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From:   Jann Horn <jannh@google.com>
Date:   Fri, 13 Apr 2018 18:05:24 +0200
Message-ID: <CAG48ez3-xtmAt2EpRFR8GNKKPcsDsyg7XdwQ=D5w3Ym6w4Krjw@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] mmap.2: MAP_FIXED is okay if the address range has been reserved
To:     Michal Hocko <mhocko@kernel.org>
Cc:     "Michael Kerrisk (man-pages)" <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>,
        John Hubbard <jhubbard@nvidia.com>,
        linux-man <linux-man@vger.kernel.org>,
        Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>,
        Linux-MM <linux-mm@kvack.org>,
        lkml <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>,
        Linux API <linux-api@vger.kernel.org>
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On Fri, Apr 13, 2018 at 6:04 PM, Michal Hocko <mhocko@kernel.org> wrote:
> On Fri 13-04-18 17:04:09, Jann Horn wrote:
>> On Fri, Apr 13, 2018 at 8:49 AM, Michal Hocko <mhocko@kernel.org> wrote:
>> > On Fri 13-04-18 08:43:27, Michael Kerrisk wrote:
>> > [...]
>> >> So, you mean remove this entire paragraph:
>> >>
>> >>               For cases in which the specified memory region has not been
>> >>               reserved using an existing mapping,  newer  kernels  (Linux
>> >>               4.17  and later) provide an option MAP_FIXED_NOREPLACE that
>> >>               should be used instead; older kernels require the caller to
>> >>               use addr as a hint (without MAP_FIXED) and take appropriate
>> >>               action if the kernel places the new mapping at a  different
>> >>               address.
>> >>
>> >> It seems like some version of the first half of the paragraph is worth
>> >> keeping, though, so as to point the reader in the direction of a remedy.
>> >> How about replacing that text with the following:
>> >>
>> >>               Since  Linux 4.17, the MAP_FIXED_NOREPLACE flag can be used
>> >>               in a multithreaded program to avoid  the  hazard  described
>> >>               above.
>> >
>> > Yes, that sounds reasonable to me.
>>
>> But that kind of sounds as if you can't avoid it before Linux 4.17,
>> when actually, you just have to call mmap() with the address as hint,
>> and if mmap() returns a different address, munmap() it and go on your
>> normal error path.
>
> This is still racy in multithreaded application which is the main point
> of the whole section, no?

No, it isn't.