[RFC v2 12/21] mm: thp: handle split failure in device migration

From: Usama Arif

Date: Thu Feb 26 2026 - 06:40:43 EST


Device memory migration has two call sites that split huge PMDs:

migrate_vma_split_unmapped_folio():
Called from migrate_vma_pages() when migrating a PMD-mapped THP to a
destination that doesn't support compound pages. It splits the PMD
then splits the folio via folio_split_unmapped().

If the PMD split fails, folio_split_unmapped() would operate on an
unsplit folio with inconsistent page table state. Propagate -ENOMEM
to skip this page's migration. This is safe as folio_split_unmapped
failure would be propagated in a similar way.

migrate_vma_insert_page():
Called from migrate_vma_pages() when inserting a page into a VMA
during migration back from device memory. If a huge zero PMD exists
at the target address, it must be split before PTE insertion.

If the split fails, the subsequent pte_alloc() and set_pte_at() would
operate on a PMD slot still occupied by the huge zero entry. Use
goto abort, consistent with other allocation failures in this function.

Signed-off-by: Usama Arif <usama.arif@xxxxxxxxx>
---
mm/migrate_device.c | 16 ++++++++++++++--
1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/mm/migrate_device.c b/mm/migrate_device.c
index 78c7acf024615..bc53e06fd9735 100644
--- a/mm/migrate_device.c
+++ b/mm/migrate_device.c
@@ -909,7 +909,13 @@ static int migrate_vma_split_unmapped_folio(struct migrate_vma *migrate,
int ret = 0;

folio_get(folio);
- split_huge_pmd_address(migrate->vma, addr, true);
+ /*
+ * If PMD split fails, folio_split_unmapped would operate on an
+ * unsplit folio with inconsistent page table state.
+ */
+ ret = split_huge_pmd_address(migrate->vma, addr, true);
+ if (ret)
+ return ret;
ret = folio_split_unmapped(folio, 0);
if (ret)
return ret;
@@ -1005,7 +1011,13 @@ static void migrate_vma_insert_page(struct migrate_vma *migrate,
if (pmd_trans_huge(*pmdp)) {
if (!is_huge_zero_pmd(*pmdp))
goto abort;
- split_huge_pmd(vma, pmdp, addr);
+ /*
+ * If split fails, the huge zero PMD remains and
+ * pte_alloc/PTE insertion that follows would be
+ * incorrect.
+ */
+ if (split_huge_pmd(vma, pmdp, addr))
+ goto abort;
} else if (pmd_leaf(*pmdp))
goto abort;
}
--
2.47.3