[PATCH 1/8] mm: Add ptep_try_install() for lockless empty-slot installs

[Alexei Starovoitov]

On Tue, May 19, 2026 at 10:11 AM Tejun Heo <tj at kernel.org> wrote:
>
> On Tue, May 19, 2026 at 11:40:48AM +0200, David Hildenbrand (Arm) wrote:
> > On 5/19/26 11:05, David Hildenbrand (Arm) wrote:
> ...
> > >> The only requirements are that the kernel doesn't oops and the
> > >> violation gets caught. Beyond that, behavior at the address is
> > >> unspecified, and which installer wins the race doesn't matter as
> > >> long as kernel integrity holds.
> > >
> > > You'll have inconsistent TLB state.
>
> Wouldn't it still be either or with both cases being okay?
>
> > > I really don't like that approach.
> > >
> > > We should really try to just take the lock, and remove any code under the lock
> > > that could trigger such unpleasant deadlocks.
> > >
> > > Is that feasible?
> >
> > ... or can we run into similar problems with kprobes? (I am obviously no bpf
> > expert ...)
>
> Yeah, I mean, that was just the first TP I found scanning the code. Any
> kprobes or other TPs in the path would behave the same.
>
> When this fault triggers, the BPF program has already malfunctioned, so it's
> not going to be a high frequency path and performance isn't a primary
> consideration. So, anything that can ensure that the kernel doesn't crash or
> lock up would be fine. Any better ideas?

As you guys already figured out the trylock is not an option.
The fault handler has to install _some_ page and let kernel continue.
Scratch page or arena page doesn't matter. Potentially different CPUs
will see different page. It's not a concern at all.
bpf prog is buggy, but the kernel will continue to work without a glitch.
bpf runtime will disable and unload misbehaving prog.