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

[Takashi Iwai]

On Wed, 13 Nov 2019 10:47:51 +0100,
Takashi Iwai wrote:
> 
> 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.

BTW, what we need essentially for intel8x0 is to just call
synchronize_irq() before closing, at best in hw_free procedure:

--- a/sound/pci/intel8x0.c
+++ b/sound/pci/intel8x0.c
@@ -923,8 +923,10 @@ static int snd_intel8x0_hw_params(struct snd_pcm_substream *substream,
 
 static int snd_intel8x0_hw_free(struct snd_pcm_substream *substream)
 {
+	struct intel8x0 *chip = snd_pcm_substream_chip(substream);
 	struct ichdev *ichdev = get_ichdev(substream);
 
+	synchronize_irq(chip->irq);
 	if (ichdev->pcm_open_flag) {
 		snd_ac97_pcm_close(ichdev->pcm);
 		ichdev->pcm_open_flag = 0;


The same would be needed also at the beginning of the prepare, as the
application may restart the stream without release.

My idea is to add sync_stop PCM ops and call it from PCM core at
snd_pcm_prepare() and snd_pcm_hw_free().


thanks,

Takashi