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rcu: Replace list_first_entry_rcu() with list_first_or_null_rcu() 

The list_first_entry_rcu() macro is inherently unsafe because it cannot
be applied to an empty list.  But because RCU readers do not exclude
updaters, a list might become empty between the time that list_empty()
claimed it was non-empty and the time that list_first_entry_rcu() is
invoked.  Therefore, the list_empty() test cannot be separated from the
list_first_entry_rcu() call.  This commit therefore combines these to
macros to create a new list_first_or_null_rcu() macro that replaces
the old (and unsafe) list_first_entry_rcu() macro.

This patch incorporates Paul's review comments on the previous version of
this patch available here:

https://lkml.org/lkml/2012/4/2/536

This patch cannot break any upstream code because list_first_entry_rcu()
is not being used anywhere in the kernel (tested with grep(1)), and any
external code using it is probably broken as a result of using it.

Signed-off-by: Michel Machado <michel@digirati.com.br>
CC: "Paul E. McKenney" <paulmck@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
CC: Dipankar Sarma <dipankar@in.ibm.com>
Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
This commit is contained in:
Michel Machado 2012-04-10 14:07:40 -04:00 committed by Paul E. McKenney
parent 559f9badd1
commit f88022a4f6
1 changed files with 29 additions and 4 deletions
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33
include/linux/rculist.h
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@ -233,18 +233,43 @@ static inline void list_splice_init_rcu(struct list_head *list,
})
/**
* list_first_entry_rcu - get the first element from a list
* Where are list_empty_rcu() and list_first_entry_rcu()?
*
* Implementing those functions following their counterparts list_empty() and
* list_first_entry() is not advisable because they lead to subtle race
* conditions as the following snippet shows:
*
* if (!list_empty_rcu(mylist)) {
* struct foo *bar = list_first_entry_rcu(mylist, struct foo, list_member);
* do_something(bar);
* }
*
* The list may not be empty when list_empty_rcu checks it, but it may be when
* list_first_entry_rcu rereads the ->next pointer.
*
* Rereading the ->next pointer is not a problem for list_empty() and
* list_first_entry() because they would be protected by a lock that blocks
* writers.
*
* See list_first_or_null_rcu for an alternative.
*/
/**
* list_first_or_null_rcu - get the first element from a list
* @ptr: the list head to take the element from.
* @type: the type of the struct this is embedded in.
* @member: the name of the list_struct within the struct.
*
* Note, that list is expected to be not empty.
* Note that if the list is empty, it returns NULL.
*
* This primitive may safely run concurrently with the _rcu list-mutation
* primitives such as list_add_rcu() as long as it's guarded by rcu_read_lock().
*/
#define list_first_entry_rcu(ptr, type, member) \
list_entry_rcu((ptr)->next, type, member)
#define list_first_or_null_rcu(ptr, type, member) \
({struct list_head *__ptr = (ptr); \
struct list_head __rcu *__next = list_next_rcu(__ptr); \
likely(__ptr != __next) ? container_of(__next, type, member) : NULL; \
})
/**
* list_for_each_entry_rcu - iterate over rcu list of given type