diff options
| author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-19 10:09:22 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-19 10:09:22 -0700 |
| commit | f4cdf7ca9a1fdcca413157df19753f388a5a224e (patch) | |
| tree | 60a31895b2446cd7fa27514e8c2843534a0de0da /Documentation/dev-tools/context-analysis.rst | |
| download | linux-stable-f4cdf7ca9a1fdcca413157df19753f388a5a224e.tar.gz linux-stable-f4cdf7ca9a1fdcca413157df19753f388a5a224e.zip | |
Merge tag 'media/v7.3-1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/mchehab/linux-mediagrafted
Pull media updates from Mauro Carvalho Chehab:
- v4l2-core: added ISP statistics support and per-block validation
- v4l2-core: Allow unknown HDR10 white point and luminance
- New camera sensors: Sony IMX678 and IMX471m, Himax HM1092 IR sensor
- New codec: Milos: VPU v2.0 codec support
- isp driver: gained support for Dreamchip RPPX1 ISP framework
- vsp1 driver: gained support for RZ/T2H and RZ/N2H
- Novalake driver: gained CVS support for new NVL hardware
- dvb-core: fix feed leak on failed DMX_ADD_PID
- several driver fixes, cleanups and minor improvements
* tag 'media/v7.3-1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/mchehab/linux-media: (308 commits)
media: ipu-bridge: check all DMI entries when overriding sensor rotation
media: v4l2-async: avoid deleting unlinked ASC entry on link error
media: rzg2l-cru: Align bytesperline to hardware DMA stride requirement
media: intel/ipu6: fix async notifier cleanup leak on parse error
media: staging/ipu7: fix async notifier UAF on probe error path
media: amd: isp4: fix self-deadlock in isp4sd_pwron_and_init() error path
media: amd: isp4: release partial allocations in isp4if_alloc_fw_gpumem()
media: rcar-isp: Fix VSPX reference leaks
media: rcar-isp: Release ISPCORE resources
media: i2c: imx415: Release runtime PM reference on VBLANK error
media: i2c: imx415: Return test pattern write errors
media: renesas: vsp1: Declare index variables in for loop statement
media: renesas: vsp1: Make reset control optional to support platforms without a reset line
media: dt-bindings: media: renesas,vsp1: Document RZ/T2H and RZ/N2H SoCs
media: dt-bindings: media: renesas,fcp: Document RZ/T2H and RZ/N2H SoCs
media: nxp: imx8-isi: Add additional 32-bit RGB format support
media: nxp: imx8-isi: Add 16-bit raw Bayer format support
media: nxp: imx8-isi: Implement per-stream reference counting for multiplexed streams
media: nxp: imx8-isi: Use BIT_ULL() for 64-bit stream masks
media: nxp: imx8-isi: Correct color map between V4L2 and ISI
...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/dev-tools/context-analysis.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/dev-tools/context-analysis.rst | 169 |
1 files changed, 169 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/context-analysis.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/context-analysis.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..8e71e1e75 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/context-analysis.rst @@ -0,0 +1,169 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 +.. Copyright (C) 2025, Google LLC. + +.. _context-analysis: + +Compiler-Based Context Analysis +=============================== + +Context Analysis is a language extension, which enables statically checking +that required contexts are active (or inactive) by acquiring and releasing +user-definable "context locks". An obvious application is lock-safety checking +for the kernel's various synchronization primitives (each of which represents a +"context lock"), and checking that locking rules are not violated. + +The Clang compiler currently supports the full set of context analysis +features. To enable for Clang, configure the kernel with:: + + CONFIG_WARN_CONTEXT_ANALYSIS=y + +The feature requires Clang 23 or later. + +The analysis is *opt-in by default*, and requires declaring which modules and +subsystems should be analyzed in the respective `Makefile`:: + + CONTEXT_ANALYSIS_mymodule.o := y + +Or for all translation units in the directory:: + + CONTEXT_ANALYSIS := y + +It is possible to enable the analysis tree-wide, however, which will result in +numerous false positive warnings currently and is *not* generally recommended:: + + CONFIG_WARN_CONTEXT_ANALYSIS_ALL=y + +Programming Model +----------------- + +The below describes the programming model around using context lock types. + +.. note:: + Enabling context analysis can be seen as enabling a dialect of Linux C with + a Context System. Some valid patterns involving complex control-flow are + constrained (such as conditional acquisition and later conditional release + in the same function). + +Context analysis is a way to specify permissibility of operations to depend on +context locks being held (or not held). Typically we are interested in +protecting data and code in a critical section by requiring a specific context +to be active, for example by holding a specific lock. The analysis ensures that +callers cannot perform an operation without the required context being active. + +Context locks are associated with named structs, along with functions that +operate on struct instances to acquire and release the associated context lock. + +Context locks can be held either exclusively or shared. This mechanism allows +assigning more precise privileges when a context is active, typically to +distinguish where a thread may only read (shared) or also write (exclusive) to +data guarded within a context. + +The set of contexts that are actually active in a given thread at a given point +in program execution is a run-time concept. The static analysis works by +calculating an approximation of that set, called the context environment. The +context environment is calculated for every program point, and describes the +set of contexts that are statically known to be active, or inactive, at that +particular point. This environment is a conservative approximation of the full +set of contexts that will actually be active in a thread at run-time. + +More details are also documented `here +<https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ThreadSafetyAnalysis.html>`_. + +.. note:: + Clang's analysis explicitly does not infer context locks acquired or + released by inline functions. It requires explicit annotations to (a) assert + that it's not a bug if a context lock is released or acquired, and (b) to + retain consistency between inline and non-inline function declarations. + +Supported Kernel Primitives +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +Currently the following synchronization primitives are supported: +`raw_spinlock_t`, `spinlock_t`, `rwlock_t`, `mutex`, `seqlock_t`, +`bit_spinlock`, RCU, SRCU (`srcu_struct`), `rw_semaphore`, `local_lock_t`, +`ww_mutex`. + +To initialize variables guarded by a context lock with an initialization +function (``type_init(&lock)``), prefer using ``guard(type_init)(&lock)`` or +``scoped_guard(type_init, &lock) { ... }`` to initialize such guarded members +or globals in the enclosing scope. This initializes the context lock and treats +the context as active within the initialization scope (initialization implies +exclusive access to the underlying object). + +For example:: + + struct my_data { + spinlock_t lock; + int counter __guarded_by(&lock); + }; + + void init_my_data(struct my_data *d) + { + ... + guard(spinlock_init)(&d->lock); + d->counter = 0; + ... + } + +Alternatively, initializing guarded variables can be done with context analysis +disabled, preferably in the smallest possible scope (due to lack of any other +checking): either with a ``context_unsafe(var = init)`` expression, or by +marking small initialization functions with the ``__context_unsafe(init)`` +attribute. + +Lockdep assertions, such as `lockdep_assert_held()`, inform the compiler's +context analysis that the associated synchronization primitive is held after +the assertion. This avoids false positives in complex control-flow scenarios +and encourages the use of Lockdep where static analysis is limited. For +example, this is useful when a function doesn't *always* require a lock, making +`__must_hold()` inappropriate. + +Keywords +~~~~~~~~ + +.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/compiler-context-analysis.h + :identifiers: context_lock_struct + token_context_lock token_context_lock_instance + __guarded_by __pt_guarded_by + __must_hold + __must_not_hold + __acquires + __cond_acquires + __releases + __must_hold_shared + __acquires_shared + __cond_acquires_shared + __releases_shared + __acquire + __release + __acquire_shared + __release_shared + __acquire_ret + __acquire_shared_ret + context_unsafe + __context_unsafe + disable_context_analysis enable_context_analysis + +.. note:: + The function attribute `__no_context_analysis` is reserved for internal + implementation of context lock types, and should be avoided in normal code. + +Background +---------- + +Clang originally called the feature `Thread Safety Analysis +<https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ThreadSafetyAnalysis.html>`_, with some keywords +and documentation still using the thread-safety-analysis-only terminology. This +was later changed and the feature became more flexible, gaining the ability to +define custom "capabilities". Its foundations can be found in `Capability +Systems <https://www.cs.cornell.edu/talc/papers/capabilities.pdf>`_, used to +specify the permissibility of operations to depend on some "capability" being +held (or not held). + +Because the feature is not just able to express capabilities related to +synchronization primitives, and "capability" is already overloaded in the +kernel, the naming chosen for the kernel departs from Clang's initial "Thread +Safety" and "capability" nomenclature; we refer to the feature as "Context +Analysis" to avoid confusion. The internal implementation still makes +references to Clang's terminology in a few places, such as `-Wthread-safety` +being the warning option that also still appears in diagnostic messages. |
