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From: Stanislav Fomichev <sdf.kernel@gmail.com>
To: netdev@vger.kernel.org
Cc: davem@davemloft.net, edumazet@google.com, kuba@kernel.org,
	pabeni@redhat.com
Subject: [PATCH net-next 6/6] net: document NETDEV_UNREGISTER unlocked rationale
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2026 11:21:29 -0700	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260630182129.1601784-7-sdf@fomichev.me> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260630182129.1601784-1-sdf@fomichev.me>

The lock-state table marks UNREGISTER as unlocked without saying
why. Add a short note that many handlers release the lowers via
dev_close().

Signed-off-by: Stanislav Fomichev <sdf@fomichev.me>
---
 Documentation/networking/netdevices.rst | 8 ++++++++
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+)

diff --git a/Documentation/networking/netdevices.rst b/Documentation/networking/netdevices.rst
index 1bb68a73bb67..761cdb08bf0f 100644
--- a/Documentation/networking/netdevices.rst
+++ b/Documentation/networking/netdevices.rst
@@ -427,6 +427,14 @@ For devices with locked ops, currently only the following notifiers are
 The following notifiers are running without the lock:
 * ``NETDEV_UNREGISTER``
 
+Many ``NETDEV_UNREGISTER`` handlers release their lowers with
+``dev_close()``, which takes the instance lock itself. Holding
+the lock across UNREGISTER would deadlock.
+
+Moving UNREGISTER under the lock is mechanical: switch those
+callers to the ``netif_*()`` lock-held variants. Deferred to
+limit churn.
+
 There are no clear expectations for the remaining notifiers. Notifiers not on
 the list may run with or without the instance lock, potentially even invoking
 the same notifier type with and without the lock from different code paths.
-- 
2.53.0-Meta


  parent reply	other threads:[~2026-06-30 18:21 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 10+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-06-30 18:21 [PATCH net-next 0/6] net: hold instance lock around NETDEV_DOWN and NETDEV_GOING_DOWN Stanislav Fomichev
2026-06-30 18:21 ` [PATCH net-next 1/6] net: hold instance lock around NETDEV_DOWN/GOING_DOWN Stanislav Fomichev
2026-06-30 18:21 ` [PATCH net-next 2/6] net: dsa: hold instance lock on close-on-shutdown paths Stanislav Fomichev
2026-06-30 18:21 ` [PATCH net-next 3/6] net: mtk_eth_soc: hold instance lock around DMA-device-swap close Stanislav Fomichev
2026-06-30 18:21 ` [PATCH net-next 4/6] net: rtnetlink: take instance lock inside rtnl_configure_link Stanislav Fomichev
2026-06-30 18:21 ` [PATCH net-next 5/6] net: require instance lock for NETDEV_DOWN/GOING_DOWN notifiers Stanislav Fomichev
2026-06-30 18:21 ` Stanislav Fomichev [this message]
2026-06-30 23:43   ` [PATCH net-next 6/6] net: document NETDEV_UNREGISTER unlocked rationale Jakub Kicinski
2026-07-01 16:02     ` Stanislav Fomichev
2026-07-01 16:52       ` Jakub Kicinski

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