high task exit
+ * scaling is required on large systems.
+ *
+ * Don't even think about derefencing 'cs' after the cpuset use
+ * count goes to zero, except inside a critical section guarded
+ * by the cpuset_sem semaphore.  If you don't hold cpuset_sem,
+ * then a zero cpuset use count is a license to any other task to
+ * nuke the cpuset immediately.
+ *
  **/
 
 void cpuset_exit(struct task_struct *tsk)
@@ -1415,10 +1426,13 @@ void cpuset_exit(struct task_struct *tsk
 	tsk->cpuset = NULL;
 	task_unlock(tsk);
 
-	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&cs->count)) {
+	if (notify_on_release(cs)) {
 		down(&cpuset_sem);
-		check_for_release(cs);
+		if (atomic_dec_and_test(&cs->count))
+			check_for_release(cs);
 		up(&cpuset_sem);
+	} else {
+		atomic_dec(&cs->count);
 	}
 }
 
Signature · 4 lines
-- 
                          I won't rest till it's the best ...
                          Programmer, Linux Scalability
                          Paul Jackson <[email protected]> 1.650.933.1373
Acked-by on v1 1/1
#1 lore raw

kernel/cpuset.c

Quoted 27 lines · Paul Jackson

Andrew,

Resubmitting the same patch I submitted yesterday. Simon Derr and I agree that we need this patch now to fix a kernel crash.

The potential scaling issues are theoretical at this time. When they become more real, we will be in a better position to consider more ambitious changes to cpuset locking and reference counting.

Meanwhile -- this patch is small, simple, and needed.

===

There is a race in the kernel cpuset code, between the code to handle notify_on_release, and the code to remove a cpuset. The notify_on_release code can end up trying to access a cpuset that has been removed. In the most common case, this causes a NULL pointer dereference from the routine cpuset_path. However all manner of bad things are possible, in theory at least.

Index: 2.6-cpuset_path_fix/kernel/cpuset.c
===================================================================

kernel/cpuset.c +0 -0

OK for me.

Acked-by on v1 1/1
#2 lore raw
In reply to Paul Jackson
Quoted 5 lines · Paul Jackson

Andrew,

Resubmitting the same patch I submitted yesterday. Simon Derr and I agree that we need this patch now to fix a kernel crash.

Quoted 7 lines

The potential scaling issues are theoretical at this time. When they become more real, we will be in a better position to consider more ambitious changes to cpuset locking and reference counting.

Meanwhile -- this patch is small, simple, and needed.