28 Jul, 2021

3 commits

  • It is possible to cause KCSAN to ignore marked accesses by applying
    __no_kcsan to the function or applying data_race() to the marked accesses.
    These approaches allow the developer to restrict compiler optimizations
    while also causing KCSAN to ignore diagnostic accesses.

    This commit therefore updates the documentation accordingly.

    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Paul E. McKenney
     
  • Data loaded for use by some sorts of heuristics can tolerate the
    occasional erroneous value. In this case the loads may use data_race()
    to give the compiler full freedom to optimize while also informing KCSAN
    of the intent. However, for this to work, the heuristic needs to be
    able to tolerate any erroneous value that could possibly arise. This
    commit therefore adds a paragraph spelling this out.

    Signed-off-by: Manfred Spraul
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Manfred Spraul
     
  • This commit adds example code for heuristic lockless reads, based loosely
    on the sem_lock() and sem_unlock() functions.

    [ paulmck: Apply Alan Stern and Manfred Spraul feedback. ]

    Reported-by: Manfred Spraul
    [ paulmck: Update per Manfred Spraul and Hillf Danton feedback. ]
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Paul E. McKenney
     

21 Jul, 2021

1 commit

  • The current definition of read_foo_diagnostic() in the "Lock Protection
    With Lockless Diagnostic Access" section returns a value, which could
    be use for any purpose. This could mislead people into incorrectly
    using data_race() in cases where READ_ONCE() is required. This commit
    therefore makes read_foo_diagnostic() simply print the value read.

    Reported-by: Manfred Spraul
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Paul E. McKenney
     

11 May, 2021

1 commit

  • A misspelled git-grep regex revealed that smp_mb__after_spinlock()
    was misspelled in explanation.txt. This commit adds the missing "_".

    Fixes: 1c27b644c0fd ("Automate memory-barriers.txt; provide Linux-kernel memory model")
    [ paulmck: Apply Alan Stern commit-log feedback. ]
    Signed-off-by: Björn Töpel
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Björn Töpel
     

16 Mar, 2021

1 commit

  • This commit adapts the "Concurrency bugs should fear the big bad data-race
    detector (part 2)" LWN article (https://lwn.net/Articles/816854/)
    to kernel-documentation form. This allows more easily updating the
    material as needed.

    Suggested-by: Thomas Gleixner
    [ paulmck: Apply Marco Elver feedback. ]
    [ paulmck: Update per Akira Yokosawa feedback. ]
    Reviewed-by: Marco Elver
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Paul E. McKenney
     

09 Mar, 2021

2 commits


05 Jan, 2021

3 commits

  • klitmus7 of herdtools7 7.48 or earlier depends on ACCESS_ONCE(),
    which was removed in Linux v4.15.
    Fix the obvious typo in the table.

    Fixes: d075a78a5ab1 ("tools/memory-model/README: Expand dependency of klitmus7")
    Signed-off-by: Akira Yokosawa
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Akira Yokosawa
     
  • This is a revert of commit 1947bfcf81a9 ("tools/memory-model: Add types
    to litmus tests") with conflict resolutions.

    klitmus7 [1] is aware of default types of "int" and "int*".
    It accepts litmus tests for herd7 without extra type info unless
    non-"int" variables are referenced by an "exists", "locations",
    or "filter" directive.

    [1]: Tested with klitmus7 versions 7.49 or later.

    Suggested-by: Paul E. McKenney
    Signed-off-by: Akira Yokosawa
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Akira Yokosawa
     
  • This commit explicitly makes the connection between acquire loads and
    the reads-from relation. It also adds an entry for happens-before,
    and refers to the corresponding section of explanation.txt.

    Reported-by: Boqun Feng
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Paul E. McKenney
     

07 Nov, 2020

5 commits


27 Oct, 2020

2 commits


05 Sep, 2020

1 commit


04 Sep, 2020

4 commits

  • Current LKMM documentation assumes that the reader already understands
    concurrency in the Linux kernel, which won't necessarily always be the
    case. This commit supplies a simple.txt file that provides a starting
    point for someone who is new to concurrency in the Linux kernel.
    That said, this file might also useful as a reminder to experienced
    developers of simpler approaches to dealing with concurrency.

    Link: Link: https://lwn.net/Articles/827180/
    [ paulmck: Apply feedback from Joel Fernandes. ]
    Co-developed-by: Dave Chinner
    Signed-off-by: Dave Chinner
    Co-developed-by: Paul E. McKenney
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Paul E. McKenney
     
  • The current LKMM documentation says very little about litmus tests, and
    worse yet directs people to the herd7 documentation for more information.
    Now, the herd7 documentation is quite voluminous and educational,
    but it is intended for people creating and modifying memory models,
    not those attempting to use them.

    This commit therefore updates README and creates a litmus-tests.txt
    file that gives an overview of litmus-test format and describes ways of
    modeling various special cases, illustrated with numerous examples.

    [ paulmck: Add Alan Stern feedback. ]
    [ paulmck: Apply Dave Chinner feedback. ]
    [ paulmck: Apply Andrii Nakryiko feedback. ]
    [ paulmck: Apply Johannes Weiner feedback. ]
    Link: https://lwn.net/Articles/827180/
    Reported-by: Dave Chinner
    Acked-by: Peter Zijlstra (Intel)
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Paul E. McKenney
     
  • The expand_to_next_prime() and next_prime_number() functions have moved
    from lib/prime_numbers.c to lib/math/prime_numbers.c, so this commit
    updates recipes.txt to reflect this change.

    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Paul E. McKenney
     
  • Rationale:
    Reduces attack surface on kernel devs opening the links for MITM
    as HTTPS traffic is much harder to manipulate.

    Deterministic algorithm:
    For each file:
    If not .svg:
    For each line:
    If doesn't contain `\bxmlns\b`:
    For each link, `\bhttp://[^# \t\r\n]*(?:\w|/)`:
    If both the HTTP and HTTPS versions
    return 200 OK and serve the same content:
    Replace HTTP with HTTPS.

    Signed-off-by: Alexander A. Klimov
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Alexander A. Klimov
     

04 Aug, 2020

1 commit

  • Pull locking updates from Ingo Molnar:

    - LKMM updates: mostly documentation changes, but also some new litmus
    tests for atomic ops.

    - KCSAN updates: the most important change is that GCC 11 now has all
    fixes in place to support KCSAN, so GCC support can be enabled again.
    Also more annotations.

    - futex updates: minor cleanups and simplifications

    - seqlock updates: merge preparatory changes/cleanups for the
    'associated locks' facilities.

    - lockdep updates:
    - simplify IRQ trace event handling
    - add various new debug checks
    - simplify header dependencies, split out ,
    decouple lockdep from other low level headers some more
    - fix NMI handling

    - misc cleanups and smaller fixes

    * tag 'locking-core-2020-08-03' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip: (60 commits)
    kcsan: Improve IRQ state trace reporting
    lockdep: Refactor IRQ trace events fields into struct
    seqlock: lockdep assert non-preemptibility on seqcount_t write
    lockdep: Add preemption enabled/disabled assertion APIs
    seqlock: Implement raw_seqcount_begin() in terms of raw_read_seqcount()
    seqlock: Add kernel-doc for seqcount_t and seqlock_t APIs
    seqlock: Reorder seqcount_t and seqlock_t API definitions
    seqlock: seqcount_t latch: End read sections with read_seqcount_retry()
    seqlock: Properly format kernel-doc code samples
    Documentation: locking: Describe seqlock design and usage
    locking/qspinlock: Do not include atomic.h from qspinlock_types.h
    locking/atomic: Move ATOMIC_INIT into linux/types.h
    lockdep: Move list.h inclusion into lockdep.h
    locking/lockdep: Fix TRACE_IRQFLAGS vs. NMIs
    futex: Remove unused or redundant includes
    futex: Consistently use fshared as boolean
    futex: Remove needless goto's
    futex: Remove put_futex_key()
    rwsem: fix commas in initialisation
    docs: locking: Replace HTTP links with HTTPS ones
    ...

    Linus Torvalds
     

21 Jul, 2020

1 commit


30 Jun, 2020

6 commits

  • herdtools7 7.56 is going to be released in the week of 22 Jun 2020.
    This commit therefore adds the exact version in the compatibility table.

    Acked-by: Andrea Parri
    Signed-off-by: Akira Yokosawa
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Akira Yokosawa
     
  • klitmus7 is independent of the memory model but depends on the
    build-target kernel release.
    It occasionally lost compatibility due to kernel API changes [1, 2, 3].
    It was remedied in a backwards-compatible manner respectively [4, 5, 6].

    Reflect this fact in README.

    [1]: b899a850431e ("compiler.h: Remove ACCESS_ONCE()")
    [2]: 0bb95f80a38f ("Makefile: Globally enable VLA warning")
    [3]: d56c0d45f0e2 ("proc: decouple proc from VFS with "struct proc_ops"")
    [4]: https://github.com/herd/herdtools7/commit/e87d7f9287d1
    ("klitmus: Use WRITE_ONCE and READ_ONCE in place of deprecated ACCESS_ONCE")
    [5]: https://github.com/herd/herdtools7/commit/a0cbb10d02be
    ("klitmus: Avoid variable length array")
    [6]: https://github.com/herd/herdtools7/commit/46b9412d3a58
    ("klitmus: Linux kernel v5.6.x compat")

    NOTE: [5] was ahead of herdtools7 7.53, which did not make an
    official release. Code generated by klitmus7 without [5] can still be
    built targeting Linux 4.20--5.5 if you don't care VLA warnings.

    Acked-by: Andrea Parri
    Signed-off-by: Akira Yokosawa
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Akira Yokosawa
     
  • The name of litmus test doesn't match the one described below.
    Fix the name of litmus test.

    Acked-by: Andrea Parri
    Acked-by: Joel Fernandes (Google)
    Signed-off-by: Akira Yokosawa
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Akira Yokosawa
     
  • According to Luc, atomic_add_unless() is directly provided by herd7,
    therefore it can be used in litmus tests. So change the limitation
    section in README to unlimit the use of atomic_add_unless().

    Cc: Luc Maranget
    Acked-by: Andrea Parri
    Reviewed-by: Joel Fernandes (Google)
    Signed-off-by: Boqun Feng
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Boqun Feng
     
  • The definition of "conflict" should not include the type of access nor
    whether the accesses are concurrent or not, which this patch addresses.
    The definition of "data race" remains unchanged.

    The definition of "conflict" as we know it and is cited by various
    papers on memory consistency models appeared in [1]: "Two accesses to
    the same variable conflict if at least one is a write; two operations
    conflict if they execute conflicting accesses."

    The LKMM as well as the C11 memory model are adaptations of
    data-race-free, which are based on the work in [2]. Necessarily, we need
    both conflicting data operations (plain) and synchronization operations
    (marked). For example, C11's definition is based on [3], which defines a
    "data race" as: "Two memory operations conflict if they access the same
    memory location, and at least one of them is a store, atomic store, or
    atomic read-modify-write operation. In a sequentially consistent
    execution, two memory operations from different threads form a type 1
    data race if they conflict, at least one of them is a data operation,
    and they are adjacent in
    Co-developed-by: Alan Stern
    Signed-off-by: Alan Stern
    Acked-by: Andrea Parri
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Marco Elver
     
  • This commit updates the list of LKMM-related publications in
    Documentation/references.txt.

    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney
    Acked-by: Andrea Parri

    Paul E. McKenney
     

25 Mar, 2020

1 commit


06 Oct, 2019

4 commits

  • This patch updates the Linux Kernel Memory Model's explanation.txt
    file by adding a section devoted to the model's handling of plain
    accesses and data-race detection.

    Signed-off-by: Alan Stern
    Acked-by: Andrea Parri
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Alan Stern
     
  • This patch updates the Linux Kernel Memory Model's explanation.txt
    file to incorporate the introduction of the rcu-order relation and
    the redefinition of rcu-fence made by commit 15aa25cbf0cc
    ("tools/memory-model: Change definition of rcu-fence").

    Signed-off-by: Alan Stern
    Acked-by: Andrea Parri
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Alan Stern
     
  • This patch fixes a few minor typos and improves word usage in a few
    places in the Linux Kernel Memory Model's explanation.txt file.

    Signed-off-by: Alan Stern
    Reviewed-by: Joel Fernandes (Google)
    Acked-by: Andrea Parri
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Alan Stern
     
  • Currently the Linux Kernel Memory Model gives an incorrect response
    for the following litmus test:

    C plain-WWC

    {}

    P0(int *x)
    {
    WRITE_ONCE(*x, 2);
    }

    P1(int *x, int *y)
    {
    int r1;
    int r2;
    int r3;

    r1 = READ_ONCE(*x);
    if (r1 == 2) {
    smp_rmb();
    r2 = *x;
    }
    smp_rmb();
    r3 = READ_ONCE(*x);
    WRITE_ONCE(*y, r3 - 1);
    }

    P2(int *x, int *y)
    {
    int r4;

    r4 = READ_ONCE(*y);
    if (r4 > 0)
    WRITE_ONCE(*x, 1);
    }

    exists (x=2 /\ 1:r2=2 /\ 2:r4=1)

    The memory model says that the plain read of *x in P1 races with the
    WRITE_ONCE(*x) in P2.

    The problem is that we have a write W and a read R related by neither
    fre or rfe, but rather W ->coe W' ->rfe R, where W' is an intermediate
    write (the WRITE_ONCE() in P0). In this situation there is no
    particular ordering between W and R, so either a wr-vis link from W to
    R or an rw-xbstar link from R to W would prove that the accesses
    aren't concurrent.

    But the LKMM only looks for a wr-vis link, which is equivalent to
    assuming that W must execute before R. This is not necessarily true
    on non-multicopy-atomic systems, as the WWC pattern demonstrates.

    This patch changes the LKMM to accept either a wr-vis or a reverse
    rw-xbstar link as a proof of non-concurrency.

    Signed-off-by: Alan Stern
    Acked-by: Andrea Parri
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Alan Stern
     

10 Aug, 2019

2 commits

  • The formal memory consistency model has added support for plain accesses
    (and data races). While updating the informal documentation to describe
    this addition to the model is highly desirable and important future work,
    update the informal documentation to at least acknowledge such addition.

    Signed-off-by: Andrea Parri
    Cc: Will Deacon
    Cc: Peter Zijlstra
    Cc: Boqun Feng
    Cc: Nicholas Piggin
    Cc: David Howells
    Cc: Jade Alglave
    Cc: Luc Maranget
    Cc: "Paul E. McKenney"
    Cc: Akira Yokosawa
    Cc: Daniel Lustig
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney
    Acked-by: Alan Stern

    Andrea Parri
     
  • To reduce ambiguity in the more exotic ->prop ordering example, this
    commit uses the term cumul-fence instead of the term fence for the two
    fences, so that the implict ->rfe on loads/stores to Y are covered by
    the description.

    Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20190729121745.GA140682@google.com

    Suggested-by: Alan Stern
    Signed-off-by: Joel Fernandes (Google)
    Acked-by: Alan Stern
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney

    Joel Fernandes (Google)
     

01 Aug, 2019

1 commit


25 Jun, 2019

1 commit

  • Herbert Xu recently reported a problem concerning RCU and compiler
    barriers. In the course of discussing the problem, he put forth a
    litmus test which illustrated a serious defect in the Linux Kernel
    Memory Model's data-race-detection code [1].

    The defect was that the LKMM assumed visibility and executes-before
    ordering of plain accesses had to be mediated by marked accesses. In
    Herbert's litmus test this wasn't so, and the LKMM claimed the litmus
    test was allowed and contained a data race although neither is true.

    In fact, plain accesses can be ordered by fences even in the absence
    of marked accesses. In most cases this doesn't matter, because most
    fences only order accesses within a single thread. But the rcu-fence
    relation is different; it can order (and induce visibility between)
    accesses in different threads -- events which otherwise might be
    concurrent. This makes it relevant to data-race detection.

    This patch makes two changes to the memory model to incorporate the
    new insight:

    If a store is separated by a fence from another access,
    the store is necessarily visible to the other access (as
    reflected in the ww-vis and wr-vis relations). Similarly,
    if a load is separated by a fence from another access then
    the load necessarily executes before the other access (as
    reflected in the rw-xbstar relation).

    If a store is separated by a strong fence from a marked access
    then it is necessarily visible to any access that executes
    after the marked access (as reflected in the ww-vis and wr-vis
    relations).

    With these changes, the LKMM gives the desired result for Herbert's
    litmus test and other related ones [2].

    [1] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/Pine.LNX.4.44L0.1906041026570.1731-100000@iolanthe.rowland.org/

    [2] https://github.com/paulmckrcu/litmus/blob/master/manual/plain/C-S-rcunoderef-1.litmus
    https://github.com/paulmckrcu/litmus/blob/master/manual/plain/C-S-rcunoderef-2.litmus
    https://github.com/paulmckrcu/litmus/blob/master/manual/plain/C-S-rcunoderef-3.litmus
    https://github.com/paulmckrcu/litmus/blob/master/manual/plain/C-S-rcunoderef-4.litmus
    https://github.com/paulmckrcu/litmus/blob/master/manual/plain/strong-vis.litmus

    Reported-by: Herbert Xu
    Signed-off-by: Alan Stern
    Acked-by: Andrea Parri
    Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney
    Tested-by: Akira Yokosawa

    Alan Stern