Re: [PATCH 2/2] ARM: futex: make futex_detect_cmpxchg more reliable

[Ard Biesheuvel <ard.biesheuvel@linaro.org>]

On Fri, 8 Mar 2019 at 11:08, Ard Biesheuvel <ard.biesheuvel@linaro.org> wrote:
>
> On Fri, 8 Mar 2019 at 10:53, Russell King - ARM Linux admin
> <linux@armlinux.org.uk> wrote:
> >
> > On Fri, Mar 08, 2019 at 09:57:45AM +0100, Ard Biesheuvel wrote:
> > > On Fri, 8 Mar 2019 at 00:49, Russell King - ARM Linux admin
> > > <linux@armlinux.org.uk> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > On Thu, Mar 07, 2019 at 11:39:08AM -0800, Nick Desaulniers wrote:
> > > > > On Thu, Mar 7, 2019 at 1:15 AM Arnd Bergmann <arnd@arndb.de> wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Passing registers containing zero as both the address (NULL pointer)
> > > > > > and data into cmpxchg_futex_value_locked() leads clang to assign
> > > > > > the same register for both inputs on ARM, which triggers a warning
> > > > > > explaining that this instruction has unpredictable behavior on ARMv5.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > /tmp/futex-7e740e.s: Assembler messages:
> > > > > > /tmp/futex-7e740e.s:12713: Warning: source register same as write-back base
> > > > > >
> > > > > > This patch was suggested by Mikael Pettersson back in 2011 (!) with gcc-4.4,
> > > > > > as Mikael wrote:
> > > > > >  "One way of fixing this is to make uaddr an input/output register, since
> > > > > >  "that prevents it from overlapping any other input or output."
> > > > > >
> > > > > > but then withdrawn as the warning was determined to be harmless, and it
> > > > > > apparently never showed up again with later gcc versions.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Now the same problem is back when compiling with clang, and we are trying
> > > > > > to get clang to build the kernel without warnings, as gcc normally does.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Cc: Mikael Pettersson <mikpe@it.uu.se>
> > > > > > Cc: Mikael Pettersson <mikpelinux@gmail.com>
> > > > > > Cc: Dave Martin <Dave.Martin@arm.com>
> > > > > > Link: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-arm-kernel/20009.45690.158286.161591@pilspetsen.it.uu.se/
> > > > > > Signed-off-by: Arnd Bergmann <arnd@arndb.de>
> > > > > > ---
> > > > > >  arch/arm/include/asm/futex.h | 10 +++++-----
> > > > > >  1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
> > > > > >
> > > > > > diff --git a/arch/arm/include/asm/futex.h b/arch/arm/include/asm/futex.h
> > > > > > index 0a46676b4245..79790912974e 100644
> > > > > > --- a/arch/arm/include/asm/futex.h
> > > > > > +++ b/arch/arm/include/asm/futex.h
> > > > > > @@ -110,13 +110,13 @@ futex_atomic_cmpxchg_inatomic(u32 *uval, u32 __user *uaddr,
> > > > > >         preempt_disable();
> > > > > >         __ua_flags = uaccess_save_and_enable();
> > > > > >         __asm__ __volatile__("@futex_atomic_cmpxchg_inatomic\n"
> > > > > > -       "1:     " TUSER(ldr) "  %1, [%4]\n"
> > > > > > -       "       teq     %1, %2\n"
> > > > > > +       "1:     " TUSER(ldr) "  %1, [%2]\n"
> > > > > > +       "       teq     %1, %3\n"
> > > > > >         "       it      eq      @ explicit IT needed for the 2b label\n"
> > > > > > -       "2:     " TUSER(streq) "        %3, [%4]\n"
> > > > > > +       "2:     " TUSER(streq) "        %4, [%2]\n"
> > > > > >         __futex_atomic_ex_table("%5")
> > > > > > -       : "+r" (ret), "=&r" (val)
> > > > > > -       : "r" (oldval), "r" (newval), "r" (uaddr), "Ir" (-EFAULT)
> > > > > > +       : "+&r" (ret), "=&r" (val), "+&r" (uaddr)
> > > > > > +       : "r" (oldval), "r" (newval), "Ir" (-EFAULT)
> > > > > >         : "cc", "memory");
> > > > > >         uaccess_restore(__ua_flags);
> > > > >
> > > > > Underspecification of constraints to extended inline assembly is a
> > > > > common issue exposed by other compilers (and possibly but in-effect
> > > > > infrequently compiler upgrades).
> > > > > So the reordering of the constraints means the in the assembly (notes
> > > > > for other reviewers):
> > > > > %2 -> %3
> > > > > %3 -> %4
> > > > > %4 -> %2
> > > > > Yep, looks good to me, thanks for finding this old patch and resending, Arnd!
> > > >
> > > > I don't see what is "underspecified" in the original constraints.
> > > > Please explain.
> > > >
> > >
> > > I agree that that statement makes little sense.
> > >
> > > As Russell points out in the referenced thread, there is nothing wrong
> > > with the generated assembly, given that the UNPREDICTABLE opcode is
> > > unreachable in practice. Unfortunately, we have no way to flag this
> > > diagnostic as a known false positive, and AFAICT, there is no reason
> > > we couldn't end up with the same diagnostic popping up for GCC builds
> > > in the future, considering that the register assignment matches the
> > > constraints. (We have seen somewhat similar issues where constant
> > > folded function clones are emitted with a constant argument that could
> > > never occur in reality [0])
> > >
> > > Given the above, the only meaningful way to invoke this function is
> > > with different registers assigned to %3 and %4, and so tightening the
> > > constraints to guarantee that does not actually result in worse code
> > > (except maybe for the instantiations that we won't ever call in the
> > > first place). So I think we should fix this.
> > >
> > > I wonder if just adding
> > >
> > > BUG_ON(__builtin_constant_p(uaddr));
> > >
> > > at the beginning makes any difference - this shouldn't result in any
> > > object code differences since the conditional will always evaluate to
> > > false at build time for instantiations we care about.
> > >
> > >
> > > [0] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/9c74d635-d0d1-0893-8093-ce20b0933fc7@redhat.com/
> >
> > What I'm actually asking is:
> >
> > The GCC manual says that input operands _may_ overlap output operands
> > since GCC assumes that input operands are consumed before output
> > operands are written.  This is an explicit statement.
> >
> > The GCC manual does not say that input operands may overlap with each
> > other, and the behaviour of GCC thus far (apart from one version,
> > presumably caused by a bug) has been that input operands are unique.
> >
>
> Not entirely. I have run into issues where GCC assumes that registers
> that are only used for input operands are left untouched by the asm
> code. I.e., if you put an asm() block in a loop and modify an input
> register, your code may break on the next pass, even if the input
> register does not overlap with an output register.
>
> To me, that seems to suggest that whether or not inputs may overlap is
> irrelevant, since they are not expected to be modified.
>
> > Clang appears to be different: it allows input operands that are
> > registers, and contain the same constant value to be the same physical
> > register.
> >
> > The assertion is that the constraints are under-specified.  I am
> > questioning that assertion.
> >
> > If the constraints are under-specified, I would have expected gcc-4.4's
> > behaviour to have persisted, and we would've been told by gcc's
> > developers to fix our code.  That didn't happen, and instead gcc seems
> > to have been fixed.  So, my conclusion is that it is intentional that
> > input operands to asm() do not overlap with themselves.
> >
>
> Whether we hit the error or not is not deterministic. Like in the
> ilog2() case I quoted, GCC may decide to instantiate a constant folded
> ['curried', if you will] clone of a function, and so even if any calls
> to futex_atomic_cmpxchg_inatomic() with constant NULL args for newval
> and uaddr are compiled, it does not mean they occur like that in the C
> code.
>
> > It seems to me that the work-around for clang is to change every input
> > operand to be an output operand with a "+&r" contraint - an operand
> > that is both read and written by the "instruction", and that the operand
> > is "earlyclobber".  For something that is really only read, that seems
> > strange.
> >
> > Also, reading GCC's manual, it would appear that "+&" is wrong.
> >
> > `+'
> >      Means that this operand is both read and written by the
> >      instruction.
> >
> >      When the compiler fixes up the operands to satisfy the constraints,
> >      it needs to know which operands are inputs to the instruction and
> >      which are outputs from it.  `=' identifies an output; `+'
> >      identifies an operand that is both input and output; all other
> >                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >      operands are assumed to be input only.
> >
> > `&'
> >      Means (in a particular alternative) that this operand is an
> >      "earlyclobber" operand, which is modified before the instruction is
> >      finished using the input operands.  Therefore, this operand may
> >      not lie in a register that is used as an input operand or as part
> >      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >      of any memory address.
> >
> > So "+" says that this operand is an input but "&" says that it must not
> > be in a register that is used as an input.  That's contradictory, and I
> > think we can expect GCC to barf or at least end up doing strange stuff,
> > if not with existing versions, then with future versions.
> >
>
> I wondered about the same thing: given that the asm itself is a black
> box to the compiler, it can never reuse an in/output register for
> output, so when it is clobbered is irrelevant.
>
> > Hence, I'm asking for clarification why it is thought that the existing
> > code underspecifies the asm constraints, and I'm trying to get some more
> > thought about what the constraints should be, in case there is a need to
> > use "better" constraints.
> >
>
> I think the constraints are correct, but as I argued before,
> tightening the constraints to ensure that uaddr and newval are not
> mapped onto the same register should not result in any object code
> changes, except for the case where the compiler instantiated a
> constprop clone that is bogus to begin with.

Compiling the following code

"""
#include <stdio.h>

static void foo(void *a, int b)
{
    asm("str %0, [%1]" :: "r"(a), "r"(b));
}

int main(void)
{
    foo(NULL, 0);
}
"""

with GCC 6.3 (at -O2) gives me

.arch armv7-a
.eabi_attribute 28, 1
.eabi_attribute 20, 1
.eabi_attribute 21, 1
.eabi_attribute 23, 3
.eabi_attribute 24, 1
.eabi_attribute 25, 1
.eabi_attribute 26, 2
.eabi_attribute 30, 2
.eabi_attribute 34, 1
.eabi_attribute 18, 4
.file "futex.c"
.section .text.startup,"ax",%progbits
.align 1
.p2align 2,,3
.global main
.syntax unified
.thumb
.thumb_func
.fpu vfpv3-d16
.type main, %function
main:
@ args = 0, pretend = 0, frame = 0
@ frame_needed = 0, uses_anonymous_args = 0
@ link register save eliminated.
movs r0, #0
.syntax unified
@ 6 "/tmp/futex.c" 1
str r0, [r0]
@ 0 "" 2
.thumb
.syntax unified
bx lr
.size main, .-main
.ident "GCC: (Debian 6.3.0-18) 6.3.0 20170516"
.section .note.GNU-stack,"",%progbits

and so GCC definitely behaves similar in this regard.