Intel® Advisor User Guide

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Lock Hierarchy Violation

Occurs when two or more locks are acquired in a different order in two task executions, potentially leading to a deadlock when the program's tasks execute in parallel.
A
Lock hierarchy violation
 problem indicates the following timeline:
Task 1
  1. Acquire lock A.
  2. Acquire lock B.
  3. Release lock B.
  4. Release lock A.
Task 2
  1. Acquire lock B.
  2. Acquire lock A.
  3. Release lock A.
  4. Release lock B.
If these time lines are interleaved when the two tasks execute in parallel, a
Deadlock
 occurs:
  1. Task 1: Acquire lock A.
  2. Task 2: Acquire lock B.
  3. Task 1: Try to acquire lock B; wait until task 2 releases it.
  4. Task 2: Try to acquire lock A; wait until task 1 releases it.
The Dependencies tool reports a
Lock hierarchy violation
 as multiple problems in a problem set. Each problem shows a portion of the
Lock hierarchy violation
 from the perspective of a single thread.
Lock hierarchy violation
 problems are the most common cause of
Deadlock
 problems, and a report of a
Lock hierarchy violation
 problem indicates a
Deadlock
 problem might occur when the target executes in parallel.
Syntax
Problem type: Lock hierarchy violation
ID
Code Location
Description
1
Allocation site
If present, represents the location and its associated call stack where the synchronization object acquired by a thread (usually the object acquired first) was created.
2
Parallel site
If present, represents the location and associated call stack of the parallel site containing the Lock Hierarchy Violation problem.
3
Lock owned
Represents the location and associated call stack where a task acquired a lock.
4
Lock owned
Represents the location and associated call stack where a task acquired a second lock while the task still held the first lock.
Example
// in task 1 
ANNOTATE_LOCK_ACQUIRE(&lahv_lock1);
ANNOTATE_LOCK_ACQUIRE(&lahv_lock2); /* lock hierarchy violation */
ANNOTATE_LOCK_RELEASE(&lahv_lock2);
ANNOTATE_LOCK_RELEASE(&lahv_lock1);
// in task 2 
ANNOTATE_LOCK_ACQUIRE(&lahv_lock2);
ANNOTATE_LOCK_ACQUIRE(&lahv_lock1); /* lock hierarchy violation */
ANNOTATE_LOCK_RELEASE(&lahv_lock1);
ANNOTATE_LOCK_RELEASE(&lahv_lock2);

Possible Correction Strategies

Determine if interleaving is possible, or whether some other synchronization exists that might prevent interleaving. If interleaving is possible, consider the following options.
Use a single lock instead of multiple locks:
// in task 1 
ANNOTATE_LOCK_ACQUIRE(&lahv_lock1);
a++;
b += a;
ANNOTATE_LOCK_RELEASE(&lahv_lock1);
// in task 2 
ANNOTATE_LOCK_ACQUIRE(&lahv_lock2); 
b += x[i];
a -= b;
ANNOTATE_LOCK_RELEASE(&lahv_lock2);
Try to define a consistent order for your locks, so that any task that acquires the same set of locks, will acquire them in the same order:
// in task 1 
ANNOTATE_LOCK_ACQUIRE(&lahv_lock1);
a++;
b += a;
ANNOTATE_LOCK_RELEASE(&lahv_lock1);
// in task 2 
ANNOTATE_LOCK_ACQUIRE(&lahv_lock2); 
b += x[i];
a -= b;
ANNOTATE_LOCK_RELEASE(&lahv_lock2);
When a task acquires multiple locks, make sure that it always releases them in the opposite order that it acquired them.

Product and Performance Information

1

Performance varies by use, configuration and other factors. Learn more at www.Intel.com/PerformanceIndex.