PyOS_Readline drops GIL and calls PyOS_StdioReadline, which isn't thread safe

[tpn]

BPO	16742
Nosy	@gpshead, @pitrou, @kristjanvalur, @vstinner, @tpn, @meadori
Dependencies	bpo-3329: API for setting the memory allocator used by Python
Files	readline_gil.patch readline_gil-2.patch

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = 'https://github.com/tpn'
closed_at = <Date 2013-10-10.14:19:38.937>
created_at = <Date 2012-12-21.10:39:50.350>
labels = ['interpreter-core', 'type-bug']
title = "PyOS_Readline drops GIL and calls PyOS_StdioReadline, which isn't thread safe"
updated_at = <Date 2013-10-19.11:34:40.896>
user = 'https://github.com/tpn'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2013-10-19.11:34:40.896>
actor = 'vstinner'
assignee = 'trent'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2013-10-10.14:19:38.937>
closer = 'python-dev'
components = ['Interpreter Core']
creation = <Date 2012-12-21.10:39:50.350>
creator = 'trent'
dependencies = ['3329']
files = ['30578', '30593']
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 16742
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 10.0
messages = ['177874', '188397', '188499', '191092', '191094', '191178', '199388', '200340', '200390', '200404']
nosy_count = 7.0
nosy_names = ['gregory.p.smith', 'pitrou', 'kristjan.jonsson', 'vstinner', 'trent', 'meador.inge', 'python-dev']
pr_nums = []
priority = 'critical'
resolution = 'fixed'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = 'behavior'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue16742'
versions = ['Python 2.7', 'Python 3.3', 'Python 3.4']

[tpn]

Relevant thread: http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2012-December/123225.html

PyOS_StdioReadline features numerous calls that require the GIL to be held. Ideally, the GIL drop-take should be moved closer to the actual underlying read system call.

[pitrou]

So, could you propose a patch?

[kristjanvalur]

My quick and dirty fix is simple:

    _PyOS_ReadlineTState = PyThreadState_GET();
    /* CCP change, cannot release the GIL here because PyOS_StdioReadline uses
     * the regular MALLOC
     */
    /*
    Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
    */
#ifdef WITH_THREAD
    PyThread_acquire_lock(_PyOS_ReadlineLock, 1);
#endif

/* This is needed to handle the unlikely case that the
 * interpreter is in interactive mode *and* stdin/out are not
 * a tty.  This can happen, for example if python is run like
 * this: python -i < test1.py
 */
if (!isatty (fileno (sys_stdin)) || !isatty (fileno (sys_stdout)))
    rv = PyOS_StdioReadline (sys_stdin, sys_stdout, prompt);
else
    rv = (*PyOS_ReadlineFunctionPointer)(sys_stdin, sys_stdout,
                                         prompt);
/*
Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS
*/

#ifdef WITH_THREAD
    PyThread_release_lock(_PyOS_ReadlineLock);
#endif

Basically, we just comment out the lock release since we don't need it. The reason we found this was that we were using GIL a custom mallocator which should have been run with the GIL but wasn´t.

[vstinner]

I just found the readline/GIL issue while working on bpo-18203. I created bpo-18205 but then I found this issue. I just closed bpo-18205 as a duplicate. Here is a patch for Python 3.4.

--

Copy of the initial message (msg191089):

The callback PyOS_ReadlineFunctionPointer (used to read a line from the standard input) must return a buffer allocated by PyMem_Malloc(), but PyOS_Readline() releases the GIL before calling PyOS_ReadlineFunctionPointer.

Simplified extract of PyOS_Readline():

Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
if (!isatty (fileno (sys_stdin)) || !isatty (fileno (sys_stdout)))
    rv = PyOS_StdioReadline (sys_stdin, sys_stdout, prompt);
else
    rv = (*PyOS_ReadlineFunctionPointer)(sys_stdin, sys_stdout,
                                         prompt);
Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS

tok_nextc() calls PyOS_Readline() and calls PyMem_FREE() to release its result.

PyOS_ReadlineFunctionPointer should allocate memory using malloc(), not using PyMem_Malloc(). But PyOS_Readline() should copy the line into a buffer allocated by PyMem_Malloc() to keep backward compatibility.

See also issue bpo-18203 and bpo-3329.

[vstinner]

See the following thread on python-dev, the root problem is that PyMem_Malloc() cannot be called with the GIL held. This is a bug in my opinion, and it should be fixed.
http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2013-June/126822.html

[vstinner]

Updated patch for the final API of bpo-3329. Update also the documentation. PyOS_ReadlineFunctionPointer must now use PyMem_RawMalloc() or PyMem_RawRealloc(), instead of PyMem_Malloc() or PyMem_Realloc().

[python-dev]

New changeset 98dbe677dfe7 by Victor Stinner in branch 'default':
Close bpo-16742: Fix misuse of memory allocations in PyOS_Readline()
http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/98dbe677dfe7

[python-dev]

New changeset 6c9050ad1afc by Victor Stinner in branch 'default':
Issue bpo-16742: My fix on PyOS_StdioReadline() was incomplete, PyMem_FREE() was
http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/6c9050ad1afc

[kristjanvalur]

Perhaps in debug builds the memory apis should verify consistency and matching useage.

[vstinner]

Kristján Valur Jónsson added the comment:

Perhaps in debug builds the memory apis should verify consistency and
matching useage.

Python does check usage of apis in debug mode. Memory allocation failure
are almost never checked. See my pyfailmalloc module for that.