[PATCH] dmaengine: pl330: Fix lock-order inversion in the channel release path

From: Ginger Li

Date: Wed Oct 07 2026 - 11:06:32 EST


pl330 uses two locks per transfer: the channel lock pch->lock and the
controller lock pl330->lock. My static analyzer reported that they can
be taken concurrently in opposite orders, leading to potential deadlocks.

The terminate/stop paths take pch->lock first and then pl330->lock, e.g.
pl330_terminate_all()
-> spin_lock_irqsave(&pch->lock, flags);
-> spin_lock(&pl330->lock);
and
pl330_pause()
-> spin_lock_irqsave(&pch->lock, flags);
-> spin_lock(&pl330->lock);

While on the other hand, the channel release path takes pl330->lock first
and then pch->lock in pl330_free_chan_resources():
pl330_free_chan_resources()
-> spin_lock_irqsave(&pl330->lock, flags);
-> pl330_release_channel(pch->thread);
-> dma_pl330_rqcb()
-> spin_lock_irqsave(&pch->lock, flags);

Freeing a channel (dma_release_channel() -> dma_chan_put() ->
pl330_free_chan_resources()) while another CPU is in pl330_terminate_all()
or pl330_pause() on the same channel is therefore an ABBA deadlock: the
one thread spins on pl330->lock that the other holds, and vice versa.

Inspecting the driver code suggests the rule that dma_pl330_rqcb() must
not be called with pl330->lock held: pl330_dotask() and the callback
drain loop in pl330_update() both releases pl330->lock before their
dma_pl330_rqcb() calls. Thus, pl330_release_channel() is expected
to follow the same manner.

Let pl330_release_channel() manage pl330->lock itself and keep the two
dma_pl330_rqcb() calls outside the critical section, and stop holding
pl330->lock around the call in pl330_free_chan_resources().

This was found by a static analyzer on Linux 7.3-rc4; it reported
DeadLock::AllLock (Certain) for

pl330_free_chan_resources() <-> pl330_terminate_all()
pl330_free_chan_resources() <-> pl330_pause().

Fixes: 91539eb1fda2 ("dmaengine: pl330: fix double lock")
Signed-off-by: Ginger Li <ginger.jzllee@xxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/dma/pl330.c | 24 +++++++++++++++++++++++-
1 file changed, 23 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/drivers/dma/pl330.c b/drivers/dma/pl330.c
--- a/drivers/dma/pl330.c
+++ b/drivers/dma/pl330.c
@@ -1805,16 +1805,32 @@

static void pl330_release_channel(struct pl330_thread *thrd)
{
+ struct pl330_dmac *pl330;
+ unsigned long flags;
+
if (!thrd || thrd->free)
return;

+ pl330 = thrd->dmac;
+
+ spin_lock_irqsave(&pl330->lock, flags);
_stop(thrd);
+ spin_unlock_irqrestore(&pl330->lock, flags);

+ /*
+ * dma_pl330_rqcb() takes the channel lock, which is acquired before
+ * pl330->lock on the terminate/pause/tx_status paths. Calling it with
+ * pl330->lock held would invert the lock order, so keep it outside the
+ * critical section - the same convention pl330_dotask() and
+ * pl330_update() already follow.
+ */
dma_pl330_rqcb(thrd->req[1 - thrd->lstenq].desc, PL330_ERR_ABORT);
dma_pl330_rqcb(thrd->req[thrd->lstenq].desc, PL330_ERR_ABORT);

+ spin_lock_irqsave(&pl330->lock, flags);
_free_event(thrd, thrd->ev);
thrd->free = true;
+ spin_unlock_irqrestore(&pl330->lock, flags);
}

/* Initialize the structure for PL330 configuration, that can be used
@@ -2358,9 +2374,15 @@
tasklet_kill(&pch->task);

pm_runtime_get_sync(pch->dmac->ddma.dev);
- spin_lock_irqsave(&pl330->lock, flags);

+ /*
+ * pl330_release_channel() takes pl330->lock itself and calls
+ * dma_pl330_rqcb(), which takes the channel lock. It must therefore
+ * not be called with pl330->lock held (see the comment there).
+ */
pl330_release_channel(pch->thread);
+
+ spin_lock_irqsave(&pl330->lock, flags);
pch->thread = NULL;

if (pch->cyclic)
--
2.43.0