Re: [PATCH] arm64: mm: use ptep_clear() instead of pte_clear() in clear_flush()

From: Qi Zheng
Date: Mon Aug 21 2023 - 22:24:23 EST




On 2023/8/22 04:21, Andrew Morton wrote:
On Fri, 11 Aug 2023 19:28:41 +0800 Qi Zheng <zhengqi.arch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Will Deacon <will@xxxxxxxxxx>于2023年8月11日 周五19:21写道:

On Fri, Aug 11, 2023 at 07:16:20PM +0800, Qi Zheng wrote:
Will Deacon <[1]will@xxxxxxxxxx>于2023年8月11日 周五19:03写道:

On Thu, Aug 10, 2023 at 09:32:41AM +0000, Qi Zheng wrote:
> From: Qi Zheng <[2]zhengqi.arch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> In clear_flush(), the original pte may be a present entry, so we
should
> use ptep_clear() to let page_table_check track the pte clearing
operation,
> otherwise it may cause false positive in subsequent set_pte_at().

Isn't this true for most users of pte_clear()? There are some in the
core
code, so could they trigger the false positive as well?

No, the PTE entry in other places where pte_clear() is used is
non-present
PTE.
The page_table_check does not does track the pte operation in this
case,
so it will not cause false positives.

Are you sure? For example, the call from flush_all_zero_pkmaps() in
highmem.c really looks like it's clearing a valid entry. Not that arm64
cares about highmem, but still.


Ah, this is init_mm, not user mm, page_table_check does not care about this
case.

It's unclear where we stand with this patch. An ack or a nack, please?

Hi all,

Any comments or suggestions here?

Thanks,
Qi