Re: [PATCH] posix-cpu-timers: use u64 multiplication in update_rlimit_cpu()

[Thomas Gleixner]

On Tue, Jun 16 2026 at 14:53, Ingo Molnar wrote:
> * Zhan Xusheng <zhanxusheng1024@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> update_rlimit_cpu() converts the RLIMIT_CPU value to nanoseconds with
>> 
>>         u64 nsecs = rlim_new * NSEC_PER_SEC;
>> 
>> On 32-bit kernels both rlim_new (unsigned long) and NSEC_PER_SEC
>> (1000000000L) are 32-bit, so the multiplication is performed in
>> unsigned long and truncated for rlim_new > 4 before being widened to
>> u64.
>> 
>> The same file already casts to u64 for the matching computation in
>> check_process_timers():
>> 
>>         u64 softns = (u64)soft * NSEC_PER_SEC;
>> 
>> As a result, the truncated value is installed into the CPUCLOCK_PROF
>> expiry cache (nextevt), causing the process CPU timer to be programmed
>> to fire prematurely for any RLIMIT_CPU soft limit >= 5 seconds. The
>> actual SIGXCPU/SIGKILL decision in check_process_timers() already casts
>> to u64 and is therefore correct, so limit enforcement is not broken;
>> only the expiry-cache programming is wrong. Apply the same cast here so
>> both paths convert rlim_cur identically.
>> 
>> 64-bit kernels are unaffected.
>> 
>> Fixes: 858cf3a8c599 ("timers/itimer: Convert internal cputime_t units to nsec")
>> Signed-off-by: Zhan Xusheng <zhanxusheng@xxxxxxxxxx>
>> ---
>>  kernel/time/posix-cpu-timers.c | 2 +-
>>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
>> 
>> diff --git a/kernel/time/posix-cpu-timers.c b/kernel/time/posix-cpu-timers.c
>> index 74775b94d11b..5e633d8750d1 100644
>> --- a/kernel/time/posix-cpu-timers.c
>> +++ b/kernel/time/posix-cpu-timers.c
>> @@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ void posix_cputimers_group_init(struct posix_cputimers *pct, u64 cpu_limit)
>>   */
>>  int update_rlimit_cpu(struct task_struct *task, unsigned long rlim_new)
>>  {
>> -	u64 nsecs = rlim_new * NSEC_PER_SEC;
>> +	u64 nsecs = (u64)rlim_new * NSEC_PER_SEC;
>
> Wouldn't it be more robust to define NSEC_PER_SEC not
> as 1000000000L, but 1000000000LL? (Together with sorting
> out the inevitable side effects.)

There are a lot of them on 32bit builds. IIRC correctly there was an
attempt to do exactly that a few years ago and it didn't go well.