Re: [PATCH] task containersv11 add tasks file interface fix for cpusets

["Paul Menage" <menage@google.com>]

On 10/6/07, David Rientjes <rientjes@google.com> wrote:
>
> It can race with sched_setaffinity().  It has to give up tasklist_lock as
> well to call set_cpus_allowed() and can race
>
>         cpus_allowed = cpuset_cpus_allowed(p);
>         cpus_and(new_mask, new_mask, cpus_allowed);
>         retval = set_cpus_allowed(p, new_mask);
>
> and allow a task to have a cpu outside of the cpuset's new cpus_allowed if
> you've taken it away between cpuset_cpus_allowed() and set_cpus_allowed().

cpuset_cpus_allowed() takes callback_mutex, which is held by
update_cpumask() when it updates cs->cpus_allowed. So if we continue
to hold callback_mutex across the task update loop this wouldn't be a
race. Having said that, holding callback mutex for that long might not
be a good idea.

A cleaner solution might be to drop callback_mutex after updating
cs->cpus_allowed in update_cpumask() and then make sched_setaffinity()
do a post-check:

	cpus_allowed = cpuset_cpus_allowed(p);
 again:
	cpus_and(new_mask, new_mask, cpus_allowed);
	retval = set_cpus_allowed(p, new_mask);
	if (!retval) {
		/* Check for races with cpuset updates */
		cpus_allowed = cpuset_cpus_allowed(p);
		if (!cpus_subset(new_mask, cpus_allowed)) {
			/*
			 * We raced with a change to cpuset update,
			 * and our cpumask is now outside the
			 * permitted cpumask for the cpuset.  Since a
			 * change to the cpuset's cpus resets the
			 * cpumask for each task, do the same thing
			 * here.
			 */
			new_mask = cpus_allowed;
			goto again;
		}
	}

Paul