[PATCH 03/31] gdb/linux: Delete all other LWPs immediately on ptrace exec event

Pedro Alves
2022-12-12T20:31:29Z

I noticed that after a following patch ("Step over clone syscall w/
breakpoint, TARGET_WAITKIND_THREAD_CLONED"), the
gdb.threads/step-over-exec.exp was passing cleanly, but still, we'd
end up with four new unexpected GDB core dumps:

=== gdb Summary ===

# of unexpected core files 4
# of expected passes 48

That said patch is making the pre-existing
gdb.threads/step-over-exec.exp testcase (almost silently) expose a
latent problem in gdb/linux-nat.c, resulting in a GDB crash when:

#1 - a non-leader thread execs
#2 - the post-exec program stops somewhere
#3 - you kill the inferior

Instead of #3 directly, the testcase just returns, which ends up in
gdb_exit, tearing down GDB, which kills the inferior, and is thus
equivalent to #3 above.

Vis:

$ gdb --args ./gdb /home/pedro/gdb/build/gdb/testsuite/outputs/gdb.threads/step-over-exec/step-over-exec-execr-thread-other-diff-text-segs-true
...
(top-gdb) r
...
(gdb) b main
...
(gdb) r
...
Breakpoint 1, main (argc=1, argv=0x7fffffffdb88) at /home/pedro/gdb/build/gdb/testsuite/../../../src/gdb/testsuite/gdb.threads/step-over-exec.c:69
69 argv0 = argv[0];
(gdb) c
Continuing.
[New Thread 0x7ffff7d89700 (LWP 2506975)]
Other going in exec.
Exec-ing /home/pedro/gdb/build/gdb/testsuite/outputs/gdb.threads/step-over-exec/step-over-exec-execr-thread-other-diff-text-segs-true-execd
process 2506769 is executing new program: /home/pedro/gdb/build/gdb/testsuite/outputs/gdb.threads/step-over-exec/step-over-exec-execr-thread-other-diff-text-segs-true-execd

Thread 1 "step-over-exec-" hit Breakpoint 1, main () at /home/pedro/gdb/build/gdb/testsuite/../../../src/gdb/testsuite/gdb.threads/step-over-exec-execd.c:28
28 foo ();
(gdb) k
...
Thread 1 "gdb" received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x000055555574444c in thread_info::has_pending_waitstatus (this=0x0) at ../../src/gdb/gdbthread.h:393
393 return m_suspend.waitstatus_pending_p;
(top-gdb) bt
#0 0x000055555574444c in thread_info::has_pending_waitstatus (this=0x0) at ../../src/gdb/gdbthread.h:393
#1 0x0000555555a884d1 in get_pending_child_status (lp=0x5555579b8230, ws=0x7fffffffd130) at ../../src/gdb/linux-nat.c:1345
#2 0x0000555555a8e5e6 in kill_unfollowed_child_callback (lp=0x5555579b8230) at ../../src/gdb/linux-nat.c:3564
#3 0x0000555555a92a26 in gdb::function_view<int (lwp_info*)>::bind<int, lwp_info*>(int (*)(lwp_info*))::{lambda(gdb::fv_detail::erased_callable, lwp_info*)#1}::operator()(gdb::fv_detail::erased_callable, lwp_info*) const (this=0x0, ecall=..., args#0=0x5555579b8230) at ../../src/gdb/../gdbsupport/function-view.h:284
#4 0x0000555555a92a51 in gdb::function_view<int (lwp_info*)>::bind<int, lwp_info*>(int (*)(lwp_info*))::{lambda(gdb::fv_detail::erased_callable, lwp_info*)#1}::_FUN(gdb::fv_detail::erased_callable, lwp_info*) () at ../../src/gdb/../gdbsupport/function-view.h:278
#5 0x0000555555a91f84 in gdb::function_view<int (lwp_info*)>::operator()(lwp_info*) const (this=0x7fffffffd210, args#0=0x5555579b8230) at ../../src/gdb/../gdbsupport/function-view.h:247
#6 0x0000555555a87072 in iterate_over_lwps(ptid_t, gdb::function_view<int (lwp_info*)>) (filter=..., callback=...) at ../../src/gdb/linux-nat.c:864
#7 0x0000555555a8e732 in linux_nat_target::kill (this=0x55555653af40 <the_amd64_linux_nat_target>) at ../../src/gdb/linux-nat.c:3590
#8 0x0000555555cfdc11 in target_kill () at ../../src/gdb/target.c:911
...

The root of the problem is that when a non-leader LWP execs, it just
changes its tid to the tgid, replacing the pre-exec leader thread,
becoming the new leader. There's no thread exit event for the execing
thread. It's as if the old pre-exec LWP vanishes without trace. The
ptrace man page says:

"PTRACE_O_TRACEEXEC (since Linux 2.5.46)
Stop the tracee at the next execve(2). A waitpid(2) by the
tracer will return a status value such that

status>>8 == (SIGTRAP | (PTRACE_EVENT_EXEC<<8))

If the execing thread is not a thread group leader, the thread
ID is reset to thread group leader's ID before this stop.
Since Linux 3.0, the former thread ID can be retrieved with
PTRACE_GETEVENTMSG."

When the core of GDB processes an exec events, it deletes all the
threads of the inferior. But, that is too late -- deleting the thread
does not delete the corresponding LWP, so we end leaving the pre-exec
non-leader LWP stale in the LWP list. That's what leads to the crash
above -- linux_nat_target::kill iterates over all LWPs, and after the
patch in question, that code will look for the corresponding
thread_info for each LWP. For the pre-exec non-leader LWP still
listed, won't find one.

This patch fixes it, by deleting the pre-exec non-leader LWP (and
thread) from the LWP/thread lists as soon as we get an exec event out
of ptrace.

GDBserver does not need an equivalent fix, because it is already doing
this, as side effect of mourning the pre-exec process, in
gdbserver/linux-low.cc:

else if (event == PTRACE_EVENT_EXEC && cs.report_exec_events)
{
...
/* Delete the execing process and all its threads. */
mourn (proc);
switch_to_thread (nullptr);

Change-Id: I21ec18072c7750f3a972160ae6b9e46590376643
---
gdb/linux-nat.c | 15 +++++++++++++++
gdb/testsuite/gdb.threads/step-over-exec.exp | 6 ++++++
2 files changed, 21 insertions(+)

diff --git a/gdb/linux-nat.c b/gdb/linux-nat.c
index 9b78fd1f8e8..5ee3227f1b9 100644
--- a/gdb/linux-nat.c
+++ b/gdb/linux-nat.c
@@ -1986,6 +1986,21 @@ linux_handle_extended_wait (struct lwp_info *lp, int status)
thread execs, it changes its tid to the tgid, and the old
tgid thread might have not been resumed. */
lp->resumed = 1;
+
+ /* All other LWPs are gone now. We'll have received a thread
+ exit notification for all threads other the execing one.
+ That one, if it wasn't the leader, just silently changes its
+ tid to the tgid, and the previous leader vanishes. Since
+ Linux 3.0, the former thread ID can be retrieved with
+ PTRACE_GETEVENTMSG, but since we support older kernels, don't
+ bother with it, and just walk the LWP list. Even with
+ PTRACE_GETEVENTMSG, we'd still need to lookup the
+ corresponding LWP object, and it would be an extra ptrace
+ syscall, so this way may even be more efficient. */
+ for (lwp_info *other_lp : all_lwps_safe ())
+ if (other_lp != lp && other_lp->ptid.pid () == lp->ptid.pid ())
+ exit_lwp (other_lp);
+
return 0;
}

diff --git a/gdb/testsuite/gdb.threads/step-over-exec.exp b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.threads/step-over-exec.exp
index 783f865585c..a8b01f8aeda 100644
--- a/gdb/testsuite/gdb.threads/step-over-exec.exp
+++ b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.threads/step-over-exec.exp
@@ -102,6 +102,12 @@ proc do_test { execr_thread different_text_segments displaced_stepping } {
gdb_breakpoint foo
gdb_test "continue" "Breakpoint $decimal, foo .*" \
"continue to foo"
+
+ # Test that GDB is able to kill the inferior. This may fail if
+ # e.g., GDB does not dispose of the pre-exec threads properly.
+ gdb_test "with confirm off -- kill" \
+ "\\\[Inferior 1 (.*) killed\\\]" \
+ "kill inferior"
}

foreach_with_prefix displaced_stepping {auto off} {
--
2.36.0