deadlock_detector_example.txt

Demonstrations of deadlock_detector.

This program detects potential deadlocks on a running process. The program
attaches uprobes on `pthread_mutex_lock` and `pthread_mutex_unlock` to build
a mutex wait directed graph, and then looks for a cycle in this graph. This
graph has the following properties:

- Nodes in the graph represent mutexes.
- Edge (A, B) exists if there exists some thread T where lock(A) was called
  and lock(B) was called before unlock(A) was called.

If there is a cycle in this graph, this indicates that there is a lock order
inversion (potential deadlock). If the program finds a lock order inversion, the
program will dump the cycle of mutexes, dump the stack traces where each mutex
was acquired, and then exit.

This program can only find potential deadlocks that occur while the program
is tracing the process. It cannot find deadlocks that may have occurred
before the program was attached to the process.

Since this traces all mutex lock and unlock events and all thread creation
events on the traced process, the overhead of this bpf program can be very
high if the process has many threads and mutexes. You should only run this on
a process where the slowdown is acceptable.

Note: This tool does not work for shared mutexes or recursive mutexes.

For shared (read-write) mutexes, a deadlock requires a cycle in the wait
graph where at least one of the mutexes in the cycle is acquiring exclusive
(write) ownership.

For recursive mutexes, lock() is called multiple times on the same mutex.
However, there is no way to determine if a mutex is a recursive mutex
after the mutex has been created. As a result, this tool will not find
potential deadlocks that involve only one mutex.


# ./deadlock_detector.py 181
Tracing... Hit Ctrl-C to end.
----------------
Potential Deadlock Detected!

Cycle in lock order graph: Mutex M0 (main::static_mutex3 0x0000000000473c60) => Mutex M1 (0x00007fff6d738400) => Mutex M2 (global_mutex1 0x0000000000473be0) => Mutex M3 (global_mutex2 0x0000000000473c20) => Mutex M0 (main::static_mutex3 0x0000000000473c60)

Mutex M1 (0x00007fff6d738400) acquired here while holding Mutex M0 (main::static_mutex3 0x0000000000473c60) in Thread 357250 (lockinversion):
@ 00000000004024d0 pthread_mutex_lock
@ 0000000000406dd0 std::mutex::lock()
@ 00000000004070d2 std::lock_guard<std::mutex>::lock_guard(std::mutex&)
@ 0000000000402e38 main::{lambda()#3}::operator()() const
@ 0000000000406ba8 void std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#3} ()>::_M_invoke<>(std::_Index_tuple<>)
@ 0000000000406951 std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#3} ()>::operator()()
@ 000000000040673a std::thread::_Impl<std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#3} ()> >::_M_run()
@ 00007fd4496564e1 execute_native_thread_routine
@ 00007fd449dd57f1 start_thread
@ 00007fd44909746d __clone

Mutex M0 (main::static_mutex3 0x0000000000473c60) previously acquired by the same Thread 357250 (lockinversion) here:
@ 00000000004024d0 pthread_mutex_lock
@ 0000000000406dd0 std::mutex::lock()
@ 00000000004070d2 std::lock_guard<std::mutex>::lock_guard(std::mutex&)
@ 0000000000402e22 main::{lambda()#3}::operator()() const
@ 0000000000406ba8 void std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#3} ()>::_M_invoke<>(std::_Index_tuple<>)
@ 0000000000406951 std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#3} ()>::operator()()
@ 000000000040673a std::thread::_Impl<std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#3} ()> >::_M_run()
@ 00007fd4496564e1 execute_native_thread_routine
@ 00007fd449dd57f1 start_thread
@ 00007fd44909746d __clone

Mutex M2 (global_mutex1 0x0000000000473be0) acquired here while holding Mutex M1 (0x00007fff6d738400) in Thread 357251 (lockinversion):
@ 00000000004024d0 pthread_mutex_lock
@ 0000000000406dd0 std::mutex::lock()
@ 00000000004070d2 std::lock_guard<std::mutex>::lock_guard(std::mutex&)
@ 0000000000402ea8 main::{lambda()#4}::operator()() const
@ 0000000000406b46 void std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#4} ()>::_M_invoke<>(std::_Index_tuple<>)
@ 000000000040692d std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#4} ()>::operator()()
@ 000000000040671c std::thread::_Impl<std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#4} ()> >::_M_run()
@ 00007fd4496564e1 execute_native_thread_routine
@ 00007fd449dd57f1 start_thread
@ 00007fd44909746d __clone

Mutex M1 (0x00007fff6d738400) previously acquired by the same Thread 357251 (lockinversion) here:
@ 00000000004024d0 pthread_mutex_lock
@ 0000000000406dd0 std::mutex::lock()
@ 00000000004070d2 std::lock_guard<std::mutex>::lock_guard(std::mutex&)
@ 0000000000402e97 main::{lambda()#4}::operator()() const
@ 0000000000406b46 void std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#4} ()>::_M_invoke<>(std::_Index_tuple<>)
@ 000000000040692d std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#4} ()>::operator()()
@ 000000000040671c std::thread::_Impl<std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#4} ()> >::_M_run()
@ 00007fd4496564e1 execute_native_thread_routine
@ 00007fd449dd57f1 start_thread
@ 00007fd44909746d __clone

Mutex M3 (global_mutex2 0x0000000000473c20) acquired here while holding Mutex M2 (global_mutex1 0x0000000000473be0) in Thread 357247 (lockinversion):
@ 00000000004024d0 pthread_mutex_lock
@ 0000000000406dd0 std::mutex::lock()
@ 00000000004070d2 std::lock_guard<std::mutex>::lock_guard(std::mutex&)
@ 0000000000402d5f main::{lambda()#1}::operator()() const
@ 0000000000406c6c void std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#1} ()>::_M_invoke<>(std::_Index_tuple<>)
@ 0000000000406999 std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#1} ()>::operator()()
@ 0000000000406776 std::thread::_Impl<std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#1} ()> >::_M_run()
@ 00007fd4496564e1 execute_native_thread_routine
@ 00007fd449dd57f1 start_thread
@ 00007fd44909746d __clone

Mutex M2 (global_mutex1 0x0000000000473be0) previously acquired by the same Thread 357247 (lockinversion) here:
@ 00000000004024d0 pthread_mutex_lock
@ 0000000000406dd0 std::mutex::lock()
@ 00000000004070d2 std::lock_guard<std::mutex>::lock_guard(std::mutex&)
@ 0000000000402d4e main::{lambda()#1}::operator()() const
@ 0000000000406c6c void std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#1} ()>::_M_invoke<>(std::_Index_tuple<>)
@ 0000000000406999 std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#1} ()>::operator()()
@ 0000000000406776 std::thread::_Impl<std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#1} ()> >::_M_run()
@ 00007fd4496564e1 execute_native_thread_routine
@ 00007fd449dd57f1 start_thread
@ 00007fd44909746d __clone

Mutex M0 (main::static_mutex3 0x0000000000473c60) acquired here while holding Mutex M3 (global_mutex2 0x0000000000473c20) in Thread 357248 (lockinversion):
@ 00000000004024d0 pthread_mutex_lock
@ 0000000000406dd0 std::mutex::lock()
@ 00000000004070d2 std::lock_guard<std::mutex>::lock_guard(std::mutex&)
@ 0000000000402dc9 main::{lambda()#2}::operator()() const
@ 0000000000406c0a void std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#2} ()>::_M_invoke<>(std::_Index_tuple<>)
@ 0000000000406975 std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#2} ()>::operator()()
@ 0000000000406758 std::thread::_Impl<std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#2} ()> >::_M_run()
@ 00007fd4496564e1 execute_native_thread_routine
@ 00007fd449dd57f1 start_thread
@ 00007fd44909746d __clone

Mutex M3 (global_mutex2 0x0000000000473c20) previously acquired by the same Thread 357248 (lockinversion) here:
@ 00000000004024d0 pthread_mutex_lock
@ 0000000000406dd0 std::mutex::lock()
@ 00000000004070d2 std::lock_guard<std::mutex>::lock_guard(std::mutex&)
@ 0000000000402db8 main::{lambda()#2}::operator()() const
@ 0000000000406c0a void std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#2} ()>::_M_invoke<>(std::_Index_tuple<>)
@ 0000000000406975 std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#2} ()>::operator()()
@ 0000000000406758 std::thread::_Impl<std::_Bind_simple<main::{lambda()#2} ()> >::_M_run()
@ 00007fd4496564e1 execute_native_thread_routine
@ 00007fd449dd57f1 start_thread
@ 00007fd44909746d __clone

Thread 357248 created by Thread 350692 (lockinversion) here:
@ 00007fd449097431 __clone
@ 00007fd449dd5ef5 pthread_create
@ 00007fd449658440 std::thread::_M_start_thread(std::shared_ptr<std::thread::_Impl_base>)
@ 00000000004033ac std::thread::thread<main::{lambda()#2}>(main::{lambda()#2}&&)
@ 000000000040308f main
@ 00007fd448faa0f6 __libc_start_main
@ 0000000000402ad8 [unknown]

Thread 357250 created by Thread 350692 (lockinversion) here:
@ 00007fd449097431 __clone
@ 00007fd449dd5ef5 pthread_create
@ 00007fd449658440 std::thread::_M_start_thread(std::shared_ptr<std::thread::_Impl_base>)
@ 00000000004034b2 std::thread::thread<main::{lambda()#3}>(main::{lambda()#3}&&)
@ 00000000004030b9 main
@ 00007fd448faa0f6 __libc_start_main
@ 0000000000402ad8 [unknown]

Thread 357251 created by Thread 350692 (lockinversion) here:
@ 00007fd449097431 __clone
@ 00007fd449dd5ef5 pthread_create
@ 00007fd449658440 std::thread::_M_start_thread(std::shared_ptr<std::thread::_Impl_base>)
@ 00000000004035b8 std::thread::thread<main::{lambda()#4}>(main::{lambda()#4}&&)
@ 00000000004030e6 main
@ 00007fd448faa0f6 __libc_start_main
@ 0000000000402ad8 [unknown]

Thread 357247 created by Thread 350692 (lockinversion) here:
@ 00007fd449097431 __clone
@ 00007fd449dd5ef5 pthread_create
@ 00007fd449658440 std::thread::_M_start_thread(std::shared_ptr<std::thread::_Impl_base>)
@ 00000000004032a6 std::thread::thread<main::{lambda()#1}>(main::{lambda()#1}&&)
@ 0000000000403070 main
@ 00007fd448faa0f6 __libc_start_main
@ 0000000000402ad8 [unknown]

This is output from a process that has a potential deadlock involving 4 mutexes
and 4 threads:

- Thread 357250 acquired M1 while holding M0 (edge M0 -> M1)
- Thread 357251 acquired M2 while holding M1 (edge M1 -> M2)
- Thread 357247 acquired M3 while holding M2 (edge M2 -> M3)
- Thread 357248 acquired M0 while holding M3 (edge M3 -> M0)

This is the C++ program that generated the output above:

```c++
#include <chrono>
#include <iostream>
#include <mutex>
#include <thread>

std::mutex global_mutex1;
std::mutex global_mutex2;

int main(void) {
  static std::mutex static_mutex3;
  std::mutex local_mutex4;

  std::cout << "sleeping for a bit to allow trace to attach..." << std::endl;
  std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(10));
  std::cout << "starting program..." << std::endl;

  auto t1 = std::thread([] {
    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> g1(global_mutex1);
    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> g2(global_mutex2);
  });
  t1.join();

  auto t2 = std::thread([] {
    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> g2(global_mutex2);
    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> g3(static_mutex3);
  });
  t2.join();

  auto t3 = std::thread([&local_mutex4] {
    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> g3(static_mutex3);
    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> g4(local_mutex4);
  });
  t3.join();

  auto t4 = std::thread([&local_mutex4] {
    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> g4(local_mutex4);
    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> g1(global_mutex1);
  });
  t4.join();

  std::cout << "sleeping to allow trace to collect data..." << std::endl;
  std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(5));
  std::cout << "done!" << std::endl;
}
```

Note that an actual deadlock did not occur, although this mutex lock ordering
creates the possibility of a deadlock, and this is a hint to the programmer to
reconsider the lock ordering. If the mutexes are global or static and debug
symbols are enabled, the output will contain the mutex symbol name. The output
uses a similar format as ThreadSanitizer
(https://github.com/google/sanitizers/wiki/ThreadSanitizerDeadlockDetector).


# ./deadlock_detector.py 181 --binary /usr/local/bin/lockinversion

Tracing... Hit Ctrl-C to end.
^C

If the traced process is instantiated from a statically-linked executable,
this argument is optional, and the program will determine the path of the
executable from the pid. However, on older kernels without this patch
("uprobe: Find last occurrence of ':' when parsing uprobe PATH:OFFSET",
https://lkml.org/lkml/2017/1/13/585), binaries that contain `:` in the path
cannot be attached with uprobes. As a workaround, we can create a symlink
to the binary, and provide the symlink name instead to the `--binary` option.


# ./deadlock_detector.py 181 --binary /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0

Tracing... Hit Ctrl-C to end.
^C

If the traced process is instantiated from a dynamically-linked executable,
this argument is required and needs to be the path to the pthread shared
library used by the executable.


# ./deadlock_detector.py 181 --dump-graph graph.json --verbose

Tracing... Hit Ctrl-C to end.
Mutexes: 0, Edges: 0
Mutexes: 532, Edges: 411
Mutexes: 735, Edges: 675
Mutexes: 1118, Edges: 1278
Mutexes: 1666, Edges: 2185
Mutexes: 2056, Edges: 2694
Mutexes: 2245, Edges: 2906
Mutexes: 2656, Edges: 3479
Mutexes: 2813, Edges: 3785
^C

If the program does not find a deadlock, it will keep running until you hit
Ctrl-C. If you pass the `--verbose` flag, the program will also dump statistics
about the number of mutexes and edges in the mutex wait graph. If you want to
serialize the graph to analyze it later, you can pass the `--dump-graph FILE`
flag, and the program will serialize the graph in json.


# ./deadlock_detector.py 181 --lock-symbols custom_mutex1_lock,custom_mutex2_lock --unlock_symbols custom_mutex1_unlock,custom_mutex2_unlock --verbose

Tracing... Hit Ctrl-C to end.
Mutexes: 0, Edges: 0
Mutexes: 532, Edges: 411
Mutexes: 735, Edges: 675
Mutexes: 1118, Edges: 1278
Mutexes: 1666, Edges: 2185
Mutexes: 2056, Edges: 2694
Mutexes: 2245, Edges: 2906
Mutexes: 2656, Edges: 3479
Mutexes: 2813, Edges: 3785
^C

If your program is using custom mutexes and not pthread mutexes, you can use
the `--lock-symbols` and `--unlock-symbols` flags to specify different mutex
symbols to trace. The flags take a comma-separated string of symbol names.
Note that if the symbols are inlined in the binary, then this program can result
in false positives.


USAGE message:

# ./deadlock_detector.py -h

usage: deadlock_detector.py [-h] [--binary BINARY] [--dump-graph DUMP_GRAPH]
                            [--verbose] [--lock-symbols LOCK_SYMBOLS]
                            [--unlock-symbols UNLOCK_SYMBOLS]
                            pid

Detect potential deadlocks (lock inversions) in a running binary.
Must be run as root.

positional arguments:
  pid                   Pid to trace

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --binary BINARY       If set, trace the mutexes from the binary at this
                        path. For statically-linked binaries, this argument is
                        not required. For dynamically-linked binaries, this
                        argument is required and should be the path of the
                        pthread library the binary is using. Example:
                        /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0
  --dump-graph DUMP_GRAPH
                        If set, this will dump the mutex graph to the
                        specified file.
  --verbose             Print statistics about the mutex wait graph.
  --lock-symbols LOCK_SYMBOLS
                        Comma-separated list of lock symbols to trace. Default
                        is pthread_mutex_lock. These symbols cannot be inlined
                        in the binary.
  --unlock-symbols UNLOCK_SYMBOLS
                        Comma-separated list of unlock symbols to trace.
                        Default is pthread_mutex_unlock. These symbols cannot
                        be inlined in the binary.

Examples:
    deadlock_detector 181        # Analyze PID 181

    deadlock_detector 181 --binary /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0
                                 # Analyze PID 181 and locks from this binary.
                                 # If tracing a process that is running from
                                 # a dynamically-linked binary, this argument
                                 # is required and should be the path to the
                                 # pthread library.

    deadlock_detector 181 --verbose
                                 # Analyze PID 181 and print statistics about
                                 # the mutex wait graph.

    deadlock_detector 181 --lock-symbols my_mutex_lock1,my_mutex_lock2 \
        --unlock-symbols my_mutex_unlock1,my_mutex_unlock2
                                 # Analyze PID 181 and trace custom mutex
                                 # symbols instead of pthread mutexes.

    deadlock_detector 181 --dump-graph graph.json
                                 # Analyze PID 181 and dump the mutex wait
                                 # graph to graph.json.