Re: [PATCH v5 12/17] mm/huge_memory: move anon_vma handling into the anon split helper
From: Yeoreum Yun
Date: Mon Sep 14 2026 - 14:02:04 EST
LGTM.
Reviewed-by: Yeoreum Yun <yeoreum.yun@xxxxxxx>
> From: Kairui Song <kasong@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Only anon split needs the anon_vma, and it only needs it to unmap and
> remap. Move the folio_get_anon_vma()/anon_vma_lock_write() pair out of
> __folio_split() into the anon helper next to the folio_mapped()
> check that already gates unmap_folio().
>
> This makes the anon_vma conditional on folio_mapped(), which is a
> behaviour change but should be fine. folio_get_anon_vma() returns
> NULL whenever !folio_mapped(), so an anon folio with
> folio_mapcount() == 0 used to get -EBUSY from split_huge_page() and is
> now split instead. A realistic case is a THP that has been fully
> swapped out and is still in the swap cache: swap PTEs do not contribute
> mapcount, so it is !folio_mapped() but still alive.
>
> That should be safe and right to have because:
>
> - folio_ref_freeze() below still rejects a folio that picked up any
> reference, a mapping or a GUP pin, in the meantime.
>
> - A parallel split is excluded by the folio lock. The anon_vma
> write lock was added to serialize split in commit 062f1af2170a
> ("mm: thp: acquire the anon_vma rwsem for write during split"), when
> split_huge_page() did not hold the folio lock throughout. commit
> e9b61f19858a ("thp: reintroduce split_huge_page()") later made the
> folio lock a caller requirement and added the folio_ref_freeze()
> scheme, so that has been covered ever since.
>
> - Unmapped path is already exercised by folio_split_unmapped(),
> and the swap cache split already runs well for a partially
> swapped-out mapped THP.
>
> - A !folio_mapped() folio cannot become mapped meanwhile: mapping it
> requires the folio lock.
>
> For mapped folios the anon_vma write lock is now released before
> __folio_split() unlocks the after-split sub-folios, where previously it
> was held across that loop; that window is harmless as the sub-folios
> stay folio-locked and referenced until it.
>
> Reviewed-by: Zi Yan <ziy@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Signed-off-by: Kairui Song <kasong@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> mm/huge_memory.c | 58 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--------------------------
> 1 file changed, 31 insertions(+), 27 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/mm/huge_memory.c b/mm/huge_memory.c
> index 8fc1dd5b8354..a4c2e38f4a6d 100644
> --- a/mm/huge_memory.c
> +++ b/mm/huge_memory.c
> @@ -4029,16 +4029,38 @@ static int __folio_freeze_split_anon(struct folio *folio,
> struct swap_cluster_info *ci = NULL;
> int old_order = folio_order(folio);
> struct folio *new_folio, *next;
> + struct anon_vma *anon_vma = NULL;
> enum ttu_flags ttu_flags = 0;
> struct lruvec *lruvec;
> - bool need_remap = false;
> int ret = 0;
>
> + /*
> + * Unmap/remap needs the anon_vma, so we first take a reference on
> + * it to prevent it from disappearing, and lock it for write here,
> + * letting unmap_folio() walk the rmap with TTU_RMAP_LOCKED.
> + *
> + * folio_mapped() is not stable here, but it can only change in
> + * one direction while the folio is locked. The mapcount can drop
> + * to zero at any time, zap_pte_range() takes no folio lock. It
> + * cannot go up: swapin, migration and uffd move all lock the folio
> + * before mapping it, and fork only copies PTEs that already exist.
> + *
> + * So if we see the folio mapped, the worst case is an empty rmap
> + * walk. If we see it unmapped, it stays unmapped and needs neither
> + * the reference nor the lock. Anything else needs a reference
> + * first and folio_ref_freeze() below catches it.
> + *
> + * Note a swapped-out THP counts as unmapped here as swap PTEs do
> + * not contribute mapcount, and they are splittable.
> + */
> if (folio_mapped(folio)) {
> - need_remap = true;
> + anon_vma = folio_get_anon_vma(folio);
> + if (!anon_vma)
> + return -EBUSY;
> + anon_vma_lock_write(anon_vma);
> ret = unmap_folio(folio);
> if (ret)
> - return ret;
> + goto out_unlock;
> }
>
> local_irq_disable();
> @@ -4096,11 +4118,16 @@ static int __folio_freeze_split_anon(struct folio *folio,
> swap_cluster_unlock(ci);
> out_no_split:
> local_irq_enable();
> - if (need_remap) {
> + if (anon_vma) {
> if (!ret && !folio_is_device_private(folio))
> ttu_flags = TTU_USE_SHARED_ZEROPAGE;
> remap_anon_folio(folio, 1 << old_order, ttu_flags);
> }
> +out_unlock:
> + if (anon_vma) {
> + anon_vma_unlock_write(anon_vma);
> + put_anon_vma(anon_vma);
> + }
>
> return ret;
> }
> @@ -4295,7 +4322,6 @@ static int __folio_split(struct folio *folio, unsigned int new_order,
> struct folio *end_folio = folio_next(folio);
> bool is_anon = folio_test_anon(folio);
> struct mem_cgroup *memcg, *old_memcg;
> - struct anon_vma *anon_vma = NULL;
> int old_order = folio_order(folio);
> struct folio *new_folio, *next;
> int ret;
> @@ -4326,23 +4352,6 @@ static int __folio_split(struct folio *folio, unsigned int new_order,
> memcg = get_mem_cgroup_from_folio(folio);
> old_memcg = set_active_memcg(memcg);
>
> - if (is_anon) {
> - /*
> - * The caller does not necessarily hold an mmap_lock that would
> - * prevent the anon_vma disappearing so we first we take a
> - * reference to it and then lock the anon_vma for write. This
> - * is similar to folio_lock_anon_vma_read except the write lock
> - * is taken to serialise against parallel split or collapse
> - * operations.
> - */
> - anon_vma = folio_get_anon_vma(folio);
> - if (!anon_vma) {
> - ret = -EBUSY;
> - goto out;
> - }
> - anon_vma_lock_write(anon_vma);
> - }
> -
> if (is_anon)
> ret = __folio_freeze_split_anon(folio, new_order, split_at,
> true, list, split_type);
> @@ -4369,11 +4378,6 @@ static int __folio_split(struct folio *folio, unsigned int new_order,
> free_folio_and_swap_cache(new_folio);
> }
>
> - if (anon_vma) {
> - anon_vma_unlock_write(anon_vma);
> - put_anon_vma(anon_vma);
> - }
> -out:
> /* restore to caller's old_memcg */
> set_active_memcg(old_memcg);
> mem_cgroup_put(memcg);
>
> --
> 2.55.0
>
>
--
Sincerely,
Yeoreum Yun