Merge tag 'trace-v7.3-2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-tracegrafted

Pull tracing fixes from Steven Rostedt:

 - Fix error output of boot instance creation failure

   Currently if a boot instance creation fails, instead of printing out
   the name of the instance that failed, it prints "(null)". That is
   because it prints "cur_str" that had already been processed by
   strsep(). Print the saved name instead.

   While at it, print the error code of the failure.

 - Fix use-after-free for same named historgrams

   Histograms can be named so that they can be used in multiple events.
   But if the named histogram has a variable attached, the second event
   that uses the named histogram which duplicates it and needs to free
   the original after duplication leaves the old variable in place and
   still visible. If another histogram uses than variable, it will use
   the stale one which will try to reference the freed duplicate
   histogram and crash the kernel.

   Free the duplicate variables along with the duplicated histogram
   data.

 - Check return value of kthread_run() in event self test

   The events self tests uses a kthread for testing but does not check
   if it succeeded in creating a kthread. If the kthread creation were
   to fail, the code will still try to call kthread_stop() on the error
   returned.

 - Fix race between reading trace_pipe and updating subbuffer size

   If a user is reading the trace_pipe file at the same time they update
   the ring buffer sub-buffer size, can cause the trace_pipe read to
   read stale data. Add trace_access_lock() around updating the ring
   buffer sub-buffer size.

 - Fix eventfs_inode on failure path in creation of the events directory

   In the creation of the "events" directory, if after allocating the
   eventfs_inode a failure is detected, it calls cleanup_ei() which
   calls free_ei(). The free_ei() will test if eventfs_inode being freed
   has no children. It is a bug if it does. But on the failure case of
   the creation of the "events" directory, the children lists have not
   yet been initialized and the free will trigger a warning because
   list_empty() on an uninitialized list returns false.

   Move the initialization into init_ei() where it makes more sense and
   makes sure that a created eventfs_inode has its lists initialized
   upon creation.

 - Check return value of kthread_run() in ftrace direct sample code

   The sample code that shows how to use the ftrace direct calls does
   not test the return of kthread_run() to see if it succeeds. Return a
   failure if the kthread_run() doesn't succeed.

 - Clear user events state on fork in case of alloc failure

   On fork, the child gets a pointer to the parent's user events state.
   It makes a copy of it then updates the child's pointer to it. But if
   the allocation fails, the duplication function leaves the child with
   a pointer to its parent's descriptor. When the child cleans up its
   data, it will free the parent's descriptor while the parent is still
   using it.

   In the duplication function, set the child's user_event_mm to NULL
   before testing if the allocation succeeded, and when it exits it will
   not free the parent's descriptor.

 - Fix retry exhaustion in simple ring buffer reader swap

   simple_ring_buffer_swap_reader_page() starts with retry set to 8 and
   post-decrements it only after a failed link replacement. On the final
   attempt, a successful replacement leaves retry at zero, while a
   failed replacement leaves it at -1.

   But the check for success expects the retry value to be non-zero and
   exits with an error on zero. This is the opposite result. Fix it.

 - Fail nicely when the remote swap_reader_page() returns an error

   Currently, if the swap_reader_page() of a remote buffer fails, it
   triggers a WARN_ON_ONCE() and continues normally. Instead, have it
   exit with an error and a pr_warn() print instead of a full WARNING.

* tag 'trace-v7.3-2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-trace:
  ring-buffer: Stop remote reader update when page swap fails
  tracing: Fix retry exhaustion in simple ring buffer reader swap
  tracing/user_events: Clear copied tracing state before fork duplication
  samples/ftrace: Fix kthread_stop() on ERR_PTR in ftrace-direct-multi-modify
  samples/ftrace: Fix kthread_stop() on ERR_PTR in ftrace-direct-modify
  eventfs: Initialize ei->children and ei->list in init_ei()
  tracing: Fix use-after-free in trace_pipe read on sub-buffer order change
  tracing: Fix crash passing ERR_PTR to kthread_stop()
  tracing: Fix use-after-free with same-name named triggers
  tracing: Fix logged instance name on creation failure

1 files changed, 49 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/driver-api/firmware/firmware-usage-guidelines.rst b/Documentation/driver-api/firmware/firmware-usage-guidelines.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..336e91228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/driver-api/firmware/firmware-usage-guidelines.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+===================
+Firmware Guidelines
+===================
+
+Users switching to a newer kernel should *not* have to install newer
+firmware files to keep their hardware working. At the same time updated
+firmware files must not cause any regressions for users of older kernel
+releases.
+
+Drivers that use firmware from linux-firmware should follow the rules in
+this guide. (Where there is limited control of the firmware,
+i.e. company doesn't support Linux, firmwares sourced from misc places,
+then of course these rules will not apply strictly.)
+
+* Firmware files shall be designed in a way that it allows checking for
+  firmware ABI version changes. It is recommended that firmware files be
+  versioned with at least a major/minor version. It is suggested that
+  the firmware files in linux-firmware be named with some device
+  specific name, and just the major version. The firmware version should
+  be stored in the firmware header, or as an exception, as part of the
+  firmware file name, in order to let the driver detact any non-ABI
+  fixes/changes. The firmware files in linux-firmware should be
+  overwritten with the newest compatible major version. Newer major
+  version firmware shall remain compatible with all kernels that load
+  that major number.
+
+* If the kernel support for the hardware is normally inactive, or the
+  hardware isn't available for public consumption, this can
+  be ignored, until the first kernel release that enables that hardware.
+  This means no major version bumps without the kernel retaining
+  backwards compatibility for the older major versions.  Minor version
+  bumps should not introduce new features that newer kernels depend on
+  non-optionally.
+
+* If a security fix needs lockstep firmware and kernel fixes in order to
+  be successful, then all supported major versions in the linux-firmware
+  repo that are required by currently supported stable/LTS kernels,
+  should be updated with the security fix. The kernel patches should
+  detect if the firmware is new enough to declare if the security issue
+  is fixed.  All communications around security fixes should point at
+  both the firmware and kernel fixes. If a security fix requires
+  deprecating old major versions, then this should only be done as a
+  last option, and be stated clearly in all communications.
+
+* Firmware files that affect the User API (UAPI) shall not introduce
+  changes that break existing userspace programs. Updates to such firmware
+  must ensure backward compatibility with existing userspace applications.
+  This includes maintaining consistent interfaces and behaviors that
+  userspace programs rely on.