From: Tom Verdonck <tom.verdonck@inspiral.be>
To: Guenter Roeck <linux@roeck-us.net>
Cc: linux-hwmon@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
Tom Verdonck <tom.verdonck@inspiral.be>
Subject: [PATCH 0/3] hwmon: fix jiffies wraparound in one-shot ready checks
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:23:21 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <cover.1790358356.git.tom.verdonck@inspiral.be> (raw)
Several hwmon drivers store a one-shot jiffies deadline that is set once
and never refreshed, then compare it against the current time with
time_before() on every access. time_before() only interprets the signed
difference of two jiffies values correctly while they are within
LONG_MAX jiffies of each other. Because the deadline is frozen while
jiffies keeps advancing, the difference eventually flips sign: after
2^31 jiffies (~248.5 days of uptime on a 32-bit HZ=100 kernel) the check
inverts and stays wrong for the next ~248.5 days.
The consequences differ per driver:
- tmp102, tmp108: every temperature read then returns -EAGAIN without
ever touching the sensor, until the machine is rebooted. This has
been observed in the field on 32-bit systems that had been up for
~248 days.
- sht4x: the read path instead concludes the heater is still active
and calls msleep() with a bogus, huge delta, blocking the read for a
very long time.
Each is fixed the same minimal way: store the deadline in a u64 jiffies
value and compare it with get_jiffies_64()/time_before64(), which does
not wrap in any realistic uptime. No functional change on the hot path
other than removing the false-positive after the wrap point.
The other hwmon time_before(jiffies, ...) users I looked at are not
affected: they either re-stamp last_updated on every update (the usual
cache pattern, e.g. tmp421, tmp464, tc654, g762, ibmpex, w83792d) or use
a freshly computed local timeout (pmbus/ltc2978), so their two operands
never drift apart.
The failure itself takes ~248 days of uptime to reproduce and follows
directly from the time_before() semantics; it was traced from a field
report of a 32-bit board stuck returning -EAGAIN after ~248 days.
Build-tested on x86-64 and cross-compiled for 32-bit ARM (Cortex-A7,
arm-linux-gnueabi) with make W=1; all three objects build cleanly with
no new warnings. 32-bit ARM is the configuration in which the bug
actually manifests.
Tom Verdonck (3):
hwmon: (tmp102) Fix jiffies wraparound in conversion-ready check
hwmon: (tmp108) Fix jiffies wraparound in conversion-ready check
hwmon: (sht4x) Fix jiffies wraparound in heater-ready check
drivers/hwmon/sht4x.c | 18 +++++++++---------
drivers/hwmon/tmp102.c | 8 ++++----
drivers/hwmon/tmp108.c | 8 ++++----
3 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)
--
2.53.0
next reply other threads:[~2026-09-25 18:23 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 7+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-09-25 18:23 Tom Verdonck [this message]
2026-09-25 18:23 ` [PATCH 1/3] hwmon: (tmp102) Fix jiffies wraparound in conversion-ready check Tom Verdonck
2026-09-26 3:25 ` Guenter Roeck
2026-09-25 18:23 ` [PATCH 2/3] hwmon: (tmp108) " Tom Verdonck
2026-09-26 3:26 ` Guenter Roeck
2026-09-25 18:23 ` [PATCH 3/3] hwmon: (sht4x) Fix jiffies wraparound in heater-ready check Tom Verdonck
2026-09-26 3:27 ` Guenter Roeck
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=cover.1790358356.git.tom.verdonck@inspiral.be \
--to=tom.verdonck@inspiral.be \
--cc=linux-hwmon@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=linux@roeck-us.net \
/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®