Re: [net,PATCH v3 1/2] net: ks8851: Reinstate disabling of BHs around IRQ handler

Sebastian Andrzej Siewior
2026-04-14T12:57:57Z

On 2026-04-14 12:32:52 [+0200], Marek Vasut wrote:
> If CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT=y is set AND the driver executes ks8851_irq() AND
> KSZ_ISR register bit IRQ_RXI is set AND ks8851_rx_pkts() detects that
> there are packets in the RX FIFO, then netdev_alloc_skb_ip_align() is
> called to allocate SKBs. If netdev_alloc_skb_ip_align() is called with
> BH enabled, local_bh_enable() at the end of netdev_alloc_skb_ip_align()
> will call __local_bh_enable_ip(), which will call __do_softirq(), which
> may trigger net_tx_action() softirq, which may ultimately call the xmit
> callback ks8851_start_xmit_par(). The ks8851_start_xmit_par() will try
> to lock struct ks8851_net_par .lock spinlock, which is already locked
> by ks8851_irq() from which ks8851_start_xmit_par() was called. This
> leads to a deadlock, which is reported by the kernel, including a trace
> listed below.

#1 [received RX packet and a] TX packet has been sent
#2 Driver enables TX queue via netif_wake_queue() which schedules TX
softirq to queue packets for this device.
#2 After spin_unlock_bh(&ks->statelock) the pending softirqs will be
processed
#3 This deadlocks because of recursive locking via ks8851_net::lock in
ks8851_irq() and ks8851_start_xmit_par().

This is what happens since commit 0913ec336a6c0 ("net: ks8851: Fix
deadlock with the SPI chip variant"). Before that commit the softirq
execution will be picked up by netdev_alloc_skb_ip_align() and requires
PREEMPT_RT and a RX packet in #1 to trigger the deadlock.

> Fix the problem by disabling BH around critical sections, including the
> IRQ handler, thus preventing the net_tx_action() softirq from triggering
> during these critical sections. The net_tx_action() softirq is triggered
> at the end of the IRQ handler, once all the other IRQ handler actions have
> been completed.
>
> __schedule from schedule_rtlock+0x1c/0x34
> schedule_rtlock from rtlock_slowlock_locked+0x548/0x904
> rtlock_slowlock_locked from rt_spin_lock+0x60/0x9c
> rt_spin_lock from ks8851_start_xmit_par+0x74/0x1a8
> ks8851_start_xmit_par from netdev_start_xmit+0x20/0x44
> netdev_start_xmit from dev_hard_start_xmit+0xd0/0x188
> dev_hard_start_xmit from sch_direct_xmit+0xb8/0x25c
> sch_direct_xmit from __qdisc_run+0x1f8/0x4ec
> __qdisc_run from qdisc_run+0x1c/0x28
> qdisc_run from net_tx_action+0x1f0/0x268
> net_tx_action from handle_softirqs+0x1a4/0x270
> handle_softirqs from __local_bh_enable_ip+0xcc/0xe0
> __local_bh_enable_ip from __alloc_skb+0xd8/0x128
> __alloc_skb from __netdev_alloc_skb+0x3c/0x19c
> __netdev_alloc_skb from ks8851_irq+0x388/0x4d4
> ks8851_irq from irq_thread_fn+0x24/0x64
> irq_thread_fn from irq_thread+0x178/0x28c
> irq_thread from kthread+0x12c/0x138
> kthread from ret_from_fork+0x14/0x28

The backtrace here and the description is based on an older kernel.
However

Reviewed-by: Sebastian Andrzej Siewior <bigeasy@linutronix.de>

> Fixes: e0863634bf9f ("net: ks8851: Queue RX packets in IRQ handler instead of disabling BHs")
> Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
> Signed-off-by: Marek Vasut <marex@nabladev.com>

Sebastian