[PATCH v3] kho: validate preserved memory map during population

Pasha Tatashin pasha.tatashin at soleen.com
Thu Dec 18 23:12:09 PST 2025


If the previous kernel enabled KHO but did not call kho_finalize()
(e.g., CONFIG_LIVEUPDATE=n or userspace skipped the finalization step),
the 'preserved-memory-map' property in the FDT remains empty/zero.

Previously, kho_populate() would succeed regardless of the memory map's
state, reserving the incoming scratch regions in memblock. However,
kho_memory_init() would later fail to deserialize the empty map. By that
time, the scratch regions were already registered, leading to partial
initialization and subsequent list corruption (double-free) during
kho_init().

Move the validation of the preserved memory map earlier into
kho_populate(). If the memory map is empty/NULL:
1. Abort kho_populate() immediately with -ENOENT.
2. Do not register or reserve the incoming scratch memory, allowing the new
   kernel to reclaim those pages as standard free memory.
3. Leave the global 'kho_in' state uninitialized.

Consequently, kho_memory_init() sees no active KHO context
(kho_in.mem_chunks_phys is 0) and falls back to kho_reserve_scratch(),
allocating fresh scratch memory as if it were a standard cold boot.

Fixes: de51999e687c ("kho: allow memory preservation state updates after finalization")
Reported-by: Ricardo Neri <ricardo.neri-calderon at linux.intel.com>
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20251218215613.GA17304@ranerica-svr.sc.intel.com
Signed-off-by: Pasha Tatashin <pasha.tatashin at soleen.com>
Reviewed-by: Mike Rapoport (Microsoft) <rppt at kernel.org>
---
Changes v3:
- Addressed review comments, and added review-by from Mike

 kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c | 39 ++++++++++++++++--------------
 1 file changed, 21 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c b/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
index 9dc51fab604f..2d9ce33c63dc 100644
--- a/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
+++ b/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
@@ -460,27 +460,23 @@ static void __init deserialize_bitmap(unsigned int order,
 	}
 }
 
-/* Return true if memory was deserizlied */
-static bool __init kho_mem_deserialize(const void *fdt)
+/* Returns physical address of the preserved memory map from FDT */
+static phys_addr_t __init kho_get_mem_map_phys(const void *fdt)
 {
-	struct khoser_mem_chunk *chunk;
 	const void *mem_ptr;
-	u64 mem;
 	int len;
 
 	mem_ptr = fdt_getprop(fdt, 0, PROP_PRESERVED_MEMORY_MAP, &len);
 	if (!mem_ptr || len != sizeof(u64)) {
 		pr_err("failed to get preserved memory bitmaps\n");
-		return false;
+		return 0;
 	}
 
-	mem = get_unaligned((const u64 *)mem_ptr);
-	chunk = mem ? phys_to_virt(mem) : NULL;
-
-	/* No preserved physical pages were passed, no deserialization */
-	if (!chunk)
-		return false;
+	return get_unaligned((const u64 *)mem_ptr);
+}
 
+static void __init kho_mem_deserialize(struct khoser_mem_chunk *chunk)
+{
 	while (chunk) {
 		unsigned int i;
 
@@ -489,8 +485,6 @@ static bool __init kho_mem_deserialize(const void *fdt)
 					   &chunk->bitmaps[i]);
 		chunk = KHOSER_LOAD_PTR(chunk->hdr.next);
 	}
-
-	return true;
 }
 
 /*
@@ -1253,6 +1247,7 @@ bool kho_finalized(void)
 struct kho_in {
 	phys_addr_t fdt_phys;
 	phys_addr_t scratch_phys;
+	phys_addr_t mem_map_phys;
 	struct kho_debugfs dbg;
 };
 
@@ -1434,12 +1429,10 @@ static void __init kho_release_scratch(void)
 
 void __init kho_memory_init(void)
 {
-	if (kho_in.scratch_phys) {
+	if (kho_in.mem_map_phys) {
 		kho_scratch = phys_to_virt(kho_in.scratch_phys);
 		kho_release_scratch();
-
-		if (!kho_mem_deserialize(kho_get_fdt()))
-			kho_in.fdt_phys = 0;
+		kho_mem_deserialize(phys_to_virt(kho_in.mem_map_phys));
 	} else {
 		kho_reserve_scratch();
 	}
@@ -1448,8 +1441,9 @@ void __init kho_memory_init(void)
 void __init kho_populate(phys_addr_t fdt_phys, u64 fdt_len,
 			 phys_addr_t scratch_phys, u64 scratch_len)
 {
-	void *fdt = NULL;
 	struct kho_scratch *scratch = NULL;
+	phys_addr_t mem_map_phys;
+	void *fdt = NULL;
 	int err = 0;
 	unsigned int scratch_cnt = scratch_len / sizeof(*kho_scratch);
 
@@ -1475,6 +1469,14 @@ void __init kho_populate(phys_addr_t fdt_phys, u64 fdt_len,
 		goto out;
 	}
 
+	mem_map_phys = kho_get_mem_map_phys(fdt);
+	if (!mem_map_phys) {
+		pr_warn("setup: handover FDT (0x%llx) present but no preserved memory found\n",
+			fdt_phys);
+		err = -ENOENT;
+		goto out;
+	}
+
 	scratch = early_memremap(scratch_phys, scratch_len);
 	if (!scratch) {
 		pr_warn("setup: failed to memremap scratch (phys=0x%llx, len=%lld)\n",
@@ -1515,6 +1517,7 @@ void __init kho_populate(phys_addr_t fdt_phys, u64 fdt_len,
 
 	kho_in.fdt_phys = fdt_phys;
 	kho_in.scratch_phys = scratch_phys;
+	kho_in.mem_map_phys = mem_map_phys;
 	kho_scratch_cnt = scratch_cnt;
 	pr_info("found kexec handover data.\n");
 

base-commit: ea1013c1539270e372fc99854bc6e4d94eaeff66
-- 
2.52.0.322.g1dd061c0dc-goog




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