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David Vernet d02c48fa11 bpf: Make struct task_struct an RCU-safe type
struct task_struct objects are a bit interesting in terms of how their
lifetime is protected by refcounts. task structs have two refcount
fields:

1. refcount_t usage: Protects the memory backing the task struct. When
   this refcount drops to 0, the task is immediately freed, without
   waiting for an RCU grace period to elapse. This is the field that
   most callers in the kernel currently use to ensure that a task
   remains valid while it's being referenced, and is what's currently
   tracked with bpf_task_acquire() and bpf_task_release().

2. refcount_t rcu_users: A refcount field which, when it drops to 0,
   schedules an RCU callback that drops a reference held on the 'usage'
   field above (which is acquired when the task is first created). This
   field therefore provides a form of RCU protection on the task by
   ensuring that at least one 'usage' refcount will be held until an RCU
   grace period has elapsed. The qualifier "a form of" is important
   here, as a task can remain valid after task->rcu_users has dropped to
   0 and the subsequent RCU gp has elapsed.

In terms of BPF, we want to use task->rcu_users to protect tasks that
function as referenced kptrs, and to allow tasks stored as referenced
kptrs in maps to be accessed with RCU protection.

Let's first determine whether we can safely use task->rcu_users to
protect tasks stored in maps. All of the bpf_task* kfuncs can only be
called from tracepoint, struct_ops, or BPF_PROG_TYPE_SCHED_CLS, program
types. For tracepoint and struct_ops programs, the struct task_struct
passed to a program handler will always be trusted, so it will always be
safe to call bpf_task_acquire() with any task passed to a program.
Note, however, that we must update bpf_task_acquire() to be KF_RET_NULL,
as it is possible that the task has exited by the time the program is
invoked, even if the pointer is still currently valid because the main
kernel holds a task->usage refcount. For BPF_PROG_TYPE_SCHED_CLS, tasks
should never be passed as an argument to the any program handlers, so it
should not be relevant.

The second question is whether it's safe to use RCU to access a task
that was acquired with bpf_task_acquire(), and stored in a map. Because
bpf_task_acquire() now uses task->rcu_users, it follows that if the task
is present in the map, that it must have had at least one
task->rcu_users refcount by the time the current RCU cs was started.
Therefore, it's safe to access that task until the end of the current
RCU cs.

With all that said, this patch makes struct task_struct is an
RCU-protected object. In doing so, we also change bpf_task_acquire() to
be KF_ACQUIRE | KF_RCU | KF_RET_NULL, and adjust any selftests as
necessary. A subsequent patch will remove bpf_task_kptr_get(), and
bpf_task_acquire_not_zero() respectively.

Signed-off-by: David Vernet <void@manifault.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20230331195733.699708-2-void@manifault.com
Signed-off-by: Alexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>
2023-04-01 09:07:20 -07:00
arch bpf-next-for-netdev 2023-03-06 20:36:39 -08:00
block Driver core changes for 6.3-rc1 2023-02-24 12:58:55 -08:00
certs Kbuild updates for v6.3 2023-02-26 11:53:25 -08:00
crypto Networking changes for 6.3. 2023-02-21 18:24:12 -08:00
Documentation bpf, docs: Add extended call instructions 2023-03-25 20:58:36 -07:00
drivers bpf: Remove now-unnecessary NULL checks for KF_RELEASE kfuncs 2023-03-25 16:56:22 -07:00
fs ARM: SoC drivers for 6.3 2023-02-27 10:04:49 -08:00
include bpf: Use bpf_mem_cache_alloc/free for bpf_local_storage 2023-03-25 19:52:52 -07:00
init Kbuild updates for v6.3 2023-02-26 11:53:25 -08:00
io_uring net: reclaim skb->scm_io_uring bit 2023-03-08 13:21:47 +00:00
ipc Merge branch 'work.namespace' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/viro/vfs 2023-02-24 19:20:07 -08:00
kernel bpf: Make struct task_struct an RCU-safe type 2023-04-01 09:07:20 -07:00
lib Kernel concurrency sanitizer (KCSAN) updates for v6.3 2023-02-25 13:02:20 -08:00
LICENSES LICENSES: Add the copyleft-next-0.3.1 license 2022-11-08 15:44:01 +01:00
mm memblock: small optimizations 2023-02-27 09:34:53 -08:00
net bpf: allow a TCP CC to write app_limited 2023-03-29 13:10:56 -07:00
rust Kbuild updates for v6.3 2023-02-26 11:53:25 -08:00
samples bpf: use canonical ftrace path 2023-03-13 21:51:30 -07:00
scripts Kbuild updates for v6.3 2023-02-26 11:53:25 -08:00
security powerpc updates for 6.3 2023-02-25 11:00:06 -08:00
sound ARM: SoC drivers for 6.3 2023-02-27 10:04:49 -08:00
tools bpf: Make struct task_struct an RCU-safe type 2023-04-01 09:07:20 -07:00
usr usr/gen_init_cpio.c: remove unnecessary -1 values from int file 2022-10-03 14:21:44 -07:00
virt KVM/riscv changes for 6.3 2023-02-15 12:33:28 -05:00
.clang-format media: subdev: Add for_each_active_route() macro 2023-01-22 09:35:57 +01:00
.cocciconfig
.get_maintainer.ignore get_maintainer: add Alan to .get_maintainer.ignore 2022-08-20 15:17:44 -07:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: use 'dts' diff driver for *.dtso files 2023-02-26 15:28:23 +09:00
.gitignore .gitignore: ignore *.cover and *.mbx 2023-02-05 18:51:22 +09:00
.mailmap 12 hotfixes, mostly against mm/. Five of these fixes are cc:stable. 2023-02-13 14:09:20 -08:00
.rustfmt.toml rust: add .rustfmt.toml 2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
COPYING COPYING: state that all contributions really are covered by this file 2020-02-10 13:32:20 -08:00
CREDITS There is no particular theme here - mainly quick hits all over the tree. 2023-02-23 17:55:40 -08:00
Kbuild Kbuild updates for v6.1 2022-10-10 12:00:45 -07:00
Kconfig kbuild: ensure full rebuild when the compiler is updated 2020-05-12 13:28:33 +09:00
MAINTAINERS ARM: SoC fixes for 6.3, part 1 2023-02-27 10:09:40 -08:00
Makefile Kbuild updates for v6.3 2023-02-26 11:53:25 -08:00
README

Linux kernel
============

There are several guides for kernel developers and users. These guides can
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There are various text files in the Documentation/ subdirectory,
several of them using the Restructured Text markup notation.

Please read the Documentation/process/changes.rst file, as it contains the
requirements for building and running the kernel, and information about
the problems which may result by upgrading your kernel.