Re: Plain accesses and data races in the Linux Kernel Memory Model

Paul E. McKenney
2019-01-16T13:12:01Z

On Wed, Jan 16, 2019 at 12:57:52PM +0100, Peter Zijlstra wrote:
> On Tue, Jan 15, 2019 at 10:19:10AM -0500, Alan Stern wrote:
> > On Tue, 15 Jan 2019, Andrea Parri wrote:
> >
> > > Unless I'm mis-reading/-applying this definition, this will flag the
> > > following test (a variation on your "race.litmus") with "data-race":
> > >
> > > C no-race
> > >
> > > {}
> > >
> > > P0(int *x, spinlock_t *s)
> > > {
> > > spin_lock(s);
> > > WRITE_ONCE(*x, 1); /* A */
> > > spin_unlock(s); /* B */
> > > }
> > >
> > > P1(int *x, spinlock_t *s)
> > > {
> > > int r1;
> > >
> > > spin_lock(s); /* C */
> > > r1 = *x; /* D */
> > > spin_unlock(s);
> > > }
> > >
> > > exists (1:r1=1)
> > >
> > > Broadly speaking, this is due to the fact that the modified "happens-
> > > before" axiom does not forbid the execution with the (MP-) cycle
> > >
> > > A ->po-rel B ->rfe C ->acq-po D ->fre A
> > >
> > > and then to the link "D ->race-from-r A" here defined.
> >
> > Yes, that cycle certainly should be forbidden. On the other hand, we
> > don't want to insist that C happens before D, given that D may not
> > happen at all.
> >
> > This is a real problem. Can we solve it by adding a modified
> > "happens-before" which says essentially that _if_ D is preserved _then_
> > C happens before D? But then what about cycles involving more than one
> > possibly preserved access? Or maybe a relation which says that D
> > cannot execute before C (so if D executes at all, it has to come after
> > C)?
>
> The latter; there is a compiler barrier implied at the end of
> spin_lock() such that anything later (in PO) must indeed be later.
>
> > Now you see why this stuff is so difficult... At the moment, I don't
> > know how to fix this.

In the spirit of cutting the Gordian Knot...

Given that we are flagging data races, how much do we really lose by
simply ignoring the possibility of removed accesses?

Thanx, Paul