Re: [PATCH 1/3] MIPS: c-r4k: instruction_hazard should immediately follow cache op

From: Matt Redfearn
Date: Thu Dec 21 2017 - 12:00:56 EST


Hi James,

On 21/12/17 15:30, James Hogan wrote:
On Thu, Dec 21, 2017 at 03:19:35PM +0000, Matt Redfearn wrote:
Hi James,

On 21/12/17 15:14, James Hogan wrote:
On Thu, Dec 21, 2017 at 11:16:02AM +0000, Matt Redfearn wrote:
During ftrace initialisation, placeholder instructions in the prologue
of every kernel function not marked "notrace" are replaced with nops.
After the instructions are written (to the dcache), flush_icache_range()
is used to ensure that the icache will be updated with these replaced
instructions. Currently there is an instruction_hazard guard at the end
of __r4k_flush_icache_range, since a hazard can be created if the CPU
has already begun fetching the instructions that have have been
replaced. The placement, however, ignores the calls to preempt_enable(),
both in __r4k_flush_icache_range and r4k_on_each_cpu. When
CONFIG_PREEMPT is enabled, these expand out to at least calls to
preempt_count_sub(). The lack of an instruction hazard between icache
invalidate and the execution of preempt_count_sub, in rare
circumstances, was observed to cause weird crashes on Ci40, where the
CPU would end up taking a kernel unaligned access exception from the
middle of do_ade(), which it somehow reached from preempt_count_sub
without executing the start of do_ade.

Since the instruction hazard exists immediately after the dcache is
written back and icache invalidated, place the instruction_hazard()
within __local_r4k_flush_icache_range. The one at the end of
__r4k_flush_icache_range is too late, since all of the functions in the
call path of preempt_enable have already been executed, so remove it.

This fixes the crashes during ftrace initialisation on Ci40.

Signed-off-by: Matt Redfearn <matt.redfearn@xxxxxxxx>
Cc: stable <stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> # v4.9+

---

arch/mips/mm/c-r4k.c | 3 ++-
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/arch/mips/mm/c-r4k.c b/arch/mips/mm/c-r4k.c
index 6f534b209971..ce7a54223504 100644
--- a/arch/mips/mm/c-r4k.c
+++ b/arch/mips/mm/c-r4k.c
@@ -760,6 +760,8 @@ static inline void __local_r4k_flush_icache_range(unsigned long start,
break;
}
}
+ /* Hazard to force new i-fetch */
+ instruction_hazard();

By the sounds of it that is a hardware bug, that it didn't try and
execute either the old instruction or the new instruction.

Yeah, possibly.

Maybe an
expanded comment would be worthwhile here. If it wasn't for that issue
it would I suppose be safe for it to be directly before the
preempt_enable() in __r4k_flush_icache_range().

No - there's another preempt_enable() in r4k_on_each_cpu (noted in the
commit message) so by the time the local CPU gets to the
preempt_enable() in __r4k_flush_icache_range, it has potentially already
executed the preempt_enable path and died. That's why I put it here.

Right, but it wouldn't matter since it would still execute valid code?

You'd like to think so, but the Ci40 didn't - that's what led to the series :-)

Thanks,
Matt



Cheers
James


Thanks,
Matt


Cheers
James

}
static inline void local_r4k_flush_icache_range(unsigned long start,
@@ -817,7 +819,6 @@ static void __r4k_flush_icache_range(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
}
r4k_on_each_cpu(args.type, local_r4k_flush_icache_range_ipi, &args);
preempt_enable();
- instruction_hazard();
}
static void r4k_flush_icache_range(unsigned long start, unsigned long end)
--
2.7.4