mirror of https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/
 help / color / mirror / Atom feed
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


             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

Reply instructions:

You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:

* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
  and reply-to-all from there: mbox

  Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style

* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
  switches of git-send-email(1):

  git send-email \
    --in-reply-to=20260202094140.9518-1-realsummitzhou@gmail.com \
    --to=realsummitzhou@gmail.com \
    --cc=john.ogness@linutronix.de \
    --cc=linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=pmladek@suse.com \
    --cc=rostedt@goodmis.org \
    --cc=senozhatsky@chromium.org \
    /path/to/YOUR_REPLY

  https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html

* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
  via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox

all inboxes | Powered by JetHome®