Re: [syzbot] [nfs?] INFO: task hung in nfsd_nl_listener_set_doit

Chuck Lever III
2024-10-11T18:18:23Z

> On Oct 9, 2024, at 4:26 PM, Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> wrote:
>
> On Wed, 2024-09-04 at 10:23 -0400, Chuck Lever wrote:
>> On Mon, Sep 02, 2024 at 11:57:55AM +1000, NeilBrown wrote:
>>> On Sun, 01 Sep 2024, syzbot wrote:
>>>> syzbot has found a reproducer for the following issue on:
>>>
>>> I had a poke around using the provided disk image and kernel for
>>> exploring.
>>>
>>> I think the problem is demonstrated by this stack :
>>>
>>> [<0>] rpc_wait_bit_killable+0x1b/0x160
>>> [<0>] __rpc_execute+0x723/0x1460
>>> [<0>] rpc_execute+0x1ec/0x3f0
>>> [<0>] rpc_run_task+0x562/0x6c0
>>> [<0>] rpc_call_sync+0x197/0x2e0
>>> [<0>] rpcb_register+0x36b/0x670
>>> [<0>] svc_unregister+0x208/0x730
>>> [<0>] svc_bind+0x1bb/0x1e0
>>> [<0>] nfsd_create_serv+0x3f0/0x760
>>> [<0>] nfsd_nl_listener_set_doit+0x135/0x1a90
>>> [<0>] genl_rcv_msg+0xb16/0xec0
>>> [<0>] netlink_rcv_skb+0x1e5/0x430
>>>
>>> No rpcbind is running on this host so that "svc_unregister" takes a
>>> long time. Maybe not forever but if a few of these get queued up all
>>> blocking some other thread, then maybe that pushed it over the limit.
>>>
>>> The fact that rpcbind is not running might not be relevant as the test
>>> messes up the network. "ping 127.0.0.1" stops working.
>>>
>>> So this bug comes down to "we try to contact rpcbind while holding a
>>> mutex and if that gets no response and no error, then we can hold the
>>> mutex for a long time".
>>>
>>> Are we surprised? Do we want to fix this? Any suggestions how?
>>
>> In the past, we've tried to address "hanging upcall" issues where
>> the kernel part of an administrative command needs a user space
>> service that isn't working or present. (eg mount needing a running
>> gssd)
>>
>> If NFSD is using the kernel RPC client for the upcall, then maybe
>> adding the RPC_TASK_SOFTCONN flag might turn the hang into an
>> immediate failure.
>>
>> IMO this should be addressed.
>>
>>
>
> I sent a patch that does the above, but now I'm wondering if we ought
> to take another approach. The listener array can be pretty long. What
> if we instead were to just drop and reacquire the mutex in the loop at
> strategic points? Then we wouldn't squat on the mutex for so long.
>
> Something like this maybe? It's ugly but it might prevent hung task
> warnings, and listener setup isn't a fastpath anyway.
>
>
> diff --git a/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c b/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c
> index 3adbc05ebaac..5de01fb4c557 100644
> --- a/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c
> +++ b/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c
> @@ -2042,7 +2042,9 @@ int nfsd_nl_listener_set_doit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info)
>
> set_bit(XPT_CLOSE, &xprt->xpt_flags);
> spin_unlock_bh(&serv->sv_lock);
>
> svc_xprt_close(xprt);
> +
> + /* ensure we don't squat on the mutex for too long */
> + mutex_unlock(&nfsd_mutex);
> + mutex_lock(&nfsd_mutex);
> spin_lock_bh(&serv->sv_lock);
> }
>
> @@ -2082,6 +2084,10 @@ int nfsd_nl_listener_set_doit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info)
> /* always save the latest error */
> if (ret < 0)
> err = ret;
> +
> + /* ensure we don't squat on the mutex for too long */
> + mutex_unlock(&nfsd_mutex);
> + mutex_lock(&nfsd_mutex);
> }
>
> if (!serv->sv_nrthreads && list_empty(&nn->nfsd_serv->sv_permsocks))

I had a look at the rpcb upcall code a couple of weeks ago.
I'm not convinced that setting SOFTCONN in all cases will
help but unfortunately the reasons for my skepticism have
all but leaked out of my head.

Releasing and re-acquiring the mutex is often a sign of
a deeper problem. I think you're in the right vicinity
but I'd like to better understand the actual cause of
the delay. The listener list shouldn't be all that long,
but maybe it has a unintentional loop in it?

I wish we had a reproducer for these issues.

--
Chuck Lever