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 -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-fsdevel" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html