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Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2017 11:43:28 +0200 (CEST)
From: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de>
To: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>
cc: Elena Reshetova <elena.reshetova@intel.com>,
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Subject: Re: [PATCH 14/15] futex: convert futex_pi_state.refcount to
 refcount_t
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On Fri, 1 Sep 2017, Peter Zijlstra wrote:
> On Fri, Sep 01, 2017 at 09:39:50AM +0200, Thomas Gleixner wrote:
> > On Wed, 30 Aug 2017, Elena Reshetova wrote:
> > > atomic_t variables are currently used to implement reference
> > > counters with the following properties:
> > >  - counter is initialized to 1 using atomic_set()
> > >  - a resource is freed upon counter reaching zero
> > >  - once counter reaches zero, its further
> > >    increments aren't allowed
> > >  - counter schema uses basic atomic operations
> > >    (set, inc, inc_not_zero, dec_and_test, etc.)
> > > 
> > > Such atomic variables should be converted to a newly provided
> > > refcount_t type and API that prevents accidental counter overflows
> > > and underflows. This is important since overflows and underflows
> > > can lead to use-after-free situation and be exploitable.
> > > 
> > > The variable futex_pi_state.refcount is used as pure
> > > reference counter. Convert it to refcount_t and fix up
> > > the operations.
> > > 
> > > Suggested-by: Kees Cook <keescook@chromium.org>
> > > Reviewed-by: David Windsor <dwindsor@gmail.com>
> > > Reviewed-by: Hans Liljestrand <ishkamiel@gmail.com>
> > > Signed-off-by: Elena Reshetova <elena.reshetova@intel.com>
> > 
> > Reviewed-by: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de>
> 
> So the thing to be careful with for things like futex and some of the
> other core kernel code is the memory ordering.
> 
> atomic_dec_and_test() provides a full smp_mb() before and after,
> refcount_dec_and_test() only provides release semantics.
> 
> This is typically sufficient, and I would argue that if we rely on more
> than that, there _should_ be a comment, however reality isn't always as
> nice.
> 
> That said, I think this conversion is OK, pi_state->refcount isn't
> relied upon to provide additional memory ordering above and beyond what
> refcounting requires.

So the changelogs should reflect that. The current one suggests that this
is a one to one replacement for atomic_t just with the extra sanity checks
added.

Thanks,

	tglx