b1f02b9575
mm->mm_lock_seq effectively functions as a read/write lock; therefore it
must be used with acquire/release semantics.
A specific example is the interaction between userfaultfd_register() and
lock_vma_under_rcu().
userfaultfd_register() does the following from the point where it changes
a VMA's flags to the point where concurrent readers are permitted again
(in a simple scenario where only a single private VMA is accessed and no
merging/splitting is involved):
userfaultfd_register
userfaultfd_set_vm_flags
vm_flags_reset
vma_start_write
down_write(&vma->vm_lock->lock)
vma->vm_lock_seq = mm_lock_seq [marks VMA as busy]
up_write(&vma->vm_lock->lock)
vm_flags_init
[sets VM_UFFD_* in __vm_flags]
vma->vm_userfaultfd_ctx.ctx = ctx
mmap_write_unlock
vma_end_write_all
WRITE_ONCE(mm->mm_lock_seq, mm->mm_lock_seq + 1) [unlocks VMA]
There are no memory barriers in between the __vm_flags update and the
mm->mm_lock_seq update that unlocks the VMA, so the unlock can be
reordered to above the `vm_flags_init()` call, which means from the
perspective of a concurrent reader, a VMA can be marked as a userfaultfd
VMA while it is not VMA-locked. That's bad, we definitely need a
store-release for the unlock operation.
The non-atomic write to vma->vm_lock_seq in vma_start_write() is mostly
fine because all accesses to vma->vm_lock_seq that matter are always
protected by the VMA lock. There is a racy read in vma_start_read()
though that can tolerate false-positives, so we should be using
WRITE_ONCE() to keep things tidy and data-race-free (including for KCSAN).
On the other side, lock_vma_under_rcu() works as follows in the relevant
region for locking and userfaultfd check:
lock_vma_under_rcu
vma_start_read
vma->vm_lock_seq == READ_ONCE(vma->vm_mm->mm_lock_seq) [early bailout]
down_read_trylock(&vma->vm_lock->lock)
vma->vm_lock_seq == READ_ONCE(vma->vm_mm->mm_lock_seq) [main check]
userfaultfd_armed
checks vma->vm_flags & __VM_UFFD_FLAGS
Here, the interesting aspect is how far down the mm->mm_lock_seq read can
be reordered - if this read is reordered down below the vma->vm_flags
access, this could cause lock_vma_under_rcu() to partly operate on
information that was read while the VMA was supposed to be locked. To
prevent this kind of downwards bleeding of the mm->mm_lock_seq read, we
need to read it with a load-acquire.
Some of the comment wording is based on suggestions by Suren.
BACKPORT WARNING: One of the functions changed by this patch (which I've
written against Linus' tree) is vma_try_start_write(), but this function
no longer exists in mm/mm-everything. I don't know whether the merged
version of this patch will be ordered before or after the patch that
removes vma_try_start_write(). If you're backporting this patch to a tree
with vma_try_start_write(), make sure this patch changes that function.
Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20230721225107.942336-1-jannh@google.com
Fixes: 5e31275cc997 ("mm: add per-VMA lock and helper functions to control it")
Signed-off-by: Jann Horn <jannh@google.com>
Reviewed-by: Suren Baghdasaryan <surenb@google.com>
Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Linux kernel
============
There are several guides for kernel developers and users. These guides can
be rendered in a number of formats, like HTML and PDF. Please read
Documentation/admin-guide/README.rst first.
In order to build the documentation, use ``make htmldocs`` or
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https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/
There are various text files in the Documentation/ subdirectory,
several of them using the Restructured Text markup notation.
Please read the Documentation/process/changes.rst file, as it contains the
requirements for building and running the kernel, and information about
the problems which may result by upgrading your kernel.