[PATCH] Notifier chain update: API changes

The kernel's implementation of notifier chains is unsafe.  There is no
protection against entries being added to or removed from a chain while the
chain is in use.  The issues were discussed in this thread:

    http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=113018709002036&w=2

We noticed that notifier chains in the kernel fall into two basic usage
classes:

	"Blocking" chains are always called from a process context
	and the callout routines are allowed to sleep;

	"Atomic" chains can be called from an atomic context and
	the callout routines are not allowed to sleep.

We decided to codify this distinction and make it part of the API.  Therefore
this set of patches introduces three new, parallel APIs: one for blocking
notifiers, one for atomic notifiers, and one for "raw" notifiers (which is
really just the old API under a new name).  New kinds of data structures are
used for the heads of the chains, and new routines are defined for
registration, unregistration, and calling a chain.  The three APIs are
explained in include/linux/notifier.h and their implementation is in
kernel/sys.c.

With atomic and blocking chains, the implementation guarantees that the chain
links will not be corrupted and that chain callers will not get messed up by
entries being added or removed.  For raw chains the implementation provides no
guarantees at all; users of this API must provide their own protections.  (The
idea was that situations may come up where the assumptions of the atomic and
blocking APIs are not appropriate, so it should be possible for users to
handle these things in their own way.)

There are some limitations, which should not be too hard to live with.  For
atomic/blocking chains, registration and unregistration must always be done in
a process context since the chain is protected by a mutex/rwsem.  Also, a
callout routine for a non-raw chain must not try to register or unregister
entries on its own chain.  (This did happen in a couple of places and the code
had to be changed to avoid it.)

Since atomic chains may be called from within an NMI handler, they cannot use
spinlocks for synchronization.  Instead we use RCU.  The overhead falls almost
entirely in the unregister routine, which is okay since unregistration is much
less frequent that calling a chain.

Here is the list of chains that we adjusted and their classifications.  None
of them use the raw API, so for the moment it is only a placeholder.

  ATOMIC CHAINS
  -------------
arch/i386/kernel/traps.c:		i386die_chain
arch/ia64/kernel/traps.c:		ia64die_chain
arch/powerpc/kernel/traps.c:		powerpc_die_chain
arch/sparc64/kernel/traps.c:		sparc64die_chain
arch/x86_64/kernel/traps.c:		die_chain
drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_si_intf.c:	xaction_notifier_list
kernel/panic.c:				panic_notifier_list
kernel/profile.c:			task_free_notifier
net/bluetooth/hci_core.c:		hci_notifier
net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_core.c:	ip_conntrack_chain
net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_core.c:	ip_conntrack_expect_chain
net/ipv6/addrconf.c:			inet6addr_chain
net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c:	nf_conntrack_chain
net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c:	nf_conntrack_expect_chain
net/netlink/af_netlink.c:		netlink_chain

  BLOCKING CHAINS
  ---------------
arch/powerpc/platforms/pseries/reconfig.c:	pSeries_reconfig_chain
arch/s390/kernel/process.c:		idle_chain
arch/x86_64/kernel/process.c		idle_notifier
drivers/base/memory.c:			memory_chain
drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c		cpufreq_policy_notifier_list
drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c		cpufreq_transition_notifier_list
drivers/macintosh/adb.c:		adb_client_list
drivers/macintosh/via-pmu.c		sleep_notifier_list
drivers/macintosh/via-pmu68k.c		sleep_notifier_list
drivers/macintosh/windfarm_core.c	wf_client_list
drivers/usb/core/notify.c		usb_notifier_list
drivers/video/fbmem.c			fb_notifier_list
kernel/cpu.c				cpu_chain
kernel/module.c				module_notify_list
kernel/profile.c			munmap_notifier
kernel/profile.c			task_exit_notifier
kernel/sys.c				reboot_notifier_list
net/core/dev.c				netdev_chain
net/decnet/dn_dev.c:			dnaddr_chain
net/ipv4/devinet.c:			inetaddr_chain

It's possible that some of these classifications are wrong.  If they are,
please let us know or submit a patch to fix them.  Note that any chain that
gets called very frequently should be atomic, because the rwsem read-locking
used for blocking chains is very likely to incur cache misses on SMP systems.
(However, if the chain's callout routines may sleep then the chain cannot be
atomic.)

The patch set was written by Alan Stern and Chandra Seetharaman, incorporating
material written by Keith Owens and suggestions from Paul McKenney and Andrew
Morton.

[jes@sgi.com: restructure the notifier chain initialization macros]
Signed-off-by: Alan Stern <stern@rowland.harvard.edu>
Signed-off-by: Chandra Seetharaman <sekharan@us.ibm.com>
Signed-off-by: Jes Sorensen <jes@sgi.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@osdl.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>

1 files changed, 266 insertions, 61 deletions

diff --git a/kernel/sys.c b/kernel/sys.c
index 38bc73e..c93d37f 100644
--- a/kernel/sys.c
+++ b/kernel/sys.c
@@ -95,99 +95,304 @@ int cad_pid = 1;
  *	and the like. 
  */
 
-static struct notifier_block *reboot_notifier_list;
-static DEFINE_RWLOCK(notifier_lock);
+static BLOCKING_NOTIFIER_HEAD(reboot_notifier_list);
+
+/*
+ *	Notifier chain core routines.  The exported routines below
+ *	are layered on top of these, with appropriate locking added.
+ */
+
+static int notifier_chain_register(struct notifier_block **nl,
+		struct notifier_block *n)
+{
+	while ((*nl) != NULL) {
+		if (n->priority > (*nl)->priority)
+			break;
+		nl = &((*nl)->next);
+	}
+	n->next = *nl;
+	rcu_assign_pointer(*nl, n);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int notifier_chain_unregister(struct notifier_block **nl,
+		struct notifier_block *n)
+{
+	while ((*nl) != NULL) {
+		if ((*nl) == n) {
+			rcu_assign_pointer(*nl, n->next);
+			return 0;
+		}
+		nl = &((*nl)->next);
+	}
+	return -ENOENT;
+}
+
+static int __kprobes notifier_call_chain(struct notifier_block **nl,
+		unsigned long val, void *v)
+{
+	int ret = NOTIFY_DONE;
+	struct notifier_block *nb;
+
+	nb = rcu_dereference(*nl);
+	while (nb) {
+		ret = nb->notifier_call(nb, val, v);
+		if ((ret & NOTIFY_STOP_MASK) == NOTIFY_STOP_MASK)
+			break;
+		nb = rcu_dereference(nb->next);
+	}
+	return ret;
+}
+
+/*
+ *	Atomic notifier chain routines.  Registration and unregistration
+ *	use a mutex, and call_chain is synchronized by RCU (no locks).
+ */
 
 /**
- *	notifier_chain_register	- Add notifier to a notifier chain
- *	@list: Pointer to root list pointer
+ *	atomic_notifier_chain_register - Add notifier to an atomic notifier chain
+ *	@nh: Pointer to head of the atomic notifier chain
  *	@n: New entry in notifier chain
  *
- *	Adds a notifier to a notifier chain.
+ *	Adds a notifier to an atomic notifier chain.
  *
  *	Currently always returns zero.
  */
+
+int atomic_notifier_chain_register(struct atomic_notifier_head *nh,
+		struct notifier_block *n)
+{
+	unsigned long flags;
+	int ret;
+
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&nh->lock, flags);
+	ret = notifier_chain_register(&nh->head, n);
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&nh->lock, flags);
+	return ret;
+}
+
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(atomic_notifier_chain_register);
+
+/**
+ *	atomic_notifier_chain_unregister - Remove notifier from an atomic notifier chain
+ *	@nh: Pointer to head of the atomic notifier chain
+ *	@n: Entry to remove from notifier chain
+ *
+ *	Removes a notifier from an atomic notifier chain.
+ *
+ *	Returns zero on success or %-ENOENT on failure.
+ */
+int atomic_notifier_chain_unregister(struct atomic_notifier_head *nh,
+		struct notifier_block *n)
+{
+	unsigned long flags;
+	int ret;
+
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&nh->lock, flags);
+	ret = notifier_chain_unregister(&nh->head, n);
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&nh->lock, flags);
+	synchronize_rcu();
+	return ret;
+}
+
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(atomic_notifier_chain_unregister);
+
+/**
+ *	atomic_notifier_call_chain - Call functions in an atomic notifier chain
+ *	@nh: Pointer to head of the atomic notifier chain
+ *	@val: Value passed unmodified to notifier function
+ *	@v: Pointer passed unmodified to notifier function
+ *
+ *	Calls each function in a notifier chain in turn.  The functions
+ *	run in an atomic context, so they must not block.
+ *	This routine uses RCU to synchronize with changes to the chain.
+ *
+ *	If the return value of the notifier can be and'ed
+ *	with %NOTIFY_STOP_MASK then atomic_notifier_call_chain
+ *	will return immediately, with the return value of
+ *	the notifier function which halted execution.
+ *	Otherwise the return value is the return value
+ *	of the last notifier function called.
+ */
  
-int notifier_chain_register(struct notifier_block **list, struct notifier_block *n)
+int atomic_notifier_call_chain(struct atomic_notifier_head *nh,
+		unsigned long val, void *v)
 {
-	write_lock(&notifier_lock);
-	while(*list)
-	{
-		if(n->priority > (*list)->priority)
-			break;
-		list= &((*list)->next);
-	}
-	n->next = *list;
-	*list=n;
-	write_unlock(&notifier_lock);
-	return 0;
+	int ret;
+
+	rcu_read_lock();
+	ret = notifier_call_chain(&nh->head, val, v);
+	rcu_read_unlock();
+	return ret;
 }
 
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(notifier_chain_register);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(atomic_notifier_call_chain);
+
+/*
+ *	Blocking notifier chain routines.  All access to the chain is
+ *	synchronized by an rwsem.
+ */
 
 /**
- *	notifier_chain_unregister - Remove notifier from a notifier chain
- *	@nl: Pointer to root list pointer
+ *	blocking_notifier_chain_register - Add notifier to a blocking notifier chain
+ *	@nh: Pointer to head of the blocking notifier chain
  *	@n: New entry in notifier chain
  *
- *	Removes a notifier from a notifier chain.
+ *	Adds a notifier to a blocking notifier chain.
+ *	Must be called in process context.
  *
- *	Returns zero on success, or %-ENOENT on failure.
+ *	Currently always returns zero.
  */
  
-int notifier_chain_unregister(struct notifier_block **nl, struct notifier_block *n)
+int blocking_notifier_chain_register(struct blocking_notifier_head *nh,
+		struct notifier_block *n)
 {
-	write_lock(&notifier_lock);
-	while((*nl)!=NULL)
-	{
-		if((*nl)==n)
-		{
-			*nl=n->next;
-			write_unlock(&notifier_lock);
-			return 0;
-		}
-		nl=&((*nl)->next);
-	}
-	write_unlock(&notifier_lock);
-	return -ENOENT;
+	int ret;
+
+	/*
+	 * This code gets used during boot-up, when task switching is
+	 * not yet working and interrupts must remain disabled.  At
+	 * such times we must not call down_write().
+	 */
+	if (unlikely(system_state == SYSTEM_BOOTING))
+		return notifier_chain_register(&nh->head, n);
+
+	down_write(&nh->rwsem);
+	ret = notifier_chain_register(&nh->head, n);
+	up_write(&nh->rwsem);
+	return ret;
 }
 
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(notifier_chain_unregister);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(blocking_notifier_chain_register);
 
 /**
- *	notifier_call_chain - Call functions in a notifier chain
- *	@n: Pointer to root pointer of notifier chain
+ *	blocking_notifier_chain_unregister - Remove notifier from a blocking notifier chain
+ *	@nh: Pointer to head of the blocking notifier chain
+ *	@n: Entry to remove from notifier chain
+ *
+ *	Removes a notifier from a blocking notifier chain.
+ *	Must be called from process context.
+ *
+ *	Returns zero on success or %-ENOENT on failure.
+ */
+int blocking_notifier_chain_unregister(struct blocking_notifier_head *nh,
+		struct notifier_block *n)
+{
+	int ret;
+
+	/*
+	 * This code gets used during boot-up, when task switching is
+	 * not yet working and interrupts must remain disabled.  At
+	 * such times we must not call down_write().
+	 */
+	if (unlikely(system_state == SYSTEM_BOOTING))
+		return notifier_chain_unregister(&nh->head, n);
+
+	down_write(&nh->rwsem);
+	ret = notifier_chain_unregister(&nh->head, n);
+	up_write(&nh->rwsem);
+	return ret;
+}
+
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(blocking_notifier_chain_unregister);
+
+/**
+ *	blocking_notifier_call_chain - Call functions in a blocking notifier chain
+ *	@nh: Pointer to head of the blocking notifier chain
  *	@val: Value passed unmodified to notifier function
  *	@v: Pointer passed unmodified to notifier function
  *
- *	Calls each function in a notifier chain in turn.
+ *	Calls each function in a notifier chain in turn.  The functions
+ *	run in a process context, so they are allowed to block.
  *
- *	If the return value of the notifier can be and'd
- *	with %NOTIFY_STOP_MASK, then notifier_call_chain
+ *	If the return value of the notifier can be and'ed
+ *	with %NOTIFY_STOP_MASK then blocking_notifier_call_chain
  *	will return immediately, with the return value of
  *	the notifier function which halted execution.
- *	Otherwise, the return value is the return value
+ *	Otherwise the return value is the return value
  *	of the last notifier function called.
  */
  
-int __kprobes notifier_call_chain(struct notifier_block **n, unsigned long val, void *v)
+int blocking_notifier_call_chain(struct blocking_notifier_head *nh,
+		unsigned long val, void *v)
 {
-	int ret=NOTIFY_DONE;
-	struct notifier_block *nb = *n;
+	int ret;
 
-	while(nb)
-	{
-		ret=nb->notifier_call(nb,val,v);
-		if(ret&NOTIFY_STOP_MASK)
-		{
-			return ret;
-		}
-		nb=nb->next;
-	}
+	down_read(&nh->rwsem);
+	ret = notifier_call_chain(&nh->head, val, v);
+	up_read(&nh->rwsem);
 	return ret;
 }
 
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(notifier_call_chain);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(blocking_notifier_call_chain);
+
+/*
+ *	Raw notifier chain routines.  There is no protection;
+ *	the caller must provide it.  Use at your own risk!
+ */
+
+/**
+ *	raw_notifier_chain_register - Add notifier to a raw notifier chain
+ *	@nh: Pointer to head of the raw notifier chain
+ *	@n: New entry in notifier chain
+ *
+ *	Adds a notifier to a raw notifier chain.
+ *	All locking must be provided by the caller.
+ *
+ *	Currently always returns zero.
+ */
+
+int raw_notifier_chain_register(struct raw_notifier_head *nh,
+		struct notifier_block *n)
+{
+	return notifier_chain_register(&nh->head, n);
+}
+
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(raw_notifier_chain_register);
+
+/**
+ *	raw_notifier_chain_unregister - Remove notifier from a raw notifier chain
+ *	@nh: Pointer to head of the raw notifier chain
+ *	@n: Entry to remove from notifier chain
+ *
+ *	Removes a notifier from a raw notifier chain.
+ *	All locking must be provided by the caller.
+ *
+ *	Returns zero on success or %-ENOENT on failure.
+ */
+int raw_notifier_chain_unregister(struct raw_notifier_head *nh,
+		struct notifier_block *n)
+{
+	return notifier_chain_unregister(&nh->head, n);
+}
+
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(raw_notifier_chain_unregister);
+
+/**
+ *	raw_notifier_call_chain - Call functions in a raw notifier chain
+ *	@nh: Pointer to head of the raw notifier chain
+ *	@val: Value passed unmodified to notifier function
+ *	@v: Pointer passed unmodified to notifier function
+ *
+ *	Calls each function in a notifier chain in turn.  The functions
+ *	run in an undefined context.
+ *	All locking must be provided by the caller.
+ *
+ *	If the return value of the notifier can be and'ed
+ *	with %NOTIFY_STOP_MASK then raw_notifier_call_chain
+ *	will return immediately, with the return value of
+ *	the notifier function which halted execution.
+ *	Otherwise the return value is the return value
+ *	of the last notifier function called.
+ */
+
+int raw_notifier_call_chain(struct raw_notifier_head *nh,
+		unsigned long val, void *v)
+{
+	return notifier_call_chain(&nh->head, val, v);
+}
+
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(raw_notifier_call_chain);
 
 /**
  *	register_reboot_notifier - Register function to be called at reboot time
@@ -196,13 +401,13 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(notifier_call_chain);
  *	Registers a function with the list of functions
  *	to be called at reboot time.
  *
- *	Currently always returns zero, as notifier_chain_register
+ *	Currently always returns zero, as blocking_notifier_chain_register
  *	always returns zero.
  */
  
 int register_reboot_notifier(struct notifier_block * nb)
 {
-	return notifier_chain_register(&reboot_notifier_list, nb);
+	return blocking_notifier_chain_register(&reboot_notifier_list, nb);
 }
 
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(register_reboot_notifier);
@@ -219,7 +424,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(register_reboot_notifier);
  
 int unregister_reboot_notifier(struct notifier_block * nb)
 {
-	return notifier_chain_unregister(&reboot_notifier_list, nb);
+	return blocking_notifier_chain_unregister(&reboot_notifier_list, nb);
 }
 
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(unregister_reboot_notifier);
@@ -380,7 +585,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(emergency_restart);
 
 void kernel_restart_prepare(char *cmd)
 {
-	notifier_call_chain(&reboot_notifier_list, SYS_RESTART, cmd);
+	blocking_notifier_call_chain(&reboot_notifier_list, SYS_RESTART, cmd);
 	system_state = SYSTEM_RESTART;
 	device_shutdown();
 }
@@ -430,7 +635,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(kernel_kexec);
 
 void kernel_shutdown_prepare(enum system_states state)
 {
-	notifier_call_chain(&reboot_notifier_list,
+	blocking_notifier_call_chain(&reboot_notifier_list,
 		(state == SYSTEM_HALT)?SYS_HALT:SYS_POWER_OFF, NULL);
 	system_state = state;
 	device_shutdown();