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author | Ingo Molnar <mingo@kernel.org> | 2019-11-19 19:54:39 +0100 |
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committer | Ingo Molnar <mingo@kernel.org> | 2019-11-19 19:56:28 +0100 |
commit | 8e1d58ae0c8d4af9ab0141f7e8a9ca95720df01c (patch) | |
tree | 7b09138ee1aca2825f86f5534bfd2caad83190ec /Documentation | |
parent | af42d3466bdc8f39806b26f593604fdc54140bcb (diff) | |
parent | 40d04110f87940b6a03bf0aa19cd29e84f465f20 (diff) | |
download | linux-8e1d58ae0c8d4af9ab0141f7e8a9ca95720df01c.tar.gz linux-8e1d58ae0c8d4af9ab0141f7e8a9ca95720df01c.tar.bz2 linux-8e1d58ae0c8d4af9ab0141f7e8a9ca95720df01c.zip |
Merge branch 'for-mingo' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/paulmck/linux-rcu into locking/kcsan
Pull the KCSAN subsystem from Paul E. McKenney:
"This pull request contains base kernel concurrency sanitizer
(KCSAN) enablement for x86, courtesy of Marco Elver. KCSAN is a
sampling watchpoint-based data-race detector, and is documented in
Documentation/dev-tools/kcsan.rst. KCSAN was announced in September,
and much feedback has since been incorporated:
http://lkml.kernel.org/r/CANpmjNPJ_bHjfLZCAPV23AXFfiPiyXXqqu72n6TgWzb2Gnu1eA@mail.gmail.com
The data races located thus far have resulted in a number of fixes:
https://github.com/google/ktsan/wiki/KCSAN#upstream-fixes-of-data-races-found-by-kcsan
Additional information may be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20191114180303.66955-1-elver@google.com/
"
Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@kernel.org>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst | 1 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/dev-tools/kcsan.rst | 256 |
2 files changed, 257 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst index b0522a4dd107..1b756a7014e0 100644 --- a/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst +++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst @@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ whole; patches welcome! kasan ubsan kmemleak + kcsan gdb-kernel-debugging kgdb kselftest diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/kcsan.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/kcsan.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..a6f4f92df2fa --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/kcsan.rst @@ -0,0 +1,256 @@ +The Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer (KCSAN) +======================================== + +Overview +-------- + +*Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer (KCSAN)* is a dynamic data race detector for +kernel space. KCSAN is a sampling watchpoint-based data race detector. Key +priorities in KCSAN's design are lack of false positives, scalability, and +simplicity. More details can be found in `Implementation Details`_. + +KCSAN uses compile-time instrumentation to instrument memory accesses. KCSAN is +supported in both GCC and Clang. With GCC it requires version 7.3.0 or later. +With Clang it requires version 7.0.0 or later. + +Usage +----- + +To enable KCSAN configure kernel with:: + + CONFIG_KCSAN = y + +KCSAN provides several other configuration options to customize behaviour (see +their respective help text for more info). + +Error reports +~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +A typical data race report looks like this:: + + ================================================================== + BUG: KCSAN: data-race in generic_permission / kernfs_refresh_inode + + write to 0xffff8fee4c40700c of 4 bytes by task 175 on cpu 4: + kernfs_refresh_inode+0x70/0x170 + kernfs_iop_permission+0x4f/0x90 + inode_permission+0x190/0x200 + link_path_walk.part.0+0x503/0x8e0 + path_lookupat.isra.0+0x69/0x4d0 + filename_lookup+0x136/0x280 + user_path_at_empty+0x47/0x60 + vfs_statx+0x9b/0x130 + __do_sys_newlstat+0x50/0xb0 + __x64_sys_newlstat+0x37/0x50 + do_syscall_64+0x85/0x260 + entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9 + + read to 0xffff8fee4c40700c of 4 bytes by task 166 on cpu 6: + generic_permission+0x5b/0x2a0 + kernfs_iop_permission+0x66/0x90 + inode_permission+0x190/0x200 + link_path_walk.part.0+0x503/0x8e0 + path_lookupat.isra.0+0x69/0x4d0 + filename_lookup+0x136/0x280 + user_path_at_empty+0x47/0x60 + do_faccessat+0x11a/0x390 + __x64_sys_access+0x3c/0x50 + do_syscall_64+0x85/0x260 + entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9 + + Reported by Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer on: + CPU: 6 PID: 166 Comm: systemd-journal Not tainted 5.3.0-rc7+ #1 + Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.12.0-1 04/01/2014 + ================================================================== + +The header of the report provides a short summary of the functions involved in +the race. It is followed by the access types and stack traces of the 2 threads +involved in the data race. + +The other less common type of data race report looks like this:: + + ================================================================== + BUG: KCSAN: data-race in e1000_clean_rx_irq+0x551/0xb10 + + race at unknown origin, with read to 0xffff933db8a2ae6c of 1 bytes by interrupt on cpu 0: + e1000_clean_rx_irq+0x551/0xb10 + e1000_clean+0x533/0xda0 + net_rx_action+0x329/0x900 + __do_softirq+0xdb/0x2db + irq_exit+0x9b/0xa0 + do_IRQ+0x9c/0xf0 + ret_from_intr+0x0/0x18 + default_idle+0x3f/0x220 + arch_cpu_idle+0x21/0x30 + do_idle+0x1df/0x230 + cpu_startup_entry+0x14/0x20 + rest_init+0xc5/0xcb + arch_call_rest_init+0x13/0x2b + start_kernel+0x6db/0x700 + + Reported by Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer on: + CPU: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 5.3.0-rc7+ #2 + Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.12.0-1 04/01/2014 + ================================================================== + +This report is generated where it was not possible to determine the other +racing thread, but a race was inferred due to the data value of the watched +memory location having changed. These can occur either due to missing +instrumentation or e.g. DMA accesses. + +Selective analysis +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +To disable KCSAN data race detection for an entire subsystem, add to the +respective ``Makefile``:: + + KCSAN_SANITIZE := n + +To disable KCSAN on a per-file basis, add to the ``Makefile``:: + + KCSAN_SANITIZE_file.o := n + +KCSAN also understands the ``data_race(expr)`` annotation, which tells KCSAN +that any data races due to accesses in ``expr`` should be ignored and resulting +behaviour when encountering a data race is deemed safe. + +debugfs +~~~~~~~ + +* The file ``/sys/kernel/debug/kcsan`` can be read to get stats. + +* KCSAN can be turned on or off by writing ``on`` or ``off`` to + ``/sys/kernel/debug/kcsan``. + +* Writing ``!some_func_name`` to ``/sys/kernel/debug/kcsan`` adds + ``some_func_name`` to the report filter list, which (by default) blacklists + reporting data races where either one of the top stackframes are a function + in the list. + +* Writing either ``blacklist`` or ``whitelist`` to ``/sys/kernel/debug/kcsan`` + changes the report filtering behaviour. For example, the blacklist feature + can be used to silence frequently occurring data races; the whitelist feature + can help with reproduction and testing of fixes. + +Data Races +---------- + +Informally, two operations *conflict* if they access the same memory location, +and at least one of them is a write operation. In an execution, two memory +operations from different threads form a **data race** if they *conflict*, at +least one of them is a *plain access* (non-atomic), and they are *unordered* in +the "happens-before" order according to the `LKMM +<../../tools/memory-model/Documentation/explanation.txt>`_. + +Relationship with the Linux Kernel Memory Model (LKMM) +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +The LKMM defines the propagation and ordering rules of various memory +operations, which gives developers the ability to reason about concurrent code. +Ultimately this allows to determine the possible executions of concurrent code, +and if that code is free from data races. + +KCSAN is aware of *atomic* accesses (``READ_ONCE``, ``WRITE_ONCE``, +``atomic_*``, etc.), but is oblivious of any ordering guarantees. In other +words, KCSAN assumes that as long as a plain access is not observed to race +with another conflicting access, memory operations are correctly ordered. + +This means that KCSAN will not report *potential* data races due to missing +memory ordering. If, however, missing memory ordering (that is observable with +a particular compiler and architecture) leads to an observable data race (e.g. +entering a critical section erroneously), KCSAN would report the resulting +data race. + +Race conditions vs. data races +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +Race conditions are logic bugs, where unexpected interleaving of racing +concurrent operations result in an erroneous state. + +Data races on the other hand are defined at the *memory model/language level*. +Many data races are also harmful race conditions, which a tool like KCSAN +reports! However, not all data races are race conditions and vice-versa. +KCSAN's intent is to report data races according to the LKMM. A data race +detector can only work at the memory model/language level. + +Deeper analysis, to find high-level race conditions only, requires conveying +the intended kernel logic to a tool. This requires (1) the developer writing a +specification or model of their code, and then (2) the tool verifying that the +implementation matches. This has been done for small bits of code using model +checkers and other formal methods, but does not scale to the level of what can +be covered with a dynamic analysis based data race detector such as KCSAN. + +For reasons outlined in this `article <https://lwn.net/Articles/793253/>`_, +data races can be much more subtle, but can cause no less harm than high-level +race conditions. + +Implementation Details +---------------------- + +The general approach is inspired by `DataCollider +<http://usenix.org/legacy/events/osdi10/tech/full_papers/Erickson.pdf>`_. +Unlike DataCollider, KCSAN does not use hardware watchpoints, but instead +relies on compiler instrumentation. Watchpoints are implemented using an +efficient encoding that stores access type, size, and address in a long; the +benefits of using "soft watchpoints" are portability and greater flexibility in +limiting which accesses trigger a watchpoint. + +More specifically, KCSAN requires instrumenting plain (unmarked, non-atomic) +memory operations; for each instrumented plain access: + +1. Check if a matching watchpoint exists; if yes, and at least one access is a + write, then we encountered a racing access. + +2. Periodically, if no matching watchpoint exists, set up a watchpoint and + stall for a small delay. + +3. Also check the data value before the delay, and re-check the data value + after delay; if the values mismatch, we infer a race of unknown origin. + +To detect data races between plain and atomic memory operations, KCSAN also +annotates atomic accesses, but only to check if a watchpoint exists +(``kcsan_check_atomic_*``); i.e. KCSAN never sets up a watchpoint on atomic +accesses. + +Key Properties +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +1. **Memory Overhead:** The current implementation uses a small array of longs + to encode watchpoint information, which is negligible. + +2. **Performance Overhead:** KCSAN's runtime aims to be minimal, using an + efficient watchpoint encoding that does not require acquiring any shared + locks in the fast-path. For kernel boot on a system with 8 CPUs: + + - 5.0x slow-down with the default KCSAN config; + - 2.8x slow-down from runtime fast-path overhead only (set very large + ``KCSAN_SKIP_WATCH`` and unset ``KCSAN_SKIP_WATCH_RANDOMIZE``). + +3. **Annotation Overheads:** Minimal annotations are required outside the KCSAN + runtime. As a result, maintenance overheads are minimal as the kernel + evolves. + +4. **Detects Racy Writes from Devices:** Due to checking data values upon + setting up watchpoints, racy writes from devices can also be detected. + +5. **Memory Ordering:** KCSAN is *not* explicitly aware of the LKMM's ordering + rules; this may result in missed data races (false negatives). + +6. **Analysis Accuracy:** For observed executions, due to using a sampling + strategy, the analysis is *unsound* (false negatives possible), but aims to + be complete (no false positives). + +Alternatives Considered +----------------------- + +An alternative data race detection approach for the kernel can be found in +`Kernel Thread Sanitizer (KTSAN) <https://github.com/google/ktsan/wiki>`_. +KTSAN is a happens-before data race detector, which explicitly establishes the +happens-before order between memory operations, which can then be used to +determine data races as defined in `Data Races`_. To build a correct +happens-before relation, KTSAN must be aware of all ordering rules of the LKMM +and synchronization primitives. Unfortunately, any omission leads to false +positives, which is especially important in the context of the kernel which +includes numerous custom synchronization mechanisms. Furthermore, KTSAN's +implementation requires metadata for each memory location (shadow memory); +currently, for each page, KTSAN requires 4 pages of shadow memory. |