[PATCH v2 01/16] docs: deprecated.rst: Add uninitialized_var()
From: Kees Cook <hidden>
Date: 2020-06-20 03:30:53
Also in:
linux-block, linux-clk, linux-doc, linux-ide, linux-mm, linux-spi, linux-wireless, lkml
Subsystem:
documentation, documentation process, the rest · Maintainers:
Jonathan Corbet, Linus Torvalds
Nothing should be using this macro, and the entire idea of tricking the compiler into silencing such warnings is a mistake. Signed-off-by: Kees Cook <redacted> --- Documentation/process/deprecated.rst | 18 ++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 18 insertions(+)
diff --git a/Documentation/process/deprecated.rst b/Documentation/process/deprecated.rst
index 652e2aa02a66..943a926ecbbb 100644
--- a/Documentation/process/deprecated.rst
+++ b/Documentation/process/deprecated.rst@@ -51,6 +51,24 @@ to make sure their systems do not continue running in the face of "unreachable" conditions. (For example, see commits like `this one <https://git.kernel.org/linus/d4689846881d160a4d12a514e991a740bcb5d65a>`_.) +uninitialized_var() +------------------- +For any compiler warnings about uninitialized variables, just add +an initializer. Using the uninitialized_var() macro (or similar +warning-silencing tricks) is dangerous as it papers over `real bugs +<https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20200603174714.192027-1-glider@google.com/>`_ +(or can in the future), and suppresses unrelated compiler warnings +(e.g. "unused variable"). If the compiler thinks it is uninitialized, +either simply initialize the variable or make compiler changes. Keep in +mind that in most cases, if an initialization is obviously redundant, +the compiler's dead-store elimination pass will make sure there are no +needless variable writes. + +As Linus has said, this macro +`must <https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CA+55aFw+Vbj0i=1TGqCR5vQkCzWJ0QxK6CernOU6eedsudAixw@mail.gmail.com/>`_ +`be <https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CA+55aFwgbgqhbp1fkxvRKEpzyR5J8n1vKT1VZdz9knmPuXhOeg@mail.gmail.com/>`_ +`removed <https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CA+55aFz2500WfbKXAx8s67wrm9=yVJu65TpLgN_ybYNv0VEOKA@mail.gmail.com/>`_. + open-coded arithmetic in allocator arguments -------------------------------------------- Dynamic size calculations (especially multiplication) should not be
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2.25.1