Alexander Graf 75d276e5bb virtio_ring: fix stale descriptor flags after a failed packed add
In a packed ring the AVAIL and USED bits sit in the descriptor itself,
so writing them makes that descriptor available. Those bit combinations
flip meaning on every round of the ring, tracked by a wrap counter, so
invalidating or validating a descriptor means inverting both bits.

Commit 1ce9e6055f ("virtio_ring: introduce packed ring support") has
virtqueue_add_packed() make every descriptor of a chain available as it
maps the chain, and write the head last. The device consumes the ring in
order and stops at a head that is not available yet, so it never reaches
the rest.

When vring_map_one_sg() fails partway, unmap_release unmaps the segments
and restores avail_used_flags, but the descriptors it wrote to in the
ring stay marked with AVAIL and USED bits. The head is now the only
entry that keeps the device from consuming these stale entries.

For example, the ring would look like this now.

  Z - pre-previous command
  A - previous command
  B - aborted command
  C - current command

  [A1 DONE] [A2 DONE] <C1 EMPTY> [B2] [B3] [Z1 DONE]

When the driver now attempts to issue the C command, the next add starts
at the same head as B. If C spans less descriptors than B, there is no
end marker because AVAIL and USED bits were still in place. And that
means the device will start interpreting these stale entries (B2/B3) as
another command entry, which then blocks the queue.

This effect typically happens in swiotlb configurations under memory
pressure, because vring_map_one_sg() can then fail with larger I/O
requests which then leads to command abortions.

There are broadly 2 ways to avoid leaving those flags behind:

  1) Defer those flags too until the chain is complete.
  2) Rewrite those flags for the previous wrap counter.

Implement the second option in both packed add paths. The first option
traverses the chain a second time on every successful add. The second
option invalidates all added descriptors when any add fails.

With this patch applied, a packed virtqueue keeps completing requests
after a failed add.

Fixes: 1ce9e6055f ("virtio_ring: introduce packed ring support")
Fixes: f6a15d8549 ("virtio_ring: add in order support")
Assisted-by: Kiro:claude-opus-5 checkpatch sparse
Signed-off-by: Alexander Graf <graf@amazon.com>
Signed-off-by: Michael S. Tsirkin <mst@redhat.com>
Message-ID: <20260817223229.28954-1-graf@amazon.com>
2026-09-07 18:54:02 -04:00
2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
2026-09-06 15:07:20 -07:00
2026-07-15 10:51:29 -06:00

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer: Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher: Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert: Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer: Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator: Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer: Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor: Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer: Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant: LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst
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