[PATCH v3] arm64: Enable vmalloc-huge with ptdump
Dev Jain
dev.jain at arm.com
Mon Jun 16 09:34:44 PDT 2025
On 16/06/25 8:30 pm, David Hildenbrand wrote:
> On 16.06.25 12:33, Dev Jain wrote:
>> arm64 disables vmalloc-huge when kernel page table dumping is enabled,
>> because an intermediate table may be removed, potentially causing the
>> ptdump code to dereference an invalid address. We want to be able to
>> analyze block vs page mappings for kernel mappings with ptdump, so to
>> enable vmalloc-huge with ptdump, synchronize between page table
>> removal in
>> pmd_free_pte_page()/pud_free_pmd_page() and ptdump pagetable walking. We
>> use mmap_read_lock and not write lock because we don't need to
>> synchronize
>> between two different vm_structs; two vmalloc objects running this same
>> code path will point to different page tables, hence there is no race.
>>
>> For pud_free_pmd_page(), we isolate the PMD table to avoid taking the
>> lock
>> 512 times again via pmd_free_pte_page().
>>
>> We implement the locking mechanism using static keys, since the chance
>> of a race is very small. Observe that the synchronization is needed
>> to avoid the following race:
>>
>> CPU1 CPU2
>> take reference of PMD table
>> pud_clear()
>> pte_free_kernel()
>> walk freed PMD table
>>
>> and similar race between pmd_free_pte_page and ptdump_walk_pgd.
>>
>> Therefore, there are two cases: if ptdump sees the cleared PUD, then
>> we are safe. If not, then the patched-in read and write locks help us
>> avoid the race.
>>
>> To implement the mechanism, we need the static key access from mmu.c and
>> ptdump.c. Note that in case !CONFIG_PTDUMP_DEBUGFS, ptdump.o won't be a
>> target in the Makefile, therefore we cannot initialize the key there, as
>> is being done, for example, in the static key implementation of
>> hugetlb-vmemmap. Therefore, include asm/cpufeature.h, which includes
>> the jump_label mechanism. Declare the key there and define the key to
>> false
>> in mmu.c.
>>
>> No issues were observed with mm-selftests. No issues were observed while
>> parallelly running test_vmalloc.sh and dumping the kernel pagetable
>> through
>> sysfs in a loop.
>>
>> v2->v3:
>> - Use static key mechanism
>>
>> v1->v2:
>> - Take lock only when CONFIG_PTDUMP_DEBUGFS is on
>> - In case of pud_free_pmd_page(), isolate the PMD table to avoid
>> taking
>> the lock 512 times again via pmd_free_pte_page()
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Dev Jain <dev.jain at arm.com>
>> ---
>> arch/arm64/include/asm/cpufeature.h | 1 +
>> arch/arm64/mm/mmu.c | 51 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
>> arch/arm64/mm/ptdump.c | 5 +++
>> 3 files changed, 53 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/arch/arm64/include/asm/cpufeature.h
>> b/arch/arm64/include/asm/cpufeature.h
>> index c4326f1cb917..3e386563b587 100644
>> --- a/arch/arm64/include/asm/cpufeature.h
>> +++ b/arch/arm64/include/asm/cpufeature.h
>> @@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
>> #include <linux/kernel.h>
>> #include <linux/cpumask.h>
>> +DECLARE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(ptdump_lock_key);
>> /*
>> * CPU feature register tracking
>> *
>> diff --git a/arch/arm64/mm/mmu.c b/arch/arm64/mm/mmu.c
>> index 8fcf59ba39db..e242ba428820 100644
>> --- a/arch/arm64/mm/mmu.c
>> +++ b/arch/arm64/mm/mmu.c
>> @@ -41,11 +41,14 @@
>> #include <asm/tlbflush.h>
>> #include <asm/pgalloc.h>
>> #include <asm/kfence.h>
>> +#include <asm/cpufeature.h>
>> #define NO_BLOCK_MAPPINGS BIT(0)
>> #define NO_CONT_MAPPINGS BIT(1)
>> #define NO_EXEC_MAPPINGS BIT(2) /* assumes FEAT_HPDS is not
>> used */
>> +DEFINE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(ptdump_lock_key);
>> +
>> enum pgtable_type {
>> TABLE_PTE,
>> TABLE_PMD,
>> @@ -1267,8 +1270,9 @@ int pmd_clear_huge(pmd_t *pmdp)
>> return 1;
>> }
>> -int pmd_free_pte_page(pmd_t *pmdp, unsigned long addr)
>> +static int __pmd_free_pte_page(pmd_t *pmdp, unsigned long addr, bool
>> lock)
>> {
>> + bool lock_taken = false;
>> pte_t *table;
>> pmd_t pmd;
>> @@ -1279,15 +1283,29 @@ int pmd_free_pte_page(pmd_t *pmdp, unsigned
>> long addr)
>> return 1;
>> }
>> + /* See comment in pud_free_pmd_page for static key logic */
>> table = pte_offset_kernel(pmdp, addr);
>> pmd_clear(pmdp);
>> __flush_tlb_kernel_pgtable(addr);
>> + if (static_branch_unlikely(&ptdump_lock_key) && lock) {
>> + mmap_read_lock(&init_mm);
>> + lock_taken = true;
>> + }
>> + if (unlikely(lock_taken))
>> + mmap_read_unlock(&init_mm);
>> +
>
> I'm missing something important: why not
>
> if (static_branch_unlikely(&ptdump_lock_key) && lock) {
> mmap_read_lock(&init_mm);
> mmap_read_unlock(&init_mm);
> }
>
The thing you are missing is that I unlocked a new personal record in
dumbassery : ) I was focussed so much on the static key logic that I
forgot to change this code from the previous revision.
More information about the linux-arm-kernel
mailing list