Re: [PATCH v5] kernel/fork: beware of __put_task_struct calling context

From: Sebastian Andrzej Siewior
Date: Fri Feb 10 2023 - 12:20:06 EST


On 2023-02-10 13:13:21 [-0300], Wander Lairson Costa wrote:
> Under PREEMPT_RT, __put_task_struct() indirectly acquires sleeping
> locks. Therefore, it can't be called from an non-preemptible context.
>
> One practical example is splat inside inactive_task_timer(), which is
> called in a interrupt context:
>
> CPU: 1 PID: 2848 Comm: life Kdump: loaded Tainted: G W ---------
> Hardware name: HP ProLiant DL388p Gen8, BIOS P70 07/15/2012
> Call Trace:
> dump_stack_lvl+0x57/0x7d
> mark_lock_irq.cold+0x33/0xba
> ? stack_trace_save+0x4b/0x70
> ? save_trace+0x55/0x150
> mark_lock+0x1e7/0x400
> mark_usage+0x11d/0x140
> __lock_acquire+0x30d/0x930
> lock_acquire.part.0+0x9c/0x210
> ? refill_obj_stock+0x3d/0x3a0
> ? rcu_read_lock_sched_held+0x3f/0x70
> ? trace_lock_acquire+0x38/0x140
> ? lock_acquire+0x30/0x80
> ? refill_obj_stock+0x3d/0x3a0
> rt_spin_lock+0x27/0xe0
> ? refill_obj_stock+0x3d/0x3a0
> refill_obj_stock+0x3d/0x3a0
> ? inactive_task_timer+0x1ad/0x340
> kmem_cache_free+0x357/0x560
> inactive_task_timer+0x1ad/0x340
> ? switched_from_dl+0x2d0/0x2d0
> __run_hrtimer+0x8a/0x1a0
> __hrtimer_run_queues+0x91/0x130
> hrtimer_interrupt+0x10f/0x220
> __sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x7b/0xd0
> sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x4f/0xd0
> ? asm_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0xa/0x20
> asm_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x12/0x20
> RIP: 0033:0x7fff196bf6f5

Now that I looked around: There are other put_task_struct() while the rq
lock is held. I didn't look outside o dl.c.

> Instead of calling __put_task_struct() directly, we defer it using
> call_rcu(). A more natural approach would use a workqueue, but since
> in PREEMPT_RT, we can't allocate dynamic memory from atomic context,
> the code would become more complex because we would need to put the
> work_struct instance in the task_struct and initialize it when we
> allocate a new task_struct.
>
> Changelog
> =========
>
> v1:
> * Initial implementation fixing the splat.
>
> v2:
> * Isolate the logic in its own function.
> * Fix two more cases caught in review.
>
> v3:
> * Change __put_task_struct() to handle the issue internally.
>
> v4:
> * Explain why call_rcu() is safe to call from interrupt context.
>
> v5:
> * Explain why __put_task_struct() doesn't conflict with
> put_task_sruct_rcu_user.
>
> Signed-off-by: Wander Lairson Costa <wander@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Reported-by: Hu Chunyu <chuhu@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Suggested-by: Oleg Nesterov <oleg@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Suggested-by: Valentin Schneider <vschneid@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Paul McKenney <paulmck@xxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> kernel/fork.c | 33 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
> 1 file changed, 32 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/kernel/fork.c b/kernel/fork.c
> index 9f7fe3541897..9bf30c725ed8 100644
> --- a/kernel/fork.c
> +++ b/kernel/fork.c
> @@ -840,7 +840,7 @@ static inline void put_signal_struct(struct signal_struct *sig)
> free_signal_struct(sig);
> }
>
> -void __put_task_struct(struct task_struct *tsk)
> +static void ___put_task_struct(struct task_struct *tsk)
> {
> WARN_ON(!tsk->exit_state);
> WARN_ON(refcount_read(&tsk->usage));
> @@ -857,6 +857,37 @@ void __put_task_struct(struct task_struct *tsk)
> sched_core_free(tsk);
> free_task(tsk);
> }
> +
> +static void __put_task_struct_rcu(struct rcu_head *rhp)
> +{
> + struct task_struct *task = container_of(rhp, struct task_struct, rcu);
> +
> + ___put_task_struct(task);
> +}
> +
> +void __put_task_struct(struct task_struct *tsk)
> +{
> + if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT) && (!preemptible() || !in_task()))

No. If you do this on non-RT kernel with CONFIG_PROVE_RAW_LOCK_NESTING
then it will complain. And why do we have in_task() here?

If Oleg does not want the unconditional RCU then I would prefer an
explicit put task which delays it to RCU for the few users that need it.

A lockdep annotation _before_ ___put_task_struct() should spot users
which are not obviously visible from audit.

> + /*
> + * under PREEMPT_RT, we can't call put_task_struct
> + * in atomic context because it will indirectly
> + * acquire sleeping locks.
> + *
> + * call_rcu() will schedule delayed_put_task_struct_rcu()
> + * to be called in process context.
> + *
> + * __put_task_struct() is called called when
> + * refcount_dec_and_test(&t->usage) succeeds.
> + *
> + * This means that it can't "conflict" with
> + * put_task_struct_rcu_user() which abuses ->rcu the same
> + * way; rcu_users has a reference so task->usage can't be
> + * zero after rcu_users 1 -> 0 transition.
> + */
> + call_rcu(&tsk->rcu, __put_task_struct_rcu);
> + else
> + ___put_task_struct(tsk);
> +}
> EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(__put_task_struct);
>
> void __init __weak arch_task_cache_init(void) { }
> --
> 2.39.1
>