From: "feng.zhou" <realsummitzhou@gmail.com>
To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Cc: pmladek@suse.com, senozhatsky@chromium.org, rostedt@goodmis.org,
john.ogness@linutronix.de, "feng.zhou" <realsummitzhou@gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH] printk: Fix _DESCS_COUNT type for 64-bit systems
Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2026 17:41:40 +0800 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260202094140.9518-1-realsummitzhou@gmail.com> (raw)
The _DESCS_COUNT macro currently uses 1U (32-bit unsigned) instead of
1UL (unsigned long), which breaks the intended overflow testing design
on 64-bit systems.
Problem Analysis:
----------------
The printk_ringbuffer uses a deliberate design choice to initialize
descriptor IDs near the maximum 62-bit value to trigger overflow early
in the system's lifetime. This is documented in printk_ringbuffer.h:
"initial values are chosen that map to the correct initial array
indexes, but will result in overflows soon."
The DESC0_ID macro calculates:
DESC0_ID(ct_bits) = DESC_ID(-(_DESCS_COUNT(ct_bits) + 1))
On 64-bit systems with typical configuration (descbits=16):
- Current buggy behavior: DESC0_ID = 0xfffeffff
- Expected behavior: DESC0_ID = 0x3ffffffffffeffff
The buggy version only uses 32 bits, which means:
1. The initial ID is nowhere near 2^62
2. It would take ~140 trillion wraps to trigger 62-bit overflow
3. The overflow handling code is never tested in practice
Root Cause:
----------
The issue is in this line:
#define _DESCS_COUNT(ct_bits) (1U << (ct_bits))
When _DESCS_COUNT(16) is calculated:
1U << 16 = 0x10000 (32-bit value)
-(0x10000 + 1) = -0x10001 = 0xFFFEFFFF (32-bit two's complement)
On 64-bit systems, this 32-bit value doesn't get extended to create
the intended 62-bit ID near the maximum value.
Impact:
------
While index calculations still work correctly in the short term, this
bug has several implications:
1. Violates the design intention documented in the code
2. Overflow handling code paths remain untested
3. ABA detection code doesn't get exercised under overflow conditions
4. In extreme long-term running scenarios (though unlikely), could
potentially cause issues when ID actually reaches 2^62
Verification:
------------
Tested on ARM64 system with CONFIG_LOG_BUF_SHIFT=20 (descbits=15):
- Before fix: DESC0_ID(16) = 0xfffeffff
- After fix: DESC0_ID(16) = 0x3fffffffffff7fff
The fix aligns _DESCS_COUNT with _DATA_SIZE, which already correctly
uses 1UL:
#define _DATA_SIZE(sz_bits) (1UL << (sz_bits))
Signed-off-by: feng.zhou <realsummitzhou@gmail.com>
---
kernel/printk/printk_ringbuffer.h | 2 +-
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/kernel/printk/printk_ringbuffer.h b/kernel/printk/printk_ringbuffer.h
index 4ef81349d9fb..4f4949700676 100644
--- a/kernel/printk/printk_ringbuffer.h
+++ b/kernel/printk/printk_ringbuffer.h
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ enum desc_state {
};
#define _DATA_SIZE(sz_bits) (1UL << (sz_bits))
-#define _DESCS_COUNT(ct_bits) (1U << (ct_bits))
+#define _DESCS_COUNT(ct_bits) (1UL << (ct_bits))
#define DESC_SV_BITS BITS_PER_LONG
#define DESC_FLAGS_SHIFT (DESC_SV_BITS - 2)
#define DESC_FLAGS_MASK (3UL << DESC_FLAGS_SHIFT)
--
2.43.0
next reply other threads:[~2026-02-02 9:41 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 8+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-02-02 9:41 feng.zhou [this message]
2026-02-02 11:41 ` John Ogness
2026-02-02 15:07 ` [RESEND] " feng.zhou
2026-02-03 17:24 ` Petr Mladek
2026-03-03 16:52 ` Petr Mladek
2026-03-10 16:37 ` Petr Mladek
2026-03-10 21:40 ` John Ogness
2026-03-12 9:02 ` Petr Mladek
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