Question about synchronize_net() in AF_PACKET close()

[Martin Kelly <martin@martingkelly.com>]

Hi,

I have been reading the code in net/packet/af_packet.c in order to
optimize the runtime for raw socket close(). In certain cases, close()
can take a long time to return because of the synchronize_net()
overhead. In pursuit of speeding up close(), I have been testing a patch
that defers the socket buffer memory release via call_rcu() in order to
make close() return faster. However, I hit a tricky RCU question for
which I don't have the answer and wanted to know if any RCU/networking
experts could provide some guidance.

In net/packet/af_packet.c, I noticed the following few lines within
packet_release:

         synchronize_net();
         /*
          *      Now the socket is dead. No more input will appear.
          */
         sock_orphan(sk);
         sock->sk = NULL;

>From testing and code analysis, I have found that it appears to be safe
to move sock_orphan and sock->sk = NULL before the synchronize_net()
call like so:

         /*
          *      Now the socket is dead. No more input will appear.
          */
         sock_orphan(sk);
         sock->sk = NULL;
         synchronize_net();

Could some RCU and/or networking experts chime in about whether this a
safe operation? For all I know, there is some deep, fundamental reason
why those lines are in the order they are. On the other hand, perhaps
there is not.

Thanks,
Martin