Re: [PATCH] sched/deadline: fix one-bit signed bitfields to be unsigned

From: Jakub Kicinski
Date: Tue Nov 28 2017 - 23:08:11 EST


On Tue, 28 Nov 2017 12:36:19 -0800, Jeff Kirsher wrote:
> From: Jacob Keller <jacob.e.keller@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> Commit 799ba82de01e ("sched/deadline: Use C bitfields for the state
> flags", 2017-10-10) introduced the use of C bitfields for these
> variables. However, sparse complains about them:
>
> ./include/linux/sched.h:476:62: error: dubious one-bit signed bitfield
> ./include/linux/sched.h:477:62: error: dubious one-bit signed bitfield
> ./include/linux/sched.h:478:62: error: dubious one-bit signed bitfield
> ./include/linux/sched.h:479:62: error: dubious one-bit signed bitfield
>
> This is because a one-bit signed bitfield can only hold the values 0 and
> -1, which can cause problems if the program expects to be able to
> represent the value positive 1.
>
> In practice, this may not cause a bug since -1 would be considered
> "true" in logical tests, however we should avoid the practice anyways.
>
> Fixes: 799ba82de01e ("sched/deadline: Use C bitfields for the state flags", 2017-10-10)
> Signed-off-by: Jacob Keller <jacob.e.keller@xxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: luca abeni <luca.abeni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Tested-by: Andrew Bowers <andrewx.bowers@xxxxxxxxx>
> Signed-off-by: Jeff Kirsher <jeffrey.t.kirsher@xxxxxxxxx>

This is already in Linus's tree (I've been waiting for it to land as
well :))

commit aa5222e92f8000ed3c1c38dddf11c83222aadfb3
Author: Dan Carpenter <dan.carpenter@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri Oct 13 10:01:22 2017 +0300

sched/deadline: Don't use dubious signed bitfields

It doesn't cause a run-time bug, but these bitfields should be unsigned.
When it's signed ->dl_throttled is set to either 0 or -1, instead of
0 and 1 as expected.

The sched.h file is included into tons of places so Sparse generates
a flood of warnings like this:

./include/linux/sched.h:477:54: error: dubious one-bit signed bitfield

Reported-by: Matthew Wilcox <willy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reported-by: Xin Long <lucien.xin@xxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Dan Carpenter <dan.carpenter@xxxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Luca Abeni <luca.abeni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: kernel-janitors@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: luca abeni <luca.abeni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/r/20171013070121.dzcncojuj2f4utij@mwanda
Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@xxxxxxxxxx>