2015-02-25 17:51:09

by Ameen

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: [PATCH 4/4] net/core/dev.c : Race condition in net_tx_action.

Transmitting asynchronously on all the network devices available we will notice the following behaviour:
a) The instruction "if (sd->completion_queue) {" saves on a CPU register the pointer value (register contents is used for the comparison)
b) The interupt is disabled (using "local_irq_disable")
c) when the content of "clist" is updated, the register is used, instead of re-read the "completion_queue" variable.

So, when a low-level tx interrupt arrives after the latching of "completion_queue", but before "local_irq_disable",
the value stored in "clist" reflect the situation before low-level tx interrupt, resulting in a sk_buff leak
---
net/core/dev.c | 2 +-
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/net/core/dev.c b/net/core/dev.c
index 8f9710c..db3e59e 100644
--- a/net/core/dev.c
+++ b/net/core/dev.c
@@ -3413,7 +3413,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(netif_rx_ni);

static void net_tx_action(struct softirq_action *h)
{
- struct softnet_data *sd = this_cpu_ptr(&softnet_data);
+ volatile struct softnet_data *sd = &__get_cpu_var(softnet_data);

if (sd->completion_queue) {
struct sk_buff *clist;
--
2.1.0


2015-02-25 18:16:38

by Eric Dumazet

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: [PATCH 4/4] net/core/dev.c : Race condition in net_tx_action.

On Wed, 2015-02-25 at 19:50 +0200, Ameen Ali wrote:
> Transmitting asynchronously on all the network devices available we will notice the following behaviour:
> a) The instruction "if (sd->completion_queue) {" saves on a CPU register the pointer value (register contents is used for the comparison)
> b) The interupt is disabled (using "local_irq_disable")
> c) when the content of "clist" is updated, the register is used, instead of re-read the "completion_queue" variable.
>
> So, when a low-level tx interrupt arrives after the latching of "completion_queue", but before "local_irq_disable",
> the value stored in "clist" reflect the situation before low-level tx interrupt, resulting in a sk_buff leak
> ---
> net/core/dev.c | 2 +-
> 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/net/core/dev.c b/net/core/dev.c
> index 8f9710c..db3e59e 100644
> --- a/net/core/dev.c
> +++ b/net/core/dev.c
> @@ -3413,7 +3413,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(netif_rx_ni);
>
> static void net_tx_action(struct softirq_action *h)
> {
> - struct softnet_data *sd = this_cpu_ptr(&softnet_data);
> + volatile struct softnet_data *sd = &__get_cpu_var(softnet_data);
>
> if (sd->completion_queue) {
> struct sk_buff *clist;

Seems real bug is elsewhere. This is becoming a FAQ.

Which arch are you using, and which compiler ?

volatile are highly discouraged in favor of ACCESS_ONCE, READ_ONCE(),
WRITE_ONCE() : read
Documentation/volatile-considered-harmful.txt:19:safe

local_irq_disable() acts as a barrier the compiler should reload the
value from memory.


2015-02-25 18:47:58

by David Miller

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: [PATCH 4/4] net/core/dev.c : Race condition in net_tx_action.

From: Ameen Ali <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2015 19:50:59 +0200

> @@ -3413,7 +3413,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(netif_rx_ni);
>
> static void net_tx_action(struct softirq_action *h)
> {
> - struct softnet_data *sd = this_cpu_ptr(&softnet_data);
> + volatile struct softnet_data *sd = &__get_cpu_var(softnet_data);

volatile is never an appropriate solution to a race condition