[PATCH v4] slob: add size header to all allocations

From: Rustam Kovhaev
Date: Sun Nov 21 2021 - 20:30:55 EST


Let's prepend both kmalloc() and kmem_cache_alloc() allocations with the
size header.
It simplifies the slab API and guarantees that both kmem_cache_alloc()
and kmalloc() memory could be freed by kfree().

meminfo right after the system boot, x86-64 on xfs, without the patch:
Slab: 34700 kB

the same, with the patch:
Slab: 35752 kB

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20210929212347.1139666-1-rkovhaev@xxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Rustam Kovhaev <rkovhaev@xxxxxxxxx>
---
v4:
- Drop the align_offset parameter and pass size unchanged to
slob_alloc()
- Add SLOB_HDR_SIZE to size in slob_alloc()

v3:
- Add SLOB_HDR_SIZE define
- Remove references to minalign
- Improve documentation wording

v2:
- Allocate compound pages in slob_alloc_node()
- Use slob_free_pages() in kfree()
- Update documentation
---
Documentation/core-api/memory-allocation.rst | 12 +-
mm/slob.c | 140 +++++++++----------
2 files changed, 72 insertions(+), 80 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/core-api/memory-allocation.rst b/Documentation/core-api/memory-allocation.rst
index 5954ddf6ee13..31806d5ebeec 100644
--- a/Documentation/core-api/memory-allocation.rst
+++ b/Documentation/core-api/memory-allocation.rst
@@ -170,7 +170,11 @@ should be used if a part of the cache might be copied to the userspace.
After the cache is created kmem_cache_alloc() and its convenience
wrappers can allocate memory from that cache.

-When the allocated memory is no longer needed it must be freed. You can
-use kvfree() for the memory allocated with `kmalloc`, `vmalloc` and
-`kvmalloc`. The slab caches should be freed with kmem_cache_free(). And
-don't forget to destroy the cache with kmem_cache_destroy().
+When the allocated memory is no longer needed it must be freed.
+Objects allocated by `kmalloc` can be freed with `kfree` or `kvfree`.
+Objects allocated by `kmem_cache_alloc` can be freed with `kmem_cache_free`
+or also by `kfree` or `kvfree`.
+Memory allocated by `vmalloc` can be freed with `vfree` or `kvfree`.
+Memory allocated by `kvmalloc` can be freed with `kvfree`.
+Caches created by `kmem_cache_create` should be freed with
+`kmem_cache_destroy`.
diff --git a/mm/slob.c b/mm/slob.c
index 03deee1e6a94..5cc49102e070 100644
--- a/mm/slob.c
+++ b/mm/slob.c
@@ -25,23 +25,18 @@
* into the free list in address order, so this is effectively an
* address-ordered first fit.
*
- * Above this is an implementation of kmalloc/kfree. Blocks returned
- * from kmalloc are prepended with a 4-byte header with the kmalloc size.
- * If kmalloc is asked for objects of PAGE_SIZE or larger, it calls
- * alloc_pages() directly, allocating compound pages so the page order
- * does not have to be separately tracked.
- * These objects are detected in kfree() because PageSlab()
- * is false for them.
+ * Blocks that are less than (PAGE_SIZE - SLOB_HDR_SIZE) are prepended with
+ * a 4-byte header with the size. Larger blocks do not have the header and
+ * SLOB calls alloc_pages() directly, allocating compound pages so the
+ * page order does not have to be separately tracked. These objects are
+ * detected in kfree() because PageSlab() is false for them.
*
* SLAB is emulated on top of SLOB by simply calling constructors and
* destructors for every SLAB allocation. Objects are returned with the
* 4-byte alignment unless the SLAB_HWCACHE_ALIGN flag is set, in which
* case the low-level allocator will fragment blocks to create the proper
- * alignment. Again, objects of page-size or greater are allocated by
- * calling alloc_pages(). As SLAB objects know their size, no separate
- * size bookkeeping is necessary and there is essentially no allocation
- * space overhead, and compound pages aren't needed for multi-page
- * allocations.
+ * alignment. Again, objects of (PAGE_SIZE - SLOB_HDR_SIZE) or greater are
+ * allocated by calling alloc_pages().
*
* NUMA support in SLOB is fairly simplistic, pushing most of the real
* logic down to the page allocator, and simply doing the node accounting
@@ -88,6 +83,8 @@ typedef s16 slobidx_t;
typedef s32 slobidx_t;
#endif

+#define SLOB_HDR_SIZE max(ARCH_KMALLOC_MINALIGN, ARCH_SLAB_MINALIGN)
+
struct slob_block {
slobidx_t units;
};
@@ -207,12 +204,14 @@ static void *slob_new_pages(gfp_t gfp, int order, int node)
return page_address(page);
}

-static void slob_free_pages(void *b, int order)
+static void slob_free_pages(struct page *sp, int order)
{
- struct page *sp = virt_to_page(b);
-
- if (current->reclaim_state)
- current->reclaim_state->reclaimed_slab += 1 << order;
+ if (PageSlab(sp)) {
+ __ClearPageSlab(sp);
+ page_mapcount_reset(sp);
+ if (current->reclaim_state)
+ current->reclaim_state->reclaimed_slab += 1 << order;
+ }

mod_node_page_state(page_pgdat(sp), NR_SLAB_UNRECLAIMABLE_B,
-(PAGE_SIZE << order));
@@ -247,9 +246,7 @@ static void *slob_page_alloc(struct page *sp, size_t size, int align,
/*
* 'aligned' will hold the address of the slob block so that the
* address 'aligned'+'align_offset' is aligned according to the
- * 'align' parameter. This is for kmalloc() which prepends the
- * allocated block with its size, so that the block itself is
- * aligned when needed.
+ * 'align' parameter.
*/
if (align) {
aligned = (slob_t *)
@@ -298,8 +295,7 @@ static void *slob_page_alloc(struct page *sp, size_t size, int align,
/*
* slob_alloc: entry point into the slob allocator.
*/
-static void *slob_alloc(size_t size, gfp_t gfp, int align, int node,
- int align_offset)
+static void *slob_alloc(size_t size, gfp_t gfp, int align, int node)
{
struct page *sp;
struct list_head *slob_list;
@@ -307,6 +303,7 @@ static void *slob_alloc(size_t size, gfp_t gfp, int align, int node,
unsigned long flags;
bool _unused;

+ size += SLOB_HDR_SIZE;
if (size < SLOB_BREAK1)
slob_list = &free_slob_small;
else if (size < SLOB_BREAK2)
@@ -330,7 +327,7 @@ static void *slob_alloc(size_t size, gfp_t gfp, int align, int node,
if (sp->units < SLOB_UNITS(size))
continue;

- b = slob_page_alloc(sp, size, align, align_offset, &page_removed_from_list);
+ b = slob_page_alloc(sp, size, align, SLOB_HDR_SIZE, &page_removed_from_list);
if (!b)
continue;

@@ -367,31 +364,32 @@ static void *slob_alloc(size_t size, gfp_t gfp, int align, int node,
INIT_LIST_HEAD(&sp->slab_list);
set_slob(b, SLOB_UNITS(PAGE_SIZE), b + SLOB_UNITS(PAGE_SIZE));
set_slob_page_free(sp, slob_list);
- b = slob_page_alloc(sp, size, align, align_offset, &_unused);
+ b = slob_page_alloc(sp, size, align, SLOB_HDR_SIZE, &_unused);
BUG_ON(!b);
spin_unlock_irqrestore(&slob_lock, flags);
}
if (unlikely(gfp & __GFP_ZERO))
memset(b, 0, size);
- return b;
+ /* Write size in the header */
+ *(unsigned int *)b = size - SLOB_HDR_SIZE;
+ return (void *)b + SLOB_HDR_SIZE;
}

/*
* slob_free: entry point into the slob allocator.
*/
-static void slob_free(void *block, int size)
+static void slob_free(void *block)
{
struct page *sp;
- slob_t *prev, *next, *b = (slob_t *)block;
+ slob_t *prev, *next, *b = block - SLOB_HDR_SIZE;
+ unsigned int size;
slobidx_t units;
unsigned long flags;
struct list_head *slob_list;

- if (unlikely(ZERO_OR_NULL_PTR(block)))
- return;
- BUG_ON(!size);
-
- sp = virt_to_page(block);
+ size = *(unsigned int *)b + SLOB_HDR_SIZE;
+ BUG_ON(!size || size >= PAGE_SIZE);
+ sp = virt_to_page(b);
units = SLOB_UNITS(size);

spin_lock_irqsave(&slob_lock, flags);
@@ -401,9 +399,7 @@ static void slob_free(void *block, int size)
if (slob_page_free(sp))
clear_slob_page_free(sp);
spin_unlock_irqrestore(&slob_lock, flags);
- __ClearPageSlab(sp);
- page_mapcount_reset(sp);
- slob_free_pages(b, 0);
+ slob_free_pages(sp, 0);
return;
}

@@ -476,36 +472,29 @@ void kmem_obj_info(struct kmem_obj_info *kpp, void *object, struct page *page)
static __always_inline void *
__do_kmalloc_node(size_t size, gfp_t gfp, int node, unsigned long caller)
{
- unsigned int *m;
- int minalign = max_t(size_t, ARCH_KMALLOC_MINALIGN, ARCH_SLAB_MINALIGN);
void *ret;

gfp &= gfp_allowed_mask;

might_alloc(gfp);

- if (size < PAGE_SIZE - minalign) {
- int align = minalign;
+ if (size < PAGE_SIZE - SLOB_HDR_SIZE) {
+ int align = SLOB_HDR_SIZE;

/*
* For power of two sizes, guarantee natural alignment for
* kmalloc()'d objects.
*/
if (is_power_of_2(size))
- align = max(minalign, (int) size);
+ align = max(align, (int) size);

if (!size)
return ZERO_SIZE_PTR;

- m = slob_alloc(size + minalign, gfp, align, node, minalign);
-
- if (!m)
- return NULL;
- *m = size;
- ret = (void *)m + minalign;
+ ret = slob_alloc(size, gfp, align, node);

trace_kmalloc_node(caller, ret,
- size, size + minalign, gfp, node);
+ size, size + SLOB_HDR_SIZE, gfp, node);
} else {
unsigned int order = get_order(size);

@@ -553,26 +542,17 @@ void kfree(const void *block)
kmemleak_free(block);

sp = virt_to_page(block);
- if (PageSlab(sp)) {
- int align = max_t(size_t, ARCH_KMALLOC_MINALIGN, ARCH_SLAB_MINALIGN);
- unsigned int *m = (unsigned int *)(block - align);
- slob_free(m, *m + align);
- } else {
- unsigned int order = compound_order(sp);
- mod_node_page_state(page_pgdat(sp), NR_SLAB_UNRECLAIMABLE_B,
- -(PAGE_SIZE << order));
- __free_pages(sp, order);
-
- }
+ if (PageSlab(sp))
+ slob_free((void *)block);
+ else
+ slob_free_pages(sp, compound_order(sp));
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL(kfree);

-/* can't use ksize for kmem_cache_alloc memory, only kmalloc */
size_t __ksize(const void *block)
{
struct page *sp;
- int align;
- unsigned int *m;
+ unsigned int size;

BUG_ON(!block);
if (unlikely(block == ZERO_SIZE_PTR))
@@ -582,9 +562,8 @@ size_t __ksize(const void *block)
if (unlikely(!PageSlab(sp)))
return page_size(sp);

- align = max_t(size_t, ARCH_KMALLOC_MINALIGN, ARCH_SLAB_MINALIGN);
- m = (unsigned int *)(block - align);
- return SLOB_UNITS(*m) * SLOB_UNIT;
+ size = *(unsigned int *)(block - SLOB_HDR_SIZE);
+ return SLOB_UNITS(size) * SLOB_UNIT;
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL(__ksize);

@@ -606,16 +585,19 @@ static void *slob_alloc_node(struct kmem_cache *c, gfp_t flags, int node)

might_alloc(flags);

- if (c->size < PAGE_SIZE) {
- b = slob_alloc(c->size, flags, c->align, node, 0);
+ if (c->size < PAGE_SIZE - SLOB_HDR_SIZE) {
+ b = slob_alloc(c->size, flags, c->align, node);
trace_kmem_cache_alloc_node(_RET_IP_, b, c->object_size,
- SLOB_UNITS(c->size) * SLOB_UNIT,
+ SLOB_UNITS(c->size + SLOB_HDR_SIZE) * SLOB_UNIT,
flags, node);
} else {
- b = slob_new_pages(flags, get_order(c->size), node);
+ unsigned int order = get_order(c->size);
+
+ if (likely(order))
+ flags |= __GFP_COMP;
+ b = slob_new_pages(flags, order, node);
trace_kmem_cache_alloc_node(_RET_IP_, b, c->object_size,
- PAGE_SIZE << get_order(c->size),
- flags, node);
+ PAGE_SIZE << order, flags, node);
}

if (b && c->ctor) {
@@ -647,12 +629,18 @@ void *kmem_cache_alloc_node(struct kmem_cache *cachep, gfp_t gfp, int node)
EXPORT_SYMBOL(kmem_cache_alloc_node);
#endif

-static void __kmem_cache_free(void *b, int size)
+static void __kmem_cache_free(void *b)
{
- if (size < PAGE_SIZE)
- slob_free(b, size);
+ struct page *sp;
+
+ if (unlikely(ZERO_OR_NULL_PTR(b)))
+ return;
+
+ sp = virt_to_page(b);
+ if (PageSlab(sp))
+ slob_free(b);
else
- slob_free_pages(b, get_order(size));
+ slob_free_pages(sp, compound_order(sp));
}

static void kmem_rcu_free(struct rcu_head *head)
@@ -660,7 +648,7 @@ static void kmem_rcu_free(struct rcu_head *head)
struct slob_rcu *slob_rcu = (struct slob_rcu *)head;
void *b = (void *)slob_rcu - (slob_rcu->size - sizeof(struct slob_rcu));

- __kmem_cache_free(b, slob_rcu->size);
+ __kmem_cache_free(b);
}

void kmem_cache_free(struct kmem_cache *c, void *b)
@@ -673,7 +661,7 @@ void kmem_cache_free(struct kmem_cache *c, void *b)
slob_rcu->size = c->size;
call_rcu(&slob_rcu->head, kmem_rcu_free);
} else {
- __kmem_cache_free(b, c->size);
+ __kmem_cache_free(b);
}
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL(kmem_cache_free);
--
2.30.2