Subject: Re: [PATCH v9 4/6] signal: define the SA_UNSUPPORTED bit in sa_flags

From: Dave Martin <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2020 15:51:12 +0100

On Mon, Aug 17, 2020 at 08:33:49PM -0700, Peter Collingbourne wrote:
> This bit will never be supported in the uapi. The purpose of this flag
> bit is to allow userspace to distinguish an old kernel that does not
> clear unknown sa_flags bits from a kernel that supports every flag bit.
> 
> In other words, if userspace finds that this bit remains set in
> oldact.sa_flags, it means that the kernel cannot be trusted to have
> cleared unknown flag bits from sa_flags, so no assumptions about flag
> bit support can be made.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Peter Collingbourne <[email-masked]>
> ---
> View this change in Gerrit: https://linux-review.googlesource.com/q/Ic2501ad150a3a79c1cf27fb8c99be342e9dffbcb
> 
>  include/uapi/asm-generic/signal-defs.h | 7 +++++++
>  kernel/signal.c                        | 6 ++++++
>  2 files changed, 13 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/include/uapi/asm-generic/signal-defs.h b/include/uapi/asm-generic/signal-defs.h
> index 91000b6b97e0..c30a9c1a77b2 100644
> --- a/include/uapi/asm-generic/signal-defs.h
> +++ b/include/uapi/asm-generic/signal-defs.h
> @@ -13,6 +13,12 @@
>   * SA_RESETHAND clears the handler when the signal is delivered.
>   * SA_NOCLDWAIT flag on SIGCHLD to inhibit zombies.
>   * SA_NODEFER prevents the current signal from being masked in the handler.
> + * SA_UNSUPPORTED is a flag bit that will never be supported. Kernels from
> + * before the introduction of SA_UNSUPPORTED did not clear unknown bits from
> + * sa_flags when read using the oldact argument to sigaction and rt_sigaction,
> + * so this bit allows flag bit support to be detected from userspace while
> + * allowing an old kernel to be distinguished from a kernel that supports every
> + * flag bit.
>   *
>   * SA_ONESHOT and SA_NOMASK are the historical Linux names for the Single
>   * Unix names RESETHAND and NODEFER respectively.
> @@ -42,6 +48,7 @@
>   * The following bits are used in architecture-specific SA_* definitions and
>   * should be avoided for new generic flags: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 24, 25, 26.
>   */
> +#define SA_UNSUPPORTED	0x00000400

This concept confused me a bit initially, since in a sense this flag is
supported, just with a rather peculiar meaning.

Since the main (only) purpose of this bit will be to check whether
SA_XFLAGS is actually supported, I wonder whether it makes sense to weld
the two together, say:

#define SA_REQUEST_XFLAGS	0x00000c00
#define SA_XFLAGS_MASK		0x00000c00
#define SA_HAVE_XFLAGS		0x00000800

This is a departure from the current style of definitions though.

	sa.sa_flags |= SA_REQUEST_XFLAGS;
	sigaction(..., &sa, &sa);
	if ((sa.sa_flags & SA_XFLAGS_MASK) == SA_HAVE_XFLAGS)
		/* xflags available */

This would require some juggling of the way SA_UAPI_FLAGS works though.
Maybe not worth it, so long as the semantics get clearly documented.

[...]

Cheers
---Dave

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