[dm-devel] [for-4.16 PATCH v5 0/4] block/dm: allow DM to defer blk_register_queue() until ready

[Mike Snitzer]

On Mon, Jan 15 2018 at  5:51pm -0500,
Bart Van Assche <Bart.VanAssche at wdc.com> wrote:

> On Mon, 2018-01-15 at 17:15 -0500, Mike Snitzer wrote:
> > sysfs write op calls kernfs_fop_write which takes:
> > of->mutex then kn->count#213 (no idea what that is)
> > then q->sysfs_lock (via queue_attr_store)
> > 
> > vs 
> > 
> > blk_unregister_queue takes:
> > q->sysfs_lock then
> > kernfs_mutex (via kernfs_remove)
> > seems lockdep thinks "kernfs_mutex" is "kn->count#213"?
> > 
> > Feels like lockdep code in fs/kernfs/file.c and fs/kernfs/dir.c is
> > triggering false positives.. because these seem like different kernfs
> > locks yet they are reported as "kn->count#213".
> > 
> > Certainly feeling out of my depth with kernfs's locking though.
> 
> Hello Mike,
> 
> I don't think that this is a false positive but rather the following traditional
> pattern of a potential deadlock involving sysfs attributes:
> * One context obtains a mutex from inside a sysfs attribute method:
>   queue_attr_store() obtains q->sysfs_lock.
> * Another context removes a sysfs attribute while holding a mutex:
>   blk_unregister_queue() removes the queue sysfs attributes while holding
>   q->sysfs_lock.
> 
> This can result in a real deadlock because the code that removes sysfs objects
> waits until all ongoing attribute callbacks have finished.
> 
> Since commit 667257e8b298 ("block: properly protect the 'queue' kobj in
> blk_unregister_queue") modified blk_unregister_queue() such that q->sysfs_lock
> is held around the kobject_del(&q->kobj) call I think this is a regression
> introduced by that commit.

Sure, of course it is a regression.

Aside from moving the mutex_unlock(&q->sysfs_lock) above the
kobject_del(&q->kobj) I don't know how to fix it.

Though, realistically that'd be an adequate fix (given the way the code
was before).

Mike