A SOFTIRQ-safe to SOFTIRQ-unsafe lock order deadlock can occur in
send_sigio() and send_sigurg() when a process group receives a signal.
When FASYNC is configured for a process group (PIDTYPE_PGID), both
functions use read_lock(&tasklist_lock) to traverse the task list.
However, they are frequently called from softirq context:
- send_sigio() via input_inject_event -> kill_fasync
- send_sigurg() via tcp_check_urg -> sk_send_sigurg (NET_RX_SOFTIRQ)
The deadlock is caused by the rwlock writer fairness mechanism:
1. CPU 0 (process context) holds read_lock(&tasklist_lock) in do_wait().
2. CPU 1 (process context) attempts write_lock(&tasklist_lock) in
fork() or exit() and spins, which blocks all new readers.
3. CPU 0 is interrupted by a softirq (e.g., TCP URG packet reception).
4. The softirq calls send_sigurg() and attempts to acquire
read_lock(&tasklist_lock), deadlocking because CPU 1 is waiting.
Since PID hashing and do_each_pid_task() traversals are already
RCU-protected, the read_lock on tasklist_lock is no longer strictly
required for safe traversal. Fix this by replacing tasklist_lock with
rcu_read_lock(), aligning the process group signaling path with the
single-PID path. This also mitigates a potential remote denial of
service vector via TCP URG packets.
Lockdep splat:
=====================================================
WARNING: SOFTIRQ-safe -> SOFTIRQ-unsafe lock order detected
[...]
Chain exists of:
&dev->event_lock --> &f_owner->lock --> tasklist_lock
Possible interrupt unsafe locking scenario:
CPU0 CPU1
---- ----
lock(tasklist_lock);
local_irq_disable();
lock(&dev->event_lock);
lock(&f_owner->lock);
<Interrupt>
lock(&dev->event_lock);
*** DEADLOCK ***
Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Mingyu Wang <25181214217@stu.xidian.edu.cn>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260523135210.590928-1-w15303746062@163.com
Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner (Amutable) <brauner@kernel.org>
send_sigio_to_task(p, fown, fd, band, type);
rcu_read_unlock();
} else {
- read_lock(&tasklist_lock);
+ rcu_read_lock();
do_each_pid_task(pid, type, p) {
send_sigio_to_task(p, fown, fd, band, type);
} while_each_pid_task(pid, type, p);
- read_unlock(&tasklist_lock);
+ rcu_read_unlock();
}
out_unlock_fown:
read_unlock_irqrestore(&fown->lock, flags);
send_sigurg_to_task(p, fown, type);
rcu_read_unlock();
} else {
- read_lock(&tasklist_lock);
+ rcu_read_lock();
do_each_pid_task(pid, type, p) {
send_sigurg_to_task(p, fown, type);
} while_each_pid_task(pid, type, p);
- read_unlock(&tasklist_lock);
+ rcu_read_unlock();
}
out_unlock_fown:
read_unlock_irqrestore(&fown->lock, flags);