Skip to content
Open
Changes from all commits
Commits
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension

Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
57 changes: 57 additions & 0 deletions AUDIT-CONCURRENCY.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
# Concurrency and Race Condition Audit

## 1. Executive Summary

The Poindexter library has a well-defined concurrency model. The core `KDTree` data structure is **not safe for concurrent modification**, and this is clearly documented. Developers using `KDTree` in a concurrent environment must provide their own external synchronization (e.g., `sync.RWMutex`).

All other components, including `TreeAnalytics`, `PeerAnalytics`, and the DNS tools, are internally synchronized and safe for concurrent use. The WebAssembly (WASM) interface is effectively single-threaded and does not introduce concurrency issues.

The project's test suite includes a `make race` target, which passed successfully, indicating that the existing tested code paths are free of race conditions.

## 2. Race Detector Analysis

The command `make race` was executed to run the full test suite with the Go race detector enabled.

**Result:**
```
ok github.com/Snider/Poindexter 1.047s
ok github.com/Snider/Poindexter/examples/dht_helpers 1.022s
ok github.com/Snider/Poindexter/examples/dht_ping_1d 1.022s
ok github.com/Snider/Poindexter/examples/kdtree_2d_ping_hop 1.021s
ok github.com/Snider/Poindexter/examples/kdtree_3d_ping_hop_geo 1.022s
ok github.com/Snider/Poindexter/examples/kdtree_4d_ping_hop_geo_score 1.024s
```
**Conclusion:** All tests passed successfully, and the race detector found no race conditions in the code covered by the tests.

## 3. Focus Area Analysis

### 3.1. Goroutine safety in math operations

- **`KDTree`:** The documentation explicitly states: `Concurrency: KDTree is not safe for concurrent mutation. Guard with a mutex or share immutable snapshots for read-mostly workloads.` This is a critical and accurate statement. Any attempt to call `Insert` or `DeleteByID` concurrently with other read or write operations will result in a race condition.
- **`TreeAnalytics`:** This component is **goroutine-safe**. It correctly uses types from the `sync/atomic` package (`atomic.Int64`, `atomic.Uint64`) to safely increment counters and update statistics from multiple goroutines without locks.
- **`PeerAnalytics`:** This component is **goroutine-safe**. It uses a `sync.RWMutex` to protect access to its internal maps (`hitCounts`, `distanceSums`, `lastSelected`). The `RecordSelection` method uses a double-checked locking pattern, which is implemented correctly to minimize lock contention while safely initializing stats for new peers. Read operations like `GetPeerStats` use a read lock (`RLock`), allowing for concurrent reads.
- **`dns_tools.go`:** The functions in this file are **goroutine-safe**. They are stateless and rely on the standard library's `net.Resolver`, which is safe for concurrent use.

### 3.2. Channel usage patterns

The codebase does not use channels for its core logic. Therefore, there are no channel-related concurrency patterns to audit.

### 3.3. Mutex/RWMutex usage

The only mutex in the audited code is the `sync.RWMutex` within `PeerAnalytics`.

- **`PeerAnalytics`:** The usage is correct. A read lock is used for read-only operations (`GetAllPeerStats`, `GetPeerStats`), and a full lock is used only for the short duration of initializing a new peer's metrics. This is an effective and safe use of `RWMutex`.

### 3.4. Context cancellation handling

- **`dns_tools.go`:** The `DNSLookupWithTimeout` and `DNSLookupAllWithTimeout` functions correctly use `context.WithTimeout` to create a context that is passed to the network calls (`resolver.Lookup...`). This ensures that DNS queries do not block indefinitely and can be safely cancelled if they exceed the specified timeout. This is a proper and robust implementation of context handling.

### 3.5. WebAssembly (WASM) Interface

- **`wasm/main.go`:** The WASM module exposes functions to a JavaScript environment. The JavaScript event loop is single-threaded, meaning that calls into the WASM module from JS will be serial. The Go code in `wasm/main.go` does not spawn any new goroutines. The `treeRegistry` is a global map, but because all access to it is driven by the single-threaded JS environment, there is no risk of concurrent map access. The WASM boundary, in this case, does not introduce concurrency risks.

## 4. Recommendations

1. **`KDTree` Synchronization:** End-users of the library must be reminded that `KDTree` instances are not thread-safe. When sharing a `KDTree` between goroutines, any methods that modify the tree (`Insert`, `DeleteByID`) must be protected by a mutex. For read-heavy workloads, it is safe to share an immutable `KDTree` across multiple goroutines without a lock.
2. **Documentation:** The existing documentation comment on `KDTree` is excellent. This warning should be maintained and highlighted in user-facing documentation.
3. **No Changes Required:** The existing concurrency controls in `TreeAnalytics` and `PeerAnalytics` are robust and do not require changes. The use of context in the DNS tools is also correct. No vulnerabilities were found.
Loading