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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/dev-tools/kcsan.rst')
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1 files changed, 63 insertions, 13 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/kcsan.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/kcsan.rst index 7db43c7c09b8..3ae866dcc924 100644 --- a/Documentation/dev-tools/kcsan.rst +++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/kcsan.rst @@ -204,17 +204,17 @@ Ultimately this allows to determine the possible executions of concurrent code, and if that code is free from data races. KCSAN is aware of *marked atomic operations* (``READ_ONCE``, ``WRITE_ONCE``, -``atomic_*``, etc.), but is oblivious of any ordering guarantees and simply -assumes that memory barriers are placed correctly. In other words, KCSAN -assumes that as long as a plain access is not observed to race with another -conflicting access, memory operations are correctly ordered. - -This means that KCSAN will not report *potential* data races due to missing -memory ordering. Developers should therefore carefully consider the required -memory ordering requirements that remain unchecked. If, however, missing -memory ordering (that is observable with a particular compiler and -architecture) leads to an observable data race (e.g. entering a critical -section erroneously), KCSAN would report the resulting data race. +``atomic_*``, etc.), and a subset of ordering guarantees implied by memory +barriers. With ``CONFIG_KCSAN_WEAK_MEMORY=y``, KCSAN models load or store +buffering, and can detect missing ``smp_mb()``, ``smp_wmb()``, ``smp_rmb()``, +``smp_store_release()``, and all ``atomic_*`` operations with equivalent +implied barriers. + +Note, KCSAN will not report all data races due to missing memory ordering, +specifically where a memory barrier would be required to prohibit subsequent +memory operation from reordering before the barrier. Developers should +therefore carefully consider the required memory ordering requirements that +remain unchecked. Race Detection Beyond Data Races -------------------------------- @@ -268,6 +268,56 @@ marked operations, if all accesses to a variable that is accessed concurrently are properly marked, KCSAN will never trigger a watchpoint and therefore never report the accesses. +Modeling Weak Memory +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +KCSAN's approach to detecting data races due to missing memory barriers is +based on modeling access reordering (with ``CONFIG_KCSAN_WEAK_MEMORY=y``). +Each plain memory access for which a watchpoint is set up, is also selected for +simulated reordering within the scope of its function (at most 1 in-flight +access). + +Once an access has been selected for reordering, it is checked along every +other access until the end of the function scope. If an appropriate memory +barrier is encountered, the access will no longer be considered for simulated +reordering. + +When the result of a memory operation should be ordered by a barrier, KCSAN can +then detect data races where the conflict only occurs as a result of a missing +barrier. Consider the example:: + + int x, flag; + void T1(void) + { + x = 1; // data race! + WRITE_ONCE(flag, 1); // correct: smp_store_release(&flag, 1) + } + void T2(void) + { + while (!READ_ONCE(flag)); // correct: smp_load_acquire(&flag) + ... = x; // data race! + } + +When weak memory modeling is enabled, KCSAN can consider ``x`` in ``T1`` for +simulated reordering. After the write of ``flag``, ``x`` is again checked for +concurrent accesses: because ``T2`` is able to proceed after the write of +``flag``, a data race is detected. With the correct barriers in place, ``x`` +would not be considered for reordering after the proper release of ``flag``, +and no data race would be detected. + +Deliberate trade-offs in complexity but also practical limitations mean only a +subset of data races due to missing memory barriers can be detected. With +currently available compiler support, the implementation is limited to modeling +the effects of "buffering" (delaying accesses), since the runtime cannot +"prefetch" accesses. Also recall that watchpoints are only set up for plain +accesses, and the only access type for which KCSAN simulates reordering. This +means reordering of marked accesses is not modeled. + +A consequence of the above is that acquire operations do not require barrier +instrumentation (no prefetching). Furthermore, marked accesses introducing +address or control dependencies do not require special handling (the marked +access cannot be reordered, later dependent accesses cannot be prefetched). + Key Properties ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @@ -290,8 +340,8 @@ Key Properties 4. **Detects Racy Writes from Devices:** Due to checking data values upon setting up watchpoints, racy writes from devices can also be detected. -5. **Memory Ordering:** KCSAN is *not* explicitly aware of the LKMM's ordering - rules; this may result in missed data races (false negatives). +5. **Memory Ordering:** KCSAN is aware of only a subset of LKMM ordering rules; + this may result in missed data races (false negatives). 6. **Analysis Accuracy:** For observed executions, due to using a sampling strategy, the analysis is *unsound* (false negatives possible), but aims to |