trace_hardirqs_on/off vs. extra stack frames

[Steven Rostedt]

On Fri, 21 Dec 2018 12:11:35 +1100
Benjamin Herrenschmidt <benh at kernel.crashing.org> wrote:

> Hi Steven !
> 
> I'm trying to untangle something, and I need your help :-)
> 
> In commit 3cb5f1a3e58c0bd70d47d9907cc5c65192281dee, you added a summy
> stack frame around the assembly calls to trace_hardirqs_on/off on the
> ground that when using the latency tracer (irqsoff), you might poke at
> CALLER_ADDR1 and that could blow up if there's only one frame at hand.
> 
> However, I can't see where it would be doing that. lockdep.c only uses
> CALLER_ADDR0 and irqsoff uses the values passed by it. In fact, that
> was already the case when the above commit was merged.
> 
> I tried on a 32-bit kernel to remove the dummy stack frame with no
> issue so far .... (though I do get stupid values reported with or
> without a stack frame, but I think that's normal, looking into it).

BTW, I only had a 64 bit PPC working, so I would have been testing that.

> 
> The reason I'm asking is that we have other code path, on return
> from interrupts for example, at least on 32-bits where we call the
> tracing without the extra stack frame, and I yet to see it crash.

Have you tried enabling the irqsoff tracer and running it for a while?

 echo irqsoff > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/current_tracer

The problem is that when we come from user space, and we disable
interrupts in the entry code, it calls into the irqsoff tracer:

[ in userspace ]
<interrupt>
[ in kernel ]
bl .trace_hardirqs_off

  kernel/trace/trace_preemptirq.c:

   trace_hardirqs_off(CALLER_ADDR_0, CALLER_ADDR1)

IIRC, without the stack frame, that CALLER_ADDR1 can end up having the
kernel read garbage.

-- Steve


> 
> I wonder if the commit and bug fix above relates to some older code
> that no longer existed even at the point where the commit was
merged...
>