Destruction of locked mutex

Task tries to destroy a mutex in the locked state

Description

This defect occurs when a task destroys a mutex after it is locked (and before it is unlocked). The locking and destruction can happen in the same task or different tasks.

Risk

A mutex is locked to protect shared variables from concurrent access. If a mutex is destroyed in the locked state, the protection does not apply.

Fix

To fix this defect, destroy the mutex only after you unlock it. It is a good design practice to:

• Initialize a mutex before creating the threads where you use the mutex.

• Destroy a mutex after joining the threads that you created.

On the Result Details pane, you see two events, the locking and destruction of the mutex, and the tasks that initiated the events. To navigate to the corresponding line in your source code, click the event.

Examples

Locking and Destruction in Different Tasks

#include <pthread.h>

pthread_mutex_t lock1;
pthread_mutex_t lock2;
pthread_mutex_t lock3;

void t0 (void) {
  pthread_mutex_lock (&lock1);
  pthread_mutex_lock (&lock2);
  pthread_mutex_lock (&lock3);
  pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock2);
  pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock1);
  pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock3);
}

void t1 (void) {
  pthread_mutex_lock (&lock1);
  pthread_mutex_lock (&lock2);
  pthread_mutex_destroy (&lock3);
  pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock2);
  pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock1);
}

In this example, after task t0 locks the mutex lock3, task t1 can destroy it. The destruction occurs if the following events happen in sequence:

1. t0 acquires lock3.

2. t0 releases lock2.

3. t0 releases lock1.

4. t1 acquires the lock lock1 released by t0.

5. t1 acquires the lock lock2 released by t0.

6. t1 destroys lock3.

For simplicity, this example uses a mix of automatic and manual concurrency detection. The tasks t0 and t1 are manually specified as entry points by using the option Tasks (-entry-points). The critical sections are implemented through primitives pthread_mutex_lock and pthread_mutex_unlock that the software detects automatically. In practice, for entry point specification (thread creation), you will use primitives such as pthread_create. The next example shows how the defect can appear when you use pthread_create.

Correction — Place Lock-Unlock Pair Together in Same Critical Section as Destruction

The locking and destruction of lock3 occurs inside the critical section imposed by lock1 and lock2, but the unlocking occurs outside. One possible correction is to place the lock-unlock pair in the same critical section as the destruction of the mutex. Use one of these critical sections:

• Critical section imposed by lock1 alone.

• Critical section imposed by lock1 and lock2.

In this corrected code, the lock-unlock pair and the destruction is placed in the critical section imposed by lock1 and lock2. When t0 acquires lock1 and lock2, t1 has to wait for their release before it executes the instruction pthread_mutex_destroy (&lock3);. Therefore, t1 cannot destroy mutex lock3 in the locked state.

#include <pthread.h>

pthread_mutex_t lock1;
pthread_mutex_t lock2;
pthread_mutex_t lock3;

void t0 (void) {
  pthread_mutex_lock (&lock1);
  pthread_mutex_lock (&lock2);

  pthread_mutex_lock (&lock3);
  pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock3);

  pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock2);
  pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock1);
}

void t1 (void) {
  pthread_mutex_lock (&lock1);
  pthread_mutex_lock (&lock2);

  pthread_mutex_destroy (&lock3);

  pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock2);
  pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock1);
}

Locking and Destruction in Start Routine of Thread

#include <pthread.h>

/* Define globally accessible variables and a mutex */
#define NUMTHREADS 4
pthread_t callThd[NUMTHREADS];
pthread_mutex_t lock;
void atomic_operation(void);

void *do_create(void *arg) {
    /* Creation thread */
    pthread_mutex_init(&lock, NULL);
    pthread_exit((void*) 0);
}

void *do_work(void *arg) {
    /* Worker thread */
    pthread_mutex_lock (&lock);
    atomic_operation();
    pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock);
    pthread_exit((void*) 0);
}

void *do_destroy(void *arg) {
    /* Destruction thread */
    pthread_mutex_destroy(&lock);
    pthread_exit((void*) 0);
}

int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {  
   int i;
   void *status;
   pthread_attr_t attr;

           
   /* Create threads */
   pthread_attr_init(&attr);
   pthread_attr_setdetachstate(&attr, PTHREAD_CREATE_JOINABLE);

   /* Thread that initializes mutex */
   pthread_create(&callThd[0], &attr, do_create, NULL);

   /* Threads that use mutex for atomic operation*/
   for(i=0; i<NUMTHREADS-1; i++) {
      pthread_create(&callThd[i], &attr, do_work, (void *)i);
   }

   /* Thread that destroys mutex */
   pthread_create(&callThd[NUMTHREADS -1], &attr, do_destroy, NULL);

   pthread_attr_destroy(&attr);

   /* Join threads */
   for(i=0; i<NUMTHREADS; i++) {
      pthread_join(callThd[i], &status);
   }

   pthread_exit(NULL);
}

In this example, four threads are created. The threads are assigned different actions.

• The first thread callThd[0] initializes the mutex lock.

• The second and third threads, callThd[1] and callThd[2], perform an atomic operation protected by the mutex lock.

• The fourth thread callThd[3] destroys the mutex lock.

The threads can interrupt each other. Therefore, immediately after the second or third thread locks the mutex, the fourth thread can destroy it.

Correction — Initialize and Destroy Mutex Outside Start Routine

One possible correction is to initialize and destroy the mutex in the main function outside the start routine of the threads. The threads perform only the atomic operation. You need two fewer threads because the mutex initialization and destruction threads are not required.

#include <pthread.h>

/* Define globally accessible variables and a mutex */
#define NUMTHREADS 2
pthread_t callThd[NUMTHREADS];
pthread_mutex_t lock;
void atomic_operation(void);

void *do_work(void *arg) {
   pthread_mutex_lock (&lock);
   atomic_operation();
   pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock);
   pthread_exit((void*) 0);
}

int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {  
   int i;
   void *status;
   pthread_attr_t attr;

           
   /* Create threads */
   pthread_attr_init(&attr);
   pthread_attr_setdetachstate(&attr, PTHREAD_CREATE_JOINABLE);

   /* Initialize mutex */
   pthread_mutex_init(&lock, NULL);

   for(i=0; i<NUMTHREADS; i++) {
      pthread_create(&callThd[i], &attr, do_work, (void *)i);
   }

   pthread_attr_destroy(&attr);

   /* Join threads */
   for(i=0; i<NUMTHREADS; i++) {
      pthread_join(callThd[i], &status);
   }

   /* Destroy mutex */
   pthread_mutex_destroy(&lock); 
  
   pthread_exit(NULL);
}

Correction — Use A Second Mutex To Protect Lock-Unlock Pair and Destruction

Another possible correction is to use a second mutex and protect the lock-unlock pair from the destruction. This corrected code uses the mutex lock2 to achieve this protection. The second mutex is initialized in the main function outside the start routine of the threads.

#include <pthread.h>

/* Define globally accessible variables and a mutex */
#define NUMTHREADS 4
pthread_t callThd[NUMTHREADS];
pthread_mutex_t lock;
pthread_mutex_t lock2;
void atomic_operation(void);

void *do_create(void *arg) {
    /* Creation thread */
    pthread_mutex_init(&lock, NULL);
    pthread_exit((void*) 0);
}

void *do_work(void *arg) {
    /* Worker thread */
    pthread_mutex_lock (&lock2);
    pthread_mutex_lock (&lock);
    atomic_operation();
    pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock);
    pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock2);
    pthread_exit((void*) 0);
}

void *do_destroy(void *arg) {
    /* Destruction thread */
    pthread_mutex_lock (&lock2);
    pthread_mutex_destroy(&lock);
    pthread_mutex_unlock (&lock2);
    pthread_exit((void*) 0);
}


int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {  
   int i;
   void *status;
   pthread_attr_t attr;

           
   /* Create threads */
   pthread_attr_init(&attr);
   pthread_attr_setdetachstate(&attr, PTHREAD_CREATE_JOINABLE);

   /* Initialize second mutex */
   pthread_mutex_init(&lock2, NULL);

   /* Thread that initializes first mutex */
   pthread_create(&callThd[0], &attr, do_create, NULL);

   /* Threads that use first mutex for atomic operation */
   /* The threads use second mutex to protect first from destruction in locked state*/
   for(i=0; i<NUMTHREADS-1; i++) {
      pthread_create(&callThd[i], &attr, do_work, (void *)i);
   }

   /* Thread that destroys first mutex */
   /* The thread uses the second mutex to prevent destruction of locked mutex */
   pthread_create(&callThd[NUMTHREADS -1], &attr, do_destroy, NULL);


   pthread_attr_destroy(&attr);

   /* Join threads */
   for(i=0; i<NUMTHREADS; i++) {
      pthread_join(callThd[i], &status);
   }

   /* Destroy second mutex */
   pthread_mutex_destroy(&lock2);

   pthread_exit(NULL);
}

Result Information

Group: Concurrency

Language: C | C++

Default: Off

Command-Line Syntax: DESTROY_LOCKED

Impact: Medium

CWE ID: 667, 826