Re: [PATCH 0/4] futex: get_user_pages_fast() for shared futexes

From: Eric Dumazet
Date: Tue Sep 30 2008 - 06:57:36 EST


Peter Zijlstra a écrit :
Just to be sure, I only hold the page lock over the get_futex_key() op,
and drop it after getting a ref on the futex key.

I then drop the futex key ref after the futex op is complete.

This assumes the futex key ref is suffucient to guarantee whatever is
needed - which is the point I'm still not quite sure about myself.

The futex key ref was used between futex ops, with I assume the intent
to ensure the futex backing stays valid. However, the key ref only takes
a ref on either the inode or the mm, neither which avoid the specific
address of the futex to get unmapped between ops.

So in that respect we're not worse off than before, and any application
doing: futex_wait(), munmap(), futex_wake() is going to suffer. And as
far as I understand it get the waiting task stuck in D state for
ever-more or somesuch.

By now not holding the mmap_sem over the full futex op, but only over
the get_futex_key(), that munmap() race gets larger and the actual futex
could disappear while we're working on it, but in all cases I looked at
that will make the futex op return -EFAULT, so we should be good there.

Gah, now that I look at it, it looks like I made get_futex_key()
asymetric wrt private futexes, they don't take a ref on the key, but
then do drop one... ouch.. Patch below.

Nice work, Peter.

Thanks!

BTW. what kinds of things use inter-process futexes as of now?

On a regular modern Linux system, not much. But I've been told there are
applications out there that do indeed make heavy use of them - as
they're part of POSIX etc.. blah blah :-)

inter-process futexes are still used for pthread creation/join (aka clear_child_tid / CLONE_CHILD_CLEARTID)

kernel/fork.c, functions mm_release() & sys_set_tid_address()

I am not sure how it could be converted to private futexes, since
old binaries (static glibc) will use FUTEX_WAKE like calls.


Also some legacy stuff that's stuck on an ancient glibc (but somehow did
manage to upgrade the kernel) might benefit.


---
Subject: futex: fixup get_futex_key() for private futexes
From: Peter Zijlstra <a.p.zijlstra@xxxxxxxxx>

With the get_user_pages_fast() patches we made get_futex_key() obtain a
reference on the returned key, but failed to do so for private futexes.


Sorry I am lost...
private futexes dont need to get references at all...

Signed-off-by: Peter Zijlstra <a.p.zijlstra@xxxxxxxxx>
---
diff --git a/kernel/futex.c b/kernel/futex.c
index 197fdab..beee9af 100644
--- a/kernel/futex.c
+++ b/kernel/futex.c
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ static int get_futex_key(u32 __user *uaddr, int
fshared, union futex_key *key)
return -EFAULT;
key->private.mm = mm;
key->private.address = address;
+ get_futex_key_refs(key);
return 0;
}








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