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From:   Andreas Hindborg <nmi@metaspace.dk>
To:     Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@google.com>
Cc:     rust-for-linux@vger.kernel.org, Miguel Ojeda <ojeda@kernel.org>,
        Wedson Almeida Filho <wedsonaf@gmail.com>,
        Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>,
        Lai Jiangshan <jiangshanlai@gmail.com>,
        Alex Gaynor <alex.gaynor@gmail.com>,
        Boqun Feng <boqun.feng@gmail.com>, Gary Guo <gary@garyguo.net>,
        =?utf-8?Q?Bj=C3=B6rn?= Roy Baron <bjorn3_gh@protonmail.com>,
        Benno Lossin <benno.lossin@proton.me>,
        linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, patches@lists.linux.dev
Subject: Re: [PATCH v1 3/7] rust: sync: add `Arc::{from_raw, into_raw}`
Date:   Wed, 24 May 2023 12:20:36 +0200
In-reply-to: <20230517203119.3160435-4-aliceryhl@google.com>
Message-ID: <87edn6do1b.fsf@metaspace.dk>
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Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@google.com> writes:

> From: Wedson Almeida Filho <walmeida@microsoft.com>
>
> These methods can be used to turn an `Arc` into a raw pointer and back,
> in a way that preserves the metadata for fat pointers.
>
> This is done using the unstable ptr_metadata feature [1]. However, it
> could also be done using the unstable pointer_byte_offsets feature [2],
> which is likely to have a shorter path to stabilization than
> ptr_metadata.
>
> Link: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/81513 [1]
> Link: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/96283 [2]
> Signed-off-by: Wedson Almeida Filho <walmeida@microsoft.com>
> Co-developed-by: Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@google.com>
> Signed-off-by: Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@google.com>
> ---
>  rust/kernel/lib.rs      |  1 +
>  rust/kernel/sync/arc.rs | 44 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  2 files changed, 45 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/rust/kernel/lib.rs b/rust/kernel/lib.rs
> index cdf9fe999328..82854c86e65d 100644
> --- a/rust/kernel/lib.rs
> +++ b/rust/kernel/lib.rs
> @@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
>  #![feature(generic_associated_types)]
>  #![feature(new_uninit)]
>  #![feature(pin_macro)]
> +#![feature(ptr_metadata)]
>  #![feature(receiver_trait)]
>  #![feature(unsize)]
>  
> diff --git a/rust/kernel/sync/arc.rs b/rust/kernel/sync/arc.rs
> index e6d206242465..7c55a9178dfb 100644
> --- a/rust/kernel/sync/arc.rs
> +++ b/rust/kernel/sync/arc.rs
> @@ -210,6 +210,50 @@ impl<T: ?Sized> Arc<T> {
>          }
>      }
>  
> +    /// Convert the [`Arc`] into a raw pointer.
> +    ///
> +    /// The raw pointer has ownership of the refcount that this Arc object owned.
> +    pub fn into_raw(self) -> *const T {
> +        let ptr = self.ptr.as_ptr();
> +        core::mem::forget(self);
> +        // SAFETY: The pointer is valid.
> +        unsafe { core::ptr::addr_of!((*ptr).data) }
> +    }
> +
> +    /// Recreates an [`Arc`] instance previously deconstructed via [`Arc::into_raw`].
> +    ///
> +    /// This code relies on the `repr(C)` layout of structs as described in
> +    /// <https://doc.rust-lang.org/reference/type-layout.html#reprc-structs>.
> +    ///
> +    /// # Safety
> +    ///
> +    /// `ptr` must have been returned by a previous call to [`Arc::into_raw`]. Additionally, it
> +    /// can only be called once for each previous call to [`Arc::into_raw`].
> +    pub unsafe fn from_raw(ptr: *const T) -> Self {
> +        // SAFETY: The safety requirement ensures that the pointer is valid.
> +        let val_align = core::mem::align_of_val(unsafe { &*ptr });
> +        let refcount_size = core::mem::size_of::<Opaque<bindings::refcount_t>>();
> +
> +        // Use the `repr(C)` algorithm to compute the offset of `data` in `ArcInner`.
> +        //
> +        // Pseudo-code for the `#[repr(C)]` algorithm can be found here:
> +        // <https://doc.rust-lang.org/reference/type-layout.html#reprc-structs>
> +        let mut val_offset = refcount_size;
> +        let val_misalign = val_offset % val_align;
> +        if val_misalign > 0 {
> +            val_offset += val_align - val_misalign;
> +        }
> +
> +        // This preserves the metadata in the pointer, if any.
> +        let metadata = core::ptr::metadata(ptr as *const ArcInner<T>);

I can't follow this. How does this work? `ptr` was for field
`inner.data: T`, but we are casting to `ArcInner<T>`.

> +        let ptr = (ptr as *mut u8).wrapping_sub(val_offset) as *mut ();
> +        let ptr = core::ptr::from_raw_parts_mut(ptr, metadata);

Metadata was obtained from a pointer pointing to `inner.data`, we then
move it back to beginning of `ArcInner<T>` and then reconstruct the
potentially fat pointer with metadata from the pointer to `T`? How can
this be right?

BR Andreas

> +
> +        // SAFETY: By the safety requirements we know that `ptr` came from `Arc::into_raw`, so the
> +        // reference count held then will be owned by the new `Arc` object.
> +        unsafe { Self::from_inner(NonNull::new_unchecked(ptr)) }
> +    }
> +
>      /// Returns an [`ArcBorrow`] from the given [`Arc`].
>      ///
>      /// This is useful when the argument of a function call is an [`ArcBorrow`] (e.g., in a method