Re: [PATCH] mm, slab: release slab_mutex earlier inkmem_cache_destroy() (was Re: Lockdep complains about commit 1331e7a1bb("rcu: Remove _rcu_barrier() dependency on __stop_machine()"))
From: Paul E. McKenney
Date: Tue Oct 02 2012 - 23:42:07 EST
On Wed, Oct 03, 2012 at 02:45:30AM +0200, Jiri Kosina wrote:
> On Tue, 2 Oct 2012, Paul E. McKenney wrote:
>
> > On Wed, Oct 03, 2012 at 01:48:21AM +0200, Jiri Kosina wrote:
> > > On Tue, 2 Oct 2012, Paul E. McKenney wrote:
> > >
> > > > Indeed. Slab seems to be doing an rcu_barrier() in a CPU hotplug
> > > > notifier, which doesn't sit so well with rcu_barrier() trying to exclude
> > > > CPU hotplug events. I could go back to the old approach, but it is
> > > > significantly more complex. I cannot say that I am all that happy about
> > > > anyone calling rcu_barrier() from a CPU hotplug notifier because it
> > > > doesn't help CPU hotplug latency, but that is a separate issue.
> > > >
> > > > But the thing is that rcu_barrier()'s assumptions work just fine if either
> > > > (1) it excludes hotplug operations or (2) if it is called from a hotplug
> > > > notifier. You see, either way, the CPU cannot go away while rcu_barrier()
> > > > is executing. So the right way to resolve this seems to be to do the
> > > > get_online_cpus() only if rcu_barrier() is -not- executing in the context
> > > > of a hotplug notifier. Should be fixable without too much hassle...
> > >
> > > Sorry, I don't think I understand what you are proposing just yet.
> > >
> > > If I understand it correctly, you are proposing to introduce some magic
> > > into _rcu_barrier() such as (pseudocode of course):
> > >
> > > if (!being_called_from_hotplug_notifier_callback)
> > > get_online_cpus()
> > >
> > > How does that protect from the scenario I've outlined before though?
> > >
> > > CPU 0 CPU 1
> > > kmem_cache_destroy()
> > > mutex_lock(slab_mutex)
> > > _cpu_up()
> > > cpu_hotplug_begin()
> > > mutex_lock(cpu_hotplug.lock)
> > > rcu_barrier()
> > > _rcu_barrier()
> > > get_online_cpus()
> > > mutex_lock(cpu_hotplug.lock)
> > > (blocks, CPU 1 has the mutex)
> > > __cpu_notify()
> > > mutex_lock(slab_mutex)
> > >
> > > CPU 0 grabs both locks anyway (it's not running from notifier callback).
> > > CPU 1 grabs both locks as well, as there is no _rcu_barrier() being called
> > > from notifier callback either.
> > >
> > > What did I miss?
> >
> > You didn't miss anything, I was suffering a failure to read carefully.
> >
> > So my next stupid question is "Why can't kmem_cache_destroy drop
> > slab_mutex early?" like the following:
> >
> > void kmem_cache_destroy(struct kmem_cache *cachep)
> > {
> > BUG_ON(!cachep || in_interrupt());
> >
> > /* Find the cache in the chain of caches. */
> > get_online_cpus();
> > mutex_lock(&slab_mutex);
> > /*
> > * the chain is never empty, cache_cache is never destroyed
> > */
> > list_del(&cachep->list);
> > if (__cache_shrink(cachep)) {
> > slab_error(cachep, "Can't free all objects");
> > list_add(&cachep->list, &slab_caches);
> > mutex_unlock(&slab_mutex);
> > put_online_cpus();
> > return;
> > }
> > mutex_unlock(&slab_mutex);
> >
> > if (unlikely(cachep->flags & SLAB_DESTROY_BY_RCU))
> > rcu_barrier();
> >
> > __kmem_cache_destroy(cachep);
> > put_online_cpus();
> > }
> >
> > Or did I miss some reason why __kmem_cache_destroy() needs that lock?
> > Looks to me like it is just freeing now-disconnected memory.
>
> Good question. I believe it should be safe to drop slab_mutex earlier, as
> cachep has already been unlinked. I am adding slab people and linux-mm to
> CC (the whole thread on LKML can be found at
> https://lkml.org/lkml/2012/10/2/296 for reference).
>
> How about the patch below? Pekka, Christoph, please?
>
> It makes the lockdep happy again, and obviously removes the deadlock (I
> tested it).
You can certainly add my Reviewed-by, for whatever that is worth. ;-)
BTW, with this patch, are you able to dispense with my earlier patch,
or is it still needed?
Thanx, Paul
> From: Jiri Kosina <jkosina@xxxxxxx>
> Subject: mm, slab: release slab_mutex earlier in kmem_cache_destroy()
>
> Commit 1331e7a1bbe1 ("rcu: Remove _rcu_barrier() dependency on
> __stop_machine()") introduced slab_mutex -> cpu_hotplug.lock
> dependency through kmem_cache_destroy() -> rcu_barrier() ->
> _rcu_barrier() -> get_online_cpus().
>
> This opens a possibilty for deadlock:
>
> CPU 0 CPU 1
> kmem_cache_destroy()
> mutex_lock(slab_mutex)
> _cpu_up()
> cpu_hotplug_begin()
> mutex_lock(cpu_hotplug.lock)
> rcu_barrier()
> _rcu_barrier()
> get_online_cpus()
> mutex_lock(cpu_hotplug.lock)
> (blocks, CPU 1 has the mutex)
> __cpu_notify()
> mutex_lock(slab_mutex)
>
> It turns out that slab's kmem_cache_destroy() might release slab_mutex
> earlier before calling out to rcu_barrier(), as cachep has already been
> unlinked.
>
> This patch removes the AB-BA dependency by calling rcu_barrier() with
> slab_mutex already unlocked.
>
> Signed-off-by: Jiri Kosina <jkosina@xxxxxxx>
> ---
> mm/slab.c | 2 +-
> 1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/mm/slab.c b/mm/slab.c
> index 1133911..693c7cb 100644
> --- a/mm/slab.c
> +++ b/mm/slab.c
> @@ -2801,12 +2801,12 @@ void kmem_cache_destroy(struct kmem_cache *cachep)
> put_online_cpus();
> return;
> }
> + mutex_unlock(&slab_mutex);
>
> if (unlikely(cachep->flags & SLAB_DESTROY_BY_RCU))
> rcu_barrier();
>
> __kmem_cache_destroy(cachep);
> - mutex_unlock(&slab_mutex);
> put_online_cpus();
> }
> EXPORT_SYMBOL(kmem_cache_destroy);
>
> --
> Jiri Kosina
> SUSE Labs
>
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