Possibly wrong readers count in boost::thread_v2::upgrade_mutex

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Assessment

Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Newbie friendliness
48/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Stale
Tech stack
cpp

Research direction

Start with upgrade_mutex::try_unlock_shared_and_lock_until and upgrade_mutex::try_unlock_upgrade_and_lock_until, then trace how state_ and n_readers_ change while gate2_.wait_until is waiting. Confirm the timeout path preserves the actual reader count after other readers unlock, and verify that both methods handle the resulting state consistently.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

Because of issues (https://github.com/boostorg/thread/issues/265, https://github.com/boostorg/thread/issues/361) in the default shared mutex implementation, I reviewed the code of the V2 mutex classes.

It seems like upgrade_mutex::try_unlock_shared_and_lock_until(const boost::chrono::time_point<Clock, Duration>& abs_time) and upgrade_mutex::try_unlock_upgrade_and_lock_until(const boost::chrono::time_point<Clock, Duration>& abs_time) can set the readers count to a wrong value.

Both functions contain the same piece of code:

      count_t num_readers = (state_ & n_readers_) - 1;
      state_ &= ~n_readers_;
      state_ |= (write_entered_ | num_readers);
      if (!gate2_.wait_until(lk, abs_time, boost::bind(
            &upgrade_mutex::no_readers, boost::ref(*this))))
      {
        ++num_readers;
        state_ &= ~(write_entered_ | n_readers_);
        state_ |= num_readers;

The problem is with ++num_readers. Between reading it out of the state and then setting it again, the mutex is unlocked, so readers can unlock_shared(). This is even necessary, as the code actually waits until the readers count reaches 0.

So IMHO, the line in question should read:

num_readers = (state_ & n_readers_) +1;
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