Re: [PATCH] mm/filemap: generic_file_read_iter(): check for zero reads unconditionally

[Mel Gorman]

On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 12:08:58PM +0100, Nicolai Stange wrote:
> If
> - generic_file_read_iter() gets called with a zero read length,
> - the read offset is at a page boundary,
> - IOCB_DIRECT is not set
> - and the page in question hasn't made it into the page cache yet,
> then do_generic_file_read() will trigger a readahead with a req_size hint
> of zero.
> 
> Since roundup_pow_of_two(0) is undefined, UBSAN reports
> 
>   UBSAN: Undefined behaviour in include/linux/log2.h:63:13
>   shift exponent 64 is too large for 64-bit type 'long unsigned int'
>   CPU: 3 PID: 1017 Comm: sa1 Tainted: G L 4.5.0-next-20160318+ #14
>   [...]
>   Call Trace:
>    [...]
>    [<ffffffff813ef61a>] ondemand_readahead+0x3aa/0x3d0
>    [<ffffffff813ef61a>] ? ondemand_readahead+0x3aa/0x3d0
>    [<ffffffff813c73bd>] ? find_get_entry+0x2d/0x210
>    [<ffffffff813ef9c3>] page_cache_sync_readahead+0x63/0xa0
>    [<ffffffff813cc04d>] do_generic_file_read+0x80d/0xf90
>    [<ffffffff813cc955>] generic_file_read_iter+0x185/0x420
>    [...]
>    [<ffffffff81510b06>] __vfs_read+0x256/0x3d0
>    [...]
> 
> when get_init_ra_size() gets called from ondemand_readahead().
> 
> The net effect is that the initial readahead size is arch dependent for
> requested read lengths of zero: for example, since
> 
>   1UL << (sizeof(unsigned long) * 8)
> 
> evaluates to 1 on x86 while its result is 0 on ARMv7, the initial readahead
> size becomes 4 on the former and 0 on the latter.
> 
> What's more, whether or not the file access timestamp is updated for zero
> length reads is decided differently for the two cases of IOCB_DIRECT
> being set or cleared: in the first case, generic_file_read_iter()
> explicitly skips updating that timestamp while in the latter case, it is
> always updated through the call to do_generic_file_read().
> 
> According to POSIX, zero length reads "do not modify the last data access
> timestamp" and thus, the IOCB_DIRECT behaviour is POSIXly correct.
> 
> Let generic_file_read_iter() unconditionally check the requested read
> length at its entry and return immediately with success if it is zero.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Nicolai Stange <nicstange@xxxxxxxxx>

Acked-by: Mel Gorman <mgorman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

-- 
Mel Gorman
SUSE Labs