2012-08-21 16:53:07

by Seiji Aguchi

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: [RFC][PATCH v3 0/3] make efivars/efi_pstore interrupt-safe

Changelog
v2 -> v3
- Patch 1/3
Replace spin_lock_irqsave/spin_unlock_irqrestore with spin_lock_irq/spin_unlock_irq in efivars_unregister(),
efivar_create(), efivar_store_raw() and efivar_delete() which are called in a process context.

- Patch 2/3
Change a name of delete_sysfs_entry() to delete_all_stale_sysfs_entries().
Also, don't release an efivar->lock while searching efivar->list in delete_all_stale_sysfs_entries().

- Patch 3/3
Remove a logic in efi_pstore_erase() which freshly created in patch v2.

v1 -> v2
- Patch 1/3
Add spin_lock_irq/spin_unlock_irq to open/close callbacks of efi_pstore
instead of moving spin_locks to a read callback.

- Patch 2/3
Replace a periodical timer with schedule_work().

- Patch 3/3
freshly create to kick a workqueue in oops case only.

[Problem]
There are following problems related to an interrupt context in efivar/efi_pstore.

Currently, efivars enables interrupt while taking efivars->lock.
So, there is a risk to be deadlocking in a write callback of efi_pstore if kernel panics
in interrupt context while taking efi_lock.

Also, efi_pstore creates sysfs entries ,which enable users to access to NVRAM, in a write callback.
If a kernel panic happens in interrupt contexts, pstore may fail because it could sleep due to dynamic
memory allocations during creating sysfs entries.

To resolve the problems above, a goal of this patchset is making efivars/efi_pstore interrupt-safe.

[Patch Description]
Patch 1/3 efivars: Disable external interrupt while holding efivars->lock
This patch replaces spin_lock/spin_unlock with spin_lock_irqsave/spin_lock_irqrestore to make efivars interrupt safe

Patch 2/3 efi_pstore: Introducing workqueue updating sysfs entries
This patch removes sysfs operations from write callback by introducing a workqueue updating sysfs entries

Patch 3/3 efi_pstore: Skiping scheduling a workqueue in cases other than oops
This patch restricts a schedule of a workqueue in case where users erase entries or oops happen which is truly needed for users.

drivers/firmware/efivars.c | 166 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--------
include/linux/efi.h | 3 +-
2 files changed, 137 insertions(+), 32 deletions(-)