[PATCH v6 1/2] mm: bypass mmap_miss heuristic for VM_EXEC readahead
From: Usama Arif
Date: Thu May 28 2026 - 13:05:36 EST
The mmap_miss heuristic is intended to stop speculative mmap readahead
when a file looks like a random-access workload. That does not fit the
VM_EXEC path very well.
VM_EXEC readahead is already constrained differently from ordinary mmap
read-around: it is bounded by the VMA, uses exec_folio_order() to choose
an order useful for executable mappings, and sets async_size to 0 so it
does not create follow-on readahead. When VM_HUGEPAGE is also present,
the larger readahead is an explicit userspace opt-in.
The mmap_miss counter is decremented from cache-hit paths in
do_async_mmap_readahead() and filemap_map_pages(). Those paths are not
always enough to balance the synchronous miss increments for executable
mappings. In particular, when fault-around is effectively disabled, such
as configurations where fault_around_pages is 1, filemap_map_pages() is
not reached from the fault path. The counter can then become a stale
throttle for VM_EXEC mappings and suppress the readahead behavior that
the executable-specific path is trying to provide.
Skip both mmap_miss increments and decrements for VM_EXEC mappings,
matching the existing VM_SEQ_READ treatment and keeping the counter
accounting symmetric.
Signed-off-by: Usama Arif <usama.arif@xxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Jan Kara <jack@xxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Kiryl Shutsemau (Meta) <kas@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
mm/filemap.c | 14 +++++++-------
1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
diff --git a/mm/filemap.c b/mm/filemap.c
index cca20e350c95..a16b33e0fc71 100644
--- a/mm/filemap.c
+++ b/mm/filemap.c
@@ -3339,7 +3339,7 @@ static struct file *do_sync_mmap_readahead(struct vm_fault *vmf)
}
}
- if (!(vm_flags & VM_SEQ_READ)) {
+ if (!(vm_flags & (VM_SEQ_READ | VM_EXEC))) {
/* Avoid banging the cache line if not needed */
mmap_miss = READ_ONCE(ra->mmap_miss);
if (mmap_miss < MMAP_LOTSAMISS * 10)
@@ -3434,12 +3434,12 @@ static struct file *do_async_mmap_readahead(struct vm_fault *vmf,
* times for a single folio and break the balance with mmap_miss
* increase in do_sync_mmap_readahead().
*
- * VM_SEQ_READ mappings skip the mmap_miss increment in
+ * VM_SEQ_READ and VM_EXEC mappings skip the mmap_miss increment in
* do_sync_mmap_readahead(), so skip the decrement here as well to
* keep the counter symmetric.
*/
if (likely(!folio_test_locked(folio)) &&
- !(vmf->vma->vm_flags & VM_SEQ_READ)) {
+ !(vmf->vma->vm_flags & (VM_SEQ_READ | VM_EXEC))) {
mmap_miss = READ_ONCE(ra->mmap_miss);
if (mmap_miss)
WRITE_ONCE(ra->mmap_miss, --mmap_miss);
@@ -3941,14 +3941,14 @@ vm_fault_t filemap_map_pages(struct vm_fault *vmf,
* Don't decrease mmap_miss in this scenario to make sure
* we can stop read-ahead.
*
- * VM_SEQ_READ mappings skip the mmap_miss increment in
- * do_sync_mmap_readahead(), so skip the decrement here as
- * well to keep the counter symmetric.
+ * VM_SEQ_READ and VM_EXEC mappings skip the mmap_miss
+ * increment in do_sync_mmap_readahead(), so skip the
+ * decrement here as well to keep the counter symmetric.
*/
if ((map_ret & VM_FAULT_NOPAGE) &&
!(vmf->flags & FAULT_FLAG_TRIED) &&
!folio_test_workingset(folio) &&
- !(vma->vm_flags & VM_SEQ_READ)) {
+ !(vma->vm_flags & (VM_SEQ_READ | VM_EXEC))) {
unsigned short mmap_miss;
mmap_miss = READ_ONCE(file->f_ra.mmap_miss);
--
2.52.0