[alsa-devel] [PATCH 0/2] ALSA: pcm: Fix race condition in runtime access

[Takashi Iwai]

On Wed, 13 Nov 2019 08:24:41 +0100,
Chih-Yang Hsia wrote:
> 
> On Wed, Nov 13, 2019 at 2:16 AM Takashi Iwai <tiwai at suse.de> wrote:
> >
> > On Tue, 12 Nov 2019 18:17:13 +0100,
> > paulhsia wrote:
> > >
> > > Since
> > > - snd_pcm_detach_substream sets runtime to null without stream lock and
> > > - snd_pcm_period_elapsed checks the nullity of the runtime outside of
> > >   stream lock.
> > >
> > > This will trigger null memory access in snd_pcm_running() call in
> > > snd_pcm_period_elapsed.
> >
> > Well, if a stream is detached, it means that the stream must have been
> > already closed; i.e. it's already a clear bug in the driver that
> > snd_pcm_period_elapsed() is called against such a stream.
> >
> > Or am I missing other possible case?
> >
> >
> > thanks,
> >
> > Takashi
> >
> 
> In multithreaded environment, it is possible to have to access both
> `interrupt_handler` (from irq) and `substream close` (from
> snd_pcm_release) at the same time.
> Therefore, in driver implementation, if "substream close function" and
> the "code section where snd_pcm_period_elapsed() in" do not hold the
> same lock, then the following things can happen:
> 
> 1. interrupt_handler -> goes into snd_pcm_period_elapsed with a valid
> sustream pointer
> 2. snd_pcm_release_substream: call close without blocking
> 3. snd_pcm_release_substream: call snd_pcm_detache_substream and set
> substream->runtime to NULL
> 4. interrupt_handler -> call snd_pcm_runtime() and crash while
> accessing fields in `substream->runtime`
> 
> e.g. In intel8x0.c driver for ac97 device,
> In driver intel8x0.c, `snd_pcm_period_elapsed` is called after
> checking `ichdev->substream` in `snd_intel8x0_update`.
> And if a `snd_pcm_release` call from alsa-lib and pass through close()
> and run to snd_pcm_detach_substream() in another thread, it's possible
> to trigger a crash.
> I can reproduce the issue within a multithread VM easily.
> 
> My patches are trying to provide a basic protection for this situation
> (and internal pcm lock between detach and elapsed), since
> - the usage of `snd_pcm_period_elapsed` does not warn callers about
> the possible race if the driver does not  force the order for `calling
> snd_pcm_period_elapsed` and `close` by lock and
> - lots of drivers already have this hidden issue and I can't fix them
> one by one (You can check the "snd_pcm_period_elapsed usage" and the
> "close implementation" within all the drivers). The most common
> mistake is that
>   - Checking if the substream is null and call into snd_pcm_period_elapsed
>   - But `close` can happen anytime, pass without block and
> snd_pcm_detach_substream will be trigger right after it

Thanks, point taken.  While this argument is valid and it's good to
harden the PCM core side, the concurrent calls are basically a bug,
and we'd need another fix in anyway.  Also, the patch 2 makes little
sense; there can't be multiple close calls racing with each other.  So
I'll go for taking your fix but only the first patch.

Back to this race: the surfaced issue is, as you pointed out, the race
between snd_pcm_period_elapsed() vs close call.  However, the
fundamental problem is the pending action after the PCM trigger-stop
call.  Since the PCM trigger doesn't block nor wait until the hardware
actually stops the things, the driver may go to the other step even
after this "supposed-to-be-stopped" point.  In your case, it goes up
to close, and crashes.  If we had a sync-stop operation, the interrupt
handler should have finished before moving to the close stage, hence
such a race could be avoided.

It's been a long known problem, and some drivers have the own
implementation for stop-sync.  I think it's time to investigate and
start implementing the fundamental solution.


thanks,

Takashi