Re: [PATCH] Mark kobjects as unitialized

From: Balaji Rao
Date: Mon Mar 10 2008 - 12:11:57 EST


On Monday 10 March 2008 09:22:00 pm Greg KH wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 09, 2008 at 12:51:15PM +0530, Balaji Rao wrote:
> > On Sunday 09 March 2008 12:33:07 pm Greg KH wrote:
> > <snip>
> > > > > > Hi,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > This patch does not fix it all! The problem is in fact more involved. I also get these BUG reports when I
reload
> > > > kvm-intel.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > BUG kmalloc-8: Object already free
> > > > > > [ 74.696570] -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > > > [ 74.696596]
> > > > > > [ 74.697310] INFO: Allocated in strndup_user+0x30/0x62 age=587 cpu=2 pid=1439
> > > > > > [ 74.697845] INFO: Freed in kobject_set_name_vargs+0x29/0x32 age=559 cpu=3 pid=1439
> > > > > > [ 74.698008] INFO: Slab 0xc16f93a0 used=10 fp=0xf7c9d2d8 flags=0x10000c3
> > > > > > [ 74.698008] INFO: Object 0xf7c9d1f8 @offset=504 fp=0xf7c9d578
> > > > > >
> > > > > > This happens because, sysdev_class_register assigns a name to the
> > > > > > kobject, and kfrees the old name if any. The poisoned 'name' object
> > > > > > persists in case of statically allocated kobjects and as its passed to
> > > > > > kfree again when re registered, we get the above warning.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > So, AFAICS the best way to solve this is by fixing the kobject users
> > > > > > (kvm, oprofile etc.) to use dynamic kobjects instead of static ones or
> > > > > > memset the kobject to zero before passing it to sysdev_register.
> > > > >
> > > > > I like the memset idea, how about this patch instead?
> > > > >
> > > > > thanks,
> > > > >
> > > > > greg k-h
> > > > >
> > > > > --- a/drivers/base/sys.c
> > > > > +++ b/drivers/base/sys.c
> > > > > @@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ int sysdev_class_register(struct sysdev_
> > > > > pr_debug("Registering sysdev class '%s'\n",
> > > > > kobject_name(&cls->kset.kobj));
> > > > > INIT_LIST_HEAD(&cls->drivers);
> > > > > + memset(&cls->kset.kobj, 0x00, sizeof(struct kobject));
> > > > > cls->kset.kobj.parent = &system_kset->kobj;
> > > > > cls->kset.kobj.ktype = &ktype_sysdev_class;
> > > > > cls->kset.kobj.kset = system_kset;
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > This should work.But I am afraid if we zeroed it, the kfree poison
> > > > test wouldn't catch even the genuine cases. Isn't it ? CMIIW.
> > >
> > > What "genuine cases"? kobjects should always be initialized to zero
> > > before they are registered.
> > >
> > The cases in which a freed kobject is passed to the register function ? Probably they will be caught when do a memset..
> > > > A better fix according to me would be to zero the kobject in the
> > > > places where we know it is being re-registered (kvm, oprofile) etc.
> > > > This should do for now. But we should fix the sys_device users later,
> > > > for the next cycle.
> > >
> > > Are you sure you know all of the sysdev_class objects that can be
> > > re-registered?
> > >
> > Hmm.. Right. No, I only know that KVM and Oprofile use it.
> > > Can you test this patch out?
> > >
> > Yes the idea works. One more memset is needed in sysdev_register. Here's the final patch.
> >
> > diff --git a/drivers/base/sys.c b/drivers/base/sys.c
> > index 2f79c55..7c839d9 100644
> > --- a/drivers/base/sys.c
> > +++ b/drivers/base/sys.c
> > @@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ int sysdev_class_register(struct sysdev_class * cls)
> > pr_debug("Registering sysdev class '%s'\n",
> > kobject_name(&cls->kset.kobj));
> > INIT_LIST_HEAD(&cls->drivers);
> > + memset(&cls->kset.kobj, 0x00, sizeof(struct kobject));
> > cls->kset.kobj.parent = &system_kset->kobj;
> > cls->kset.kobj.ktype = &ktype_sysdev_class;
> > cls->kset.kobj.kset = system_kset;
> > @@ -227,6 +228,7 @@ int sysdev_register(struct sys_device * sysdev)
> >
> > pr_debug("Registering sys device '%s'\n", kobject_name(&sysdev->kobj));
> >
> > + memset(&sysdev->kobj, 0x00, sizeof(struct kobject));
> > /* Make sure the kset is set */
> > sysdev->kobj.kset = &cls->kset;
>
> Yes, you're right.
>
> This also means I can drop the kobject_cleanup() patch from you as well,
> as that should no longer be needed, right?
Yes, That's no longer needed.

I am resending the patch, as the previous one had some whitespace issues.

Signed-off-by: Balaji Rao <balajirrao@xxxxxxxxx>
Tested-by: Mikael Pettersson <mikpe@xxxxxxxx>

diff --git a/drivers/base/sys.c b/drivers/base/sys.c
index 2f79c55..7c839d9 100644
--- a/drivers/base/sys.c
+++ b/drivers/base/sys.c
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ int sysdev_class_register(struct sysdev_class * cls)
pr_debug("Registering sysdev class '%s'\n",
kobject_name(&cls->kset.kobj));
INIT_LIST_HEAD(&cls->drivers);
+ memset(&cls->kset.kobj, 0x00, sizeof(struct kobject));
cls->kset.kobj.parent = &system_kset->kobj;
cls->kset.kobj.ktype = &ktype_sysdev_class;
cls->kset.kobj.kset = system_kset;
@@ -227,6 +228,7 @@ int sysdev_register(struct sys_device * sysdev)

pr_debug("Registering sys device '%s'\n", kobject_name(&sysdev->kobj));

+ memset(&sysdev->kobj, 0x00, sizeof(struct kobject));
/* Make sure the kset is set */
sysdev->kobj.kset = &cls->kset;


--
regards,
balaji rao
3rd year,
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering,
National Institute of Technology, Karnataka
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