[PATCH v2 1/2] mm/page_counter: avoid integer overflow in effective_protection()

From: Ridong Chen

Date: Fri Aug 28 2026 - 07:10:12 EST


From: Ridong Chen <chenridong@xxxxxxxxxx>

effective_protection() scales a parent's protection by a ratio of page
counts, e.g. for recursive protection:

(parent_effective - siblings_protected) * (usage - protected)
/ (parent_usage - siblings_protected)

The multiply is done at unsigned long width before dividing. On systems
with >= 16TB RAM the product can exceed 2^64 and wrap, giving a bogus
protection value and silently breaking memory.min/low enforcement.

Use mul_u64_u64_div_u64() to multiply in a 128-bit intermediate. Because
usage and parent_usage are not read atomically (a child is charged
before its parent), usage - protected can briefly exceed the divisor,
making the quotient overflow 64 bits and trap (#DE on x86). Cap it so
the ratio stays <= 1.

Reported by the sashiko review tool [1].

[1] https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260826133054.88529-1-ridong.chen@xxxxxxxxx?part=1

Fixes: bc50bcc6e00b ("mm: memcontrol: clean up and document effective low/min calculations")
Fixes: 8a931f801340 ("mm: memcontrol: recursive memory.low protection")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8
Signed-off-by: Ridong Chen <chenridong@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
mm/page_counter.c | 19 +++++++++++++------
1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/mm/page_counter.c b/mm/page_counter.c
index 661e0f2a5127..e8bd512069c5 100644
--- a/mm/page_counter.c
+++ b/mm/page_counter.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
#include <linux/page_counter.h>
#include <linux/atomic.h>
#include <linux/kernel.h>
+#include <linux/math64.h>
#include <linux/string.h>
#include <linux/sched.h>
#include <linux/bug.h>
@@ -356,7 +357,8 @@ static unsigned long effective_protection(unsigned long usage,
* otherwise get a smaller chunk than what they claimed.
*/
if (siblings_protected > parent_effective)
- return protected * parent_effective / siblings_protected;
+ return mul_u64_u64_div_u64(protected, parent_effective,
+ siblings_protected);

/*
* Ok, utilized protection of all children is within what the
@@ -397,13 +399,18 @@ static unsigned long effective_protection(unsigned long usage,
if (parent_effective > siblings_protected &&
parent_usage > siblings_protected &&
usage > protected) {
- unsigned long unclaimed;
+ unsigned long unclaimed = parent_effective - siblings_protected;
+ unsigned long unprotected = usage - protected;
+ unsigned long parent_unprotected = parent_usage - siblings_protected;

- unclaimed = parent_effective - siblings_protected;
- unclaimed *= usage - protected;
- unclaimed /= parent_usage - siblings_protected;
+ /*
+ * The usages aren't read atomically, so a child can transiently
+ * appear to use more than its parent, making the ratio exceed 1
+ * and the quotient overflow 64 bits (#DE on x86). Cap it.
+ */
+ unprotected = min(unprotected, parent_unprotected);

- ep += unclaimed;
+ ep += mul_u64_u64_div_u64(unclaimed, unprotected, parent_unprotected);
}

return ep;
--
2.34.1