CON00-J. Ensure visibility when accessing shared primitive variables

Reading a shared primitive variable in one thread may not yield the value of the most recent write to the variable from another thread. Consequently, the thread may observe a stale value of the shared variable. To ensure the visibility of the most recent update, declare the variable as volatile or correctly synchronize the reads and writes to the variable.

Declaring a shared variable as volatile guarantees visibility in a thread-safe manner only when both of the following conditions are met:

• A write to a variable does not depend on its current value.
• A write to a variable does not depend on the result of any non-atomic compound operations involving reads and writes of other variables. (See CON01-J. Ensure that compound operations on shared variables are atomic for more information.)

The first condition can be relaxed when it can be ensured that only one thread ever updates the value of the variable [[Goetz 06]]. However, code that relies on an invariant such as single-thread confinement to be true at all times is error-prone and difficult to maintain. This behavior is permissible under this guideline but not recommended.

Synchronizing the code makes it easier to reason about its behavior and is frequently more secure than simply using volatile. However, synchronization has a somewhat higher performance overhead and can result in thread contention and deadlocks when used excessively.

Declaring a variable as volatile or correctly synchronizing the code guarantees that 64-bit primitive variables of type long and double are accessed atomically (see CON25-J. Ensure atomicity when reading and writing 64-bit values for information on sharing long and double variables amongst multiple threads).

Noncompliant Code Example (non-volatile flag)

This noncompliant code example uses a shutdown() method to set a non-volatile done flag that is checked in the run() method.

final class ControlledStop implements Runnable {
  private boolean done = false;
 
  @Override public void run() {
    while (!done) {
      try {
        // ...
        Thread.currentThread().sleep(1000); // Do something
      } catch(InterruptedException ie) { 
        // Handle exception
        Thread.currentThread().interrupt(); // Reset interrupted status
      } 
    } 	 
  }

  public void shutdown() {
    done = true;
  }
}

If one thread invokes the shutdown() method to set the flag, it is possible that a second thread might not observe this change. Consequently, the second thread may observe that done is still false and incorrectly invoke the sleep() method. A compiler is allowed to optimize the code if it determines that the value of done is never modified by the same thread, resulting in an infinite loop.

Compliant Solution (volatile)

In this compliant solution, the done flag is declared as volatile to ensure that writes are visible to other threads.

final class ControlledStop implements Runnable {
  private volatile boolean done = false;
 
  @Override public void run() {
    while (!done) {
      try {
        // ...
        Thread.currentThread().sleep(1000); // Do something
      } catch(InterruptedException ie) { 
        // Handle exception
        Thread.currentThread().interrupt(); // Reset interrupted status
      } 
    } 	 
  }

  public void shutdown() {
    done = true;
  }
}

Compliant Solution (java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean)

In this compliant solution, the done flag is declared as AtomicBoolean. Atomic types also guarantee that writes are visible to other threads.

final class ControlledStop implements Runnable {
  private final AtomicBoolean done = new AtomicBoolean(false);
 
  @Override public void run() {
    while (!done.get()) {
      try {
        // ...
        Thread.currentThread().sleep(1000); // Do something
      } catch(InterruptedException ie) { 
        // Handle exception
        Thread.currentThread().interrupt(); // Reset interrupted status
      } 
    } 	 
  }

  public void shutdown() {
    done.set(true);
  }
}

Compliant Solution (synchronized)

This compliant solution uses the intrinsic lock of the Class object to ensure that updates become visible to other threads.

final class ControlledStop implements Runnable {
  private boolean done = false;
 
  @Override public void run() {
    while (!isDone()) {
      try {
        // ...
        Thread.currentThread().sleep(1000); // Do something
      } catch(InterruptedException ie) { 
        // Handle exception
        Thread.currentThread().interrupt(); // Reset interrupted status
      } 
    } 	 
  }

  public synchronized boolean isDone() {
    return done;
  }

  public synchronized void shutdown() {
    done = true;
  }
}

While this is an acceptable compliant solution, intrinsic locks cause threads to block and may introduce contention. On the other hand, volatile-qualified shared variables do not block. Excessive synchronization can also make the program prone to deadlock.

Synchronization is a more secure alternative in situations where the volatile keyword or a java.util.concurrent.atomic.Atomic* field is inappropriate, such as if a variable's new value depends on its current value. Refer to CON01-J. Ensure that compound operations on shared variables are atomic for more information.

Compliance with the guideline CON04-J. Synchronize using an internal private final lock object reduces the likelihood of misuse by ensuring that untrusted callers cannot access the lock object.

Exceptions

CON00-EX1: Objects of type Class need not be made visible because they are created by the Virtual Machine and their initialization always precedes any subsequent use JMM Mailing List.

Risk Assessment

Failing to ensure the visibility of a shared primitive variable may result in a thread observing a stale value of the variable.

Automated Detection

The following table summarizes the examples flagged as violations by SureLogic Flashlight:

The following table summarizes the examples flagged as violations by SureLogic JSure:

The unprotected field can be observed through its GUI.

Related Vulnerabilities

Search for vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website.

References

[[JLS 05]] Chapter 17, Threads and Locks, section 17.4.5 Happens-before Order, section 17.4.3 Programs and Program Order, section 17.4.8 Executions and Causality Requirements
[[Bloch 08]] Item 66: Synchronize access to shared mutable data
[[Goetz 06]] 3.4.2. "Example: Using Volatile to Publish Immutable Objects"
[[JPL 06]] 14.10.3. "The Happens-Before Relationship"
[[MITRE 09]] CWE ID 667 "Insufficient Locking", CWE ID 413 "Insufficient Resource Locking", CWE ID 567 "Unsynchronized Access to Shared Data"

11. Concurrency (CON)      11. Concurrency (CON)      CON02-J. Always synchronize on the appropriate object