[PATCH RFC v2 7/8] dma-buf: transfer memcg charges via DMA_BUF_IOCTL_XFER_CHARGE
From: Albert Esteve
Date: Wed Oct 21 2026 - 11:53:35 EST
dma-heap already supports charging a specific cgroup at allocation
time via charge_fd in DMA_HEAP_IOCTL_ALLOC. However, dma-bufs can
originate from any exporter (DRM, V4L2, etc.), and the allocator may
not know the final owner at allocation time.
Add DMA_BUF_IOCTL_XFER_CHARGE to transfer a dma-buf's memcg charge
to a different cgroup after allocation. The target is identified by
charge_fd, which may be a cgroupfd or a pidfd.
The transfer charges the new cgroup before uncharging the old one,
preserving the original charge on failure. An atomic cmpxchg on
dmabuf->memcg prevents races with concurrent transfers.
Usage example:
int cg_fd = open("/sys/fs/cgroup/clients/app1", O_RDONLY | O_DIRECTORY);
struct dma_buf_transfer_charge xfer = {
.charge_fd = cg_fd,
};
ioctl(dmabuf_fd, DMA_BUF_IOCTL_XFER_CHARGE, &xfer);
/* charge now on app1's cgroup */
close(cg_fd);
Signed-off-by: Albert Esteve <aesteve@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/dma-buf/dma-buf.c | 77 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
include/linux/memcontrol.h | 9 ++++++
include/uapi/linux/dma-buf.h | 26 +++++++++++++++
mm/memcontrol.c | 40 +++++++++++++++++++++++
4 files changed, 152 insertions(+)
diff --git a/drivers/dma-buf/dma-buf.c b/drivers/dma-buf/dma-buf.c
index f31f49ebd0af..7fa607d9bf65 100644
--- a/drivers/dma-buf/dma-buf.c
+++ b/drivers/dma-buf/dma-buf.c
@@ -540,6 +540,80 @@ static long dma_buf_import_sync_file(struct dma_buf *dmabuf,
}
#endif
+static long dma_buf_xfer_charge(struct dma_buf *dmabuf,
+ const void __user *user_data)
+{
+ struct cgroup *cgrp;
+ struct cgroup_subsys_state *css;
+ struct dma_buf_transfer_charge arg;
+ struct mem_cgroup *memcg;
+ struct task_struct *task;
+ const struct cred *tcred;
+ unsigned int pidfd_flags;
+ int ret = 0;
+
+ if (copy_from_user(&arg, user_data, sizeof(arg)))
+ return -EFAULT;
+
+ if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_MEMCG))
+ return 0;
+
+ if (arg.__padding != 0)
+ return -EINVAL;
+
+ cgrp = cgroup_get_from_fd(arg.charge_fd);
+ if (!IS_ERR(cgrp)) {
+ /* charge_fd is a cgroupfd */
+ rcu_read_lock();
+ css = cgroup_css(cgrp, &memory_cgrp_subsys);
+ if (!css || !css_tryget_online(css)) {
+ rcu_read_unlock();
+ cgroup_put(cgrp);
+ return -ENOENT;
+ }
+
+ memcg = mem_cgroup_from_css(css);
+ rcu_read_unlock();
+
+ ret = security_dma_buf_charge_cgroup(current_cred(), cgrp);
+ cgroup_put(cgrp);
+ if (ret) {
+ mem_cgroup_put(memcg);
+ return ret;
+ }
+ } else {
+ /* charge_fd is a pidfd */
+ task = pidfd_get_task(arg.charge_fd, &pidfd_flags);
+ if (IS_ERR(task))
+ return PTR_ERR(task);
+
+ tcred = get_task_cred(task);
+ ret = security_dma_buf_charge_task(current_cred(), tcred);
+ put_cred(tcred);
+ if (ret) {
+ put_task_struct(task);
+ return ret;
+ }
+
+ memcg = get_mem_cgroup_from_mm(task->mm);
+ put_task_struct(task);
+ }
+
+ if (dmabuf->memcg == memcg)
+ goto skip_transfer;
+
+ if (!mem_cgroup_transfer_dmabuf_charge(dmabuf, memcg)) {
+ ret = -ENOMEM;
+ goto skip_transfer;
+ }
+
+ return 0;
+
+skip_transfer:
+ mem_cgroup_put(memcg);
+ return ret;
+}
+
static long dma_buf_ioctl(struct file *file,
unsigned int cmd, unsigned long arg)
{
@@ -590,6 +664,9 @@ static long dma_buf_ioctl(struct file *file,
return dma_buf_import_sync_file(dmabuf, (const void __user *)arg);
#endif
+ case DMA_BUF_IOCTL_XFER_CHARGE:
+ return dma_buf_xfer_charge(dmabuf, (const void __user *)arg);
+
default:
return -ENOTTY;
}
diff --git a/include/linux/memcontrol.h b/include/linux/memcontrol.h
index aa08fbb0c26c..3a6acfda1423 100644
--- a/include/linux/memcontrol.h
+++ b/include/linux/memcontrol.h
@@ -674,6 +674,9 @@ int mem_cgroup_swapin_charge_folio(struct folio *folio, unsigned short id,
bool mem_cgroup_charge_dmabuf(struct dma_buf *dmabuf, struct mem_cgroup *memcg,
gfp_t gfp_mask);
+bool mem_cgroup_transfer_dmabuf_charge(struct dma_buf *dmabuf,
+ struct mem_cgroup *new_memcg);
+
void __mem_cgroup_uncharge(struct folio *folio);
/**
@@ -1183,6 +1186,12 @@ static inline bool mem_cgroup_charge_dmabuf(struct dma_buf *dmabuf,
return true;
}
+static inline bool mem_cgroup_transfer_dmabuf_charge(struct dma_buf *dmabuf,
+ struct mem_cgroup *new_memcg)
+{
+ return true;
+}
+
static inline void mem_cgroup_uncharge(struct folio *folio)
{
}
diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/dma-buf.h b/include/uapi/linux/dma-buf.h
index e827c9d20c5d..4970a7b8e08e 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/dma-buf.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/dma-buf.h
@@ -168,6 +168,31 @@ struct dma_buf_import_sync_file {
__s32 fd;
};
+/**
+ * struct dma_buf_transfer_charge - Transfer a dma-buf's memcg charge
+ *
+ * Any holder of a dma-buf file descriptor can perform a
+ * DMA_BUF_IOCTL_XFER_CHARGE to attribute the buffer's memory
+ * cost to a specific cgroup, or move it from one cgroup to
+ * another. The ioctl charges the new cgroup before uncharging
+ * the old one atomically. On failure the original charge is
+ * preserved. If the buffer has no existing charge, a new
+ * charge is established.
+ */
+struct dma_buf_transfer_charge {
+ /**
+ * @charge_fd: File descriptor identifying the target cgroup.
+ *
+ * May be either a pidfd, in which case the charge moves to the
+ * memory cgroup of the referenced process, or a cgroupfd obtained
+ * by opening a cgroup v2 directory, in which case the charge moves
+ * directly to that cgroup's memory controller.
+ */
+ __u32 charge_fd;
+ /** @__padding: Reserved, must be zero */
+ __u32 __padding;
+};
+
#define DMA_BUF_BASE 'b'
#define DMA_BUF_IOCTL_SYNC _IOW(DMA_BUF_BASE, 0, struct dma_buf_sync)
@@ -179,5 +204,6 @@ struct dma_buf_import_sync_file {
#define DMA_BUF_SET_NAME_B _IOW(DMA_BUF_BASE, 1, __u64)
#define DMA_BUF_IOCTL_EXPORT_SYNC_FILE _IOWR(DMA_BUF_BASE, 2, struct dma_buf_export_sync_file)
#define DMA_BUF_IOCTL_IMPORT_SYNC_FILE _IOW(DMA_BUF_BASE, 3, struct dma_buf_import_sync_file)
+#define DMA_BUF_IOCTL_XFER_CHARGE _IOW(DMA_BUF_BASE, 4, struct dma_buf_transfer_charge)
#endif
diff --git a/mm/memcontrol.c b/mm/memcontrol.c
index e94222237d31..d994a4b2d35e 100644
--- a/mm/memcontrol.c
+++ b/mm/memcontrol.c
@@ -5688,6 +5688,46 @@ bool mem_cgroup_charge_dmabuf(struct dma_buf *dmabuf, struct mem_cgroup *memcg,
return true;
}
+/**
+ * mem_cgroup_transfer_dmabuf_charge - move a dma-buf charge
+ * @dmabuf: buffer to transfer charge
+ * @new_memcg: target memcg; caller must hold a reference
+ *
+ * Transfers the charge for @dmabuf to @new_memcg and, on
+ * success, stores @new_memcg in @dmabuf->memcg.
+ * Returns %true on success, %false if the charge against @new_memcg
+ * failed or a concurrent transfer raced on @dmabuf->memcg.
+ * On failure the caller retains its reference to @new_memcg.
+ */
+bool mem_cgroup_transfer_dmabuf_charge(struct dma_buf *dmabuf,
+ struct mem_cgroup *new_memcg)
+{
+ struct mem_cgroup *old_memcg = READ_ONCE(dmabuf->memcg);
+ unsigned int nr_pages = PAGE_ALIGN(dmabuf->size) >> PAGE_SHIFT;
+
+ if (!mem_cgroup_disabled() && try_charge(new_memcg, GFP_KERNEL, nr_pages))
+ return false;
+
+ if (cmpxchg(&dmabuf->memcg, old_memcg, new_memcg) != old_memcg) {
+ if (!mem_cgroup_is_root(new_memcg))
+ refill_stock(new_memcg, nr_pages);
+ return false;
+ }
+
+ mod_memcg_state(new_memcg, MEMCG_DMABUF, nr_pages);
+
+ if (old_memcg) {
+ /* Uncharge old cgroup */
+ mod_memcg_state(old_memcg, MEMCG_DMABUF, -nr_pages);
+ if (!mem_cgroup_is_root(old_memcg))
+ refill_stock(old_memcg, nr_pages);
+ /* unref from buffer - buffer keeps new ref to new_memcg */
+ mem_cgroup_put(old_memcg);
+ }
+
+ return true;
+}
+
/**
* mem_cgroup_uncharge_dmabuf - uncharge a dma-buf from its memcg
* @dmabuf: buffer to uncharge
--
2.55.0