Re: [PATCH v2] cpufreq: schedutil: Serialize start against rate limit updates

From: Nirjhar Roy

Date: Tue Oct 13 2026 - 07:26:43 EST


On Thu, Oct 08, 2026 at 12:58:20AM +0900, Hui Su wrote:
> rate_limit_us_store() is called with the governor attribute set
> update_lock held, but sugov_start() updates freq_update_delay_ns from
> the same tunable without taking that lock.
>
> This allows the two paths to interleave as follows:
>
> sugov_start() rate_limit_us_store()
>
> read old rate_limit_us
> write new rate_limit_us
> publish the new delay
> publish the old delay
>
> The sysfs tunable then contains the new value while
> freq_update_delay_ns contains the old one. Unlike a transient torn
> read, the stale delay remains in effect until another rate limit update
> or governor restart.
>
> Serialize sugov_start() against sysfs stores by taking the existing
> governor attribute set lock around sugov_update_rate_limit_us(). Use
> gov_attr_set_lock() and gov_attr_set_unlock() to keep locking details
> within the attribute set interface. This keeps the fix off the scheduler
> hot path.
>
> Fixes: 9bdcb44e391d ("cpufreq: schedutil: New governor based on scheduler utilization data")
> Reviewed-by: Zhongqiu Han <zhongqiu.han@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Signed-off-by: Hui Su <sh_def@xxxxxxx>
> ---
> Changes in v2:
> - Wrap governor attribute set locking in helpers as suggested by
> Zhongqiu Han.
>
> v1: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20260929103635.3780346-1-sh_def@xxxxxxx/
>
> include/linux/cpufreq.h | 10 ++++++++++
> kernel/sched/cpufreq_schedutil.c | 4 ++++
> 2 files changed, 14 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/cpufreq.h b/include/linux/cpufreq.h
> index 35ce665edfd8..5448eb0a0885 100644
> --- a/include/linux/cpufreq.h
> +++ b/include/linux/cpufreq.h
> @@ -694,6 +694,16 @@ static inline struct gov_attr_set *to_gov_attr_set(struct kobject *kobj)
> return container_of(kobj, struct gov_attr_set, kobj);
> }
>
> +static inline void gov_attr_set_lock(struct gov_attr_set *attr_set)
> +{
> + mutex_lock(&attr_set->update_lock);
> +}
> +
> +static inline void gov_attr_set_unlock(struct gov_attr_set *attr_set)
> +{
> + mutex_unlock(&attr_set->update_lock);
> +}
> +

Can use the above wrappers in governor_store()? Right now it directly calls mutex_{lock, unlock}(&attr_set->update_lock) ?
--NR


> void gov_attr_set_init(struct gov_attr_set *attr_set, struct list_head *list_node);
> void gov_attr_set_get(struct gov_attr_set *attr_set, struct list_head *list_node);
> unsigned int gov_attr_set_put(struct gov_attr_set *attr_set, struct list_head *list_node);
> diff --git a/kernel/sched/cpufreq_schedutil.c b/kernel/sched/cpufreq_schedutil.c
> index 49ccd6f1c185..b847311c307d 100644
> --- a/kernel/sched/cpufreq_schedutil.c
> +++ b/kernel/sched/cpufreq_schedutil.c
> @@ -861,7 +861,11 @@ static int sugov_start(struct cpufreq_policy *policy)
> void (*uu)(struct update_util_data *data, u64 time, unsigned int flags);
> unsigned int cpu;
>
> + /* Serialize against rate_limit_us_store(). */
> + gov_attr_set_lock(&sg_policy->tunables->attr_set);
> sugov_update_rate_limit_us(sg_policy);
> + gov_attr_set_unlock(&sg_policy->tunables->attr_set);
> +
> sg_policy->last_freq_update_time = 0;
> sg_policy->next_freq = 0;
> sg_policy->work_in_progress = false;
>
> base-commit: 63de2367f6d280904a9c5e5bbc7c75bb91c5b3d8
>