[RFC][PATCH 04/16] writeback: fix possible race when shutting down bdi

[Artem Bityutskiy]

From: Artem Bityutskiy <Artem.Bityutskiy@xxxxxxxxx>

Current bdi code has the following race between 'bdi_wb_shutdown()'
and 'bdi_forker_thread()'.

Initial condition: BDI_pending is cleaned, bdi has no writeback thread,
because it was inactive and exited, 'bdi_wb_shutdown()' and
'bdi_forker_thread()' are executed concurrently.

1. bdi_wb_shutdown() executes  wait_on_bit(), tests the BDI_pending bit,
   it is clean, so it does not wait for anything.

2. 'bdi_forker_thread()' takes the 'bdi_lock', finds out that bdi has
   work to do, takes it out of the 'bdi_list', sets the BDI_pending flag,
   unlocks the 'bdi_lock' lock

3. 'bdi_wb_shutdown()' takes the lock, and nasty things start happening:
   a) it removes the bdi from bdi->bdi_list, but the bdi is not in any
      list
   b) it starts deleting the bdi, but 'bdi_forker_thread()' is still working
      with it.

Note, it is very difficult to hit this race, and I never observed it, so it
is quite theoretical, but it is still a race. Also note, this race exist
without my previous clean-ups as well.

This patch fixes this race by making 'bdi_wb_shutdown()' first search for
the bdi in the 'bdi_list', and only if it is there, remove it from 'bdi_list'
and destroy. But if it is not there, assume it is in transit and re-try
waiting on the BDI_pending bit.

Signed-off-by: Artem Bityutskiy <Artem.Bityutskiy@xxxxxxxxx>
---
 mm/backing-dev.c |   41 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------
 1 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/mm/backing-dev.c b/mm/backing-dev.c
index b34c12a..a445ff0 100644
--- a/mm/backing-dev.c
+++ b/mm/backing-dev.c
@@ -456,15 +456,26 @@ void static bdi_add_default_flusher_thread(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 }
 
 /*
- * Remove bdi from bdi_list, and ensure that it is no longer visible
+ * Look up for bdi in the bdi_list. If found, remove it, ensure that it is
+ * no longer visible, and return 0. If not found, return 1.
  */
-static void bdi_remove_from_list(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
+static int bdi_remove_from_list(struct backing_dev_info *me)
 {
+	struct backing_dev_info *bdi;
+
 	spin_lock_bh(&bdi_lock);
-	list_del_rcu(&bdi->bdi_list);
+	list_for_each_entry(bdi, &bdi_list, bdi_list) {
+		if (bdi == me) {
+			list_del_rcu(&me->bdi_list);
+			spin_unlock_bh(&bdi_lock);
+			synchronize_rcu();
+			return 0;
+		}
+
+	}
 	spin_unlock_bh(&bdi_lock);
+	return 1;
 
-	synchronize_rcu();
 }
 
 int bdi_register(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, struct device *parent,
@@ -532,16 +543,20 @@ static void bdi_wb_shutdown(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 	if (!bdi_cap_writeback_dirty(bdi))
 		return;
 
-	/*
-	 * If setup is pending, wait for that to complete first
-	 */
-	wait_on_bit(&bdi->state, BDI_pending, bdi_sched_wait,
-			TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE);
+	do {
+		/*
+		 * If setup is pending, wait for that to complete first
+		 */
+		wait_on_bit(&bdi->state, BDI_pending, bdi_sched_wait,
+				TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE);
 
-	/*
-	 * Make sure nobody finds us on the bdi_list anymore
-	 */
-	bdi_remove_from_list(bdi);
+		/*
+		 * Make sure nobody finds us on the bdi_list anymore. However,
+		 * bdi may be temporary be not in the bdi_list but be in transit
+		 * in bdi_forker_thread. Namely, this may happen if we race
+		 * with the forker thread.
+		 */
+	} while (bdi_remove_from_list(bdi));
 
 	/*
 	 * Finally, kill the kernel thread. We don't need to be RCU
-- 
1.7.1.1

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