linux/Documentation/serial
Peter Hurley 1a48632ffe pty: Fix input race when closing
A read() from a pty master may mistakenly indicate EOF (errno == -EIO)
after the pty slave has closed, even though input data remains to be read.
For example,

       pty slave       |        input worker        |    pty master
                       |                            |
                       |                            |   n_tty_read()
pty_write()            |                            |     input avail? no
  add data             |                            |     sleep
  schedule worker  --->|                            |     .
                       |---> flush_to_ldisc()       |     .
pty_close()            |       fill read buffer     |     .
  wait for worker      |       wakeup reader    --->|     .
                       |       read buffer full?    |---> input avail ? yes
                       |<---   yes - exit worker    |     copy 4096 bytes to user
  TTY_OTHER_CLOSED <---|                            |<--- kick worker
                       |                            |

		                **** New read() before worker starts ****

                       |                            |   n_tty_read()
                       |                            |     input avail? no
                       |                            |     TTY_OTHER_CLOSED? yes
                       |                            |     return -EIO

Several conditions are required to trigger this race:
1. the ldisc read buffer must become full so the input worker exits
2. the read() count parameter must be >= 4096 so the ldisc read buffer
   is empty
3. the subsequent read() occurs before the kicked worker has processed
   more input

However, the underlying cause of the race is that data is pipelined, while
tty state is not; ie., data already written by the pty slave end is not
yet visible to the pty master end, but state changes by the pty slave end
are visible to the pty master end immediately.

Pipeline the TTY_OTHER_CLOSED state through input worker to the reader.
1. Introduce TTY_OTHER_DONE which is set by the input worker when
   TTY_OTHER_CLOSED is set and either the input buffers are flushed or
   input processing has completed. Readers/polls are woken when
   TTY_OTHER_DONE is set.
2. Reader/poll checks TTY_OTHER_DONE instead of TTY_OTHER_CLOSED.
3. A new input worker is started from pty_close() after setting
   TTY_OTHER_CLOSED, which ensures the TTY_OTHER_DONE state will be
   set if the last input worker is already finished (or just about to
   exit).

Remove tty_flush_to_ldisc(); no in-tree callers.

Fixes: 52bce7f8d4 ("pty, n_tty: Simplify input processing on final close")
Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=96311
BugLink: http://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1429756
Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.19+
Reported-by: Andy Whitcroft <apw@canonical.com>
Reported-by: H.J. Lu <hjl.tools@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Peter Hurley <peter@hurleysoftware.com>
Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
2015-05-10 19:26:37 +02:00
..
00-INDEX Documentation/serial: Delete obsolete driver documentation 2014-04-16 14:20:34 -07:00
driver serial: Fix locking for uart driver set_termios() method 2014-11-05 18:53:54 -08:00
moxa-smartio Fix common misspellings 2011-03-31 11:26:23 -03:00
n_gsm.txt Fix common misspellings 2011-03-31 11:26:23 -03:00
README.cycladesZ Create/use more directory structure in the Documentation/ tree. 2008-11-14 17:28:53 +00:00
rocket.txt Documentation: remove references to /etc/modprobe.conf 2012-03-30 16:03:15 -07:00
serial-rs485.txt Documentation: serial: fix header path 2014-09-08 16:10:01 -07:00
tty.txt pty: Fix input race when closing 2015-05-10 19:26:37 +02:00

The Cyclades-Z must have firmware loaded onto the card before it will
operate.  This operation should be performed during system startup,

The firmware, loader program and the latest device driver code are
available from Cyclades at
    ftp://ftp.cyclades.com/pub/cyclades/cyclades-z/linux/