Re: [RFC] ALSA: hda: clarify unsol_event locking across driver unbind

[Takashi Iwai]

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 04:57:13 +0200,
ROJOX wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Could you advise on the lifetime and locking contract for
> hdac_driver::unsol_event() relative to codec driver unbind?
> 
> In current torvalds/linux, snd_hdac_bus_process_unsol_events() looks up a
> codec in bus->caddr_tbl under bus->reg_lock, checks codec->registered, and
> then drops reg_lock. It subsequently reads codec->dev.driver and dispatches
> drv->unsol_event(codec, res), without taking a codec device reference or
> device_lock in that interval:
> 
> https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/165768bb70265b5c38cf0b73fafd75be235f8b14/sound/hda/core/bus.c#L173-L189
> 
> Separately, driver-core unbind acquires the device lock and calls the remove
> path while that lock is held. The HDA reset path can initiate this through
> device_release_driver():
> 
> https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/165768bb70265b5c38cf0b73fafd75be235f8b14/drivers/base/dd.c#L1315-L1374
> https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/165768bb70265b5c38cf0b73fafd75be235f8b14/sound/hda/common/codec.c#L1799-L1810
> 
> This appears to permit the following source-level ordering:
> 
> unsol worker                         unbind task
> ------------                         -----------
> lookup codec under reg_lock
> drop reg_lock
> read codec->dev.driver
> enter unsol_event()
>                                      acquire device_lock
>                                      invoke remove
>                                      tear down private state
> callback continues using private state

Usually the HD-audio controller driver calls snd_hdac_bus_exit() at
its remove callback (or via the destructor invoked from there), and it
does cancel_work_sync() for the unsol event worker.

I thought the removal of codec->dev.driver happened after the
driver_detach(), so at that point, isn't the device object itself
still alive?

Or maybe I haven't followed the flow completely yet.  If the issue is
real, just taking the codec's device reference around the call would
be the easiest solution, I guess.


thanks,

Takashi


> I do not see the worker taking the device lock or another explicit
> binding/private-state lifetime reference before dispatch. If the callback
> uses state destroyed by the remove path, the unlocked dispatch therefore
> appears able to overlap that teardown.
> 
> The codec/device object lifetime, driver binding lifetime, and
> driver-private state lifetime are distinct here: get_device() alone would
> pin the first, but would not by itself prevent unbind or preserve private
> state.
> 
> The legacy HDA wrapper additionally checks shutdown and system-PM state
> before calling the codec callback, but those checks do not appear to drain
> a callback that has already passed them:
> 
> https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/165768bb70265b5c38cf0b73fafd75be235f8b14/sound/hda/common/bind.c#L42-L52
> 
> I also found the older unsolicited queue-index synchronization fix,
> c637fa151259c0f74665fde7cba5b7eac1417ae5. That appears to address queue
> consistency rather than this binding/private-state lifetime interval.
> 
> I tested one scratch proof candidate, not a proposed patch. It synchronizes
> address-table lookup/removal, obtains a codec device reference while the
> entry is protected, drops reg_lock, takes device_lock, revalidates the
> current binding and codec registration state, and dispatches the callback
> while that lock is held.
> 
> That closes the ordinary callback-versus-remove schedule in a deterministic
> model, and the modified HDA objects build cleanly in a scratch Ubuntu
> 7.0.0-34.34 source tree. However, hdac_driver::unsol_event() currently does
> not document callback-under-device_lock or reentry restrictions, so I am
> not assuming that this is the correct fix.
> 
> Could you please clarify:
> 
> 1. Is HDA core expected to serialize unsol_event() against unbind by holding
>    the codec device_lock through dispatch, or is there another existing
>    lifetime guarantee intended here?
> 
> 2. If that lock context is acceptable, should the callback contract prohibit
>    recursively taking the same device lock and synchronous same-codec
>    unbind/reset/reprobe? I found no direct same-codec teardown call in the
>    audited in-tree callback bodies, but indirect and out-of-tree behavior is
>    not established.
> 
> 3. Would callback-under-device_lock conflict with expected HDA runtime-PM or
>    system-PM behavior? My source review did not establish a generic contract
>    for this.
> 
> 4. For an event queued before unbind/rebind, is it expected to be deliverable
>    to the newly bound driver, or should it be discarded across the
>    binding/reset boundary?
> 
> This came up while auditing HDA/CS8409 codec lifetime behavior; the question
> is about the generic HDA unsolicited-callback contract.
> 
> No runtime crash has been reproduced. This is based on source/lifetime
> analysis and deterministic concurrency modeling, not a runtime stress test.
> I may be missing an existing lifetime guarantee or invariant, and would
> appreciate correction.
> 
> The source snapshot checked is torvalds/linux master at
> 165768bb70265b5c38cf0b73fafd75be235f8b14. No patch is proposed or attached.
> 
> Thanks,
> Rojox
> iMac19,2 Linux audio project