Re: [PATCH v4 29/30] x86/mm, mm/vmalloc: Defer flush_tlb_kernel_range() targeting NOHZ_FULL CPUs

From: Jann Horn
Date: Tue Jan 14 2025 - 13:19:44 EST


On Tue, Jan 14, 2025 at 6:51 PM Valentin Schneider <vschneid@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> vunmap()'s issued from housekeeping CPUs are a relatively common source of
> interference for isolated NOHZ_FULL CPUs, as they are hit by the
> flush_tlb_kernel_range() IPIs.
>
> Given that CPUs executing in userspace do not access data in the vmalloc
> range, these IPIs could be deferred until their next kernel entry.
>
> Deferral vs early entry danger zone
> ===================================
>
> This requires a guarantee that nothing in the vmalloc range can be vunmap'd
> and then accessed in early entry code.

In other words, it needs a guarantee that no vmalloc allocations that
have been created in the vmalloc region while the CPU was idle can
then be accessed during early entry, right?