[PATCH 3/3] cgroup: replace global cgroup_file_kn_lock with per-cgroup_file lock
From: Shakeel Butt
Date: Sat Feb 28 2026 - 09:22:46 EST
Replace the global cgroup_file_kn_lock with a per-cgroup_file spinlock
to eliminate cross-cgroup contention as it is not really protecting
data shared between different cgroups.
The lock is initialized in cgroup_add_file() alongside timer_setup().
No lock acquisition is needed during initialization since the cgroup
directory is being populated under cgroup_mutex and no concurrent
accessors exist at that point.
Signed-off-by: Shakeel Butt <shakeel.butt@xxxxxxxxx>
Reported-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
include/linux/cgroup-defs.h | 1 +
kernel/cgroup/cgroup.c | 24 ++++++++----------------
2 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)
diff --git a/include/linux/cgroup-defs.h b/include/linux/cgroup-defs.h
index bb92f5c169ca..ba26b5d05ce3 100644
--- a/include/linux/cgroup-defs.h
+++ b/include/linux/cgroup-defs.h
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ struct cgroup_file {
struct kernfs_node *kn;
unsigned long notified_at;
struct timer_list notify_timer;
+ spinlock_t lock;
};
/*
diff --git a/kernel/cgroup/cgroup.c b/kernel/cgroup/cgroup.c
index 5473ebd0f6c1..b502acad3c5c 100644
--- a/kernel/cgroup/cgroup.c
+++ b/kernel/cgroup/cgroup.c
@@ -107,12 +107,6 @@ static bool cgroup_debug __read_mostly;
*/
static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(cgroup_idr_lock);
-/*
- * Protects cgroup_file->kn for !self csses. It synchronizes notifications
- * against file removal/re-creation across css hiding.
- */
-static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(cgroup_file_kn_lock);
-
DEFINE_PERCPU_RWSEM(cgroup_threadgroup_rwsem);
#define cgroup_assert_mutex_or_rcu_locked() \
@@ -1748,9 +1742,9 @@ static void cgroup_rm_file(struct cgroup *cgrp, const struct cftype *cft)
struct cgroup_subsys_state *css = cgroup_css(cgrp, cft->ss);
struct cgroup_file *cfile = (void *)css + cft->file_offset;
- spin_lock_irq(&cgroup_file_kn_lock);
+ spin_lock_irq(&cfile->lock);
WRITE_ONCE(cfile->kn, NULL);
- spin_unlock_irq(&cgroup_file_kn_lock);
+ spin_unlock_irq(&cfile->lock);
timer_delete_sync(&cfile->notify_timer);
}
@@ -4428,10 +4422,8 @@ static int cgroup_add_file(struct cgroup_subsys_state *css, struct cgroup *cgrp,
struct cgroup_file *cfile = (void *)css + cft->file_offset;
timer_setup(&cfile->notify_timer, cgroup_file_notify_timer, 0);
-
- spin_lock_irq(&cgroup_file_kn_lock);
- WRITE_ONCE(cfile->kn, kn);
- spin_unlock_irq(&cgroup_file_kn_lock);
+ spin_lock_init(&cfile->lock);
+ cfile->kn = kn;
}
return 0;
@@ -4696,7 +4688,7 @@ void cgroup_file_notify(struct cgroup_file *cfile)
if (time_before_eq(jiffies, last + CGROUP_FILE_NOTIFY_MIN_INTV))
return;
- spin_lock_irqsave(&cgroup_file_kn_lock, flags);
+ spin_lock_irqsave(&cfile->lock, flags);
if (cfile->kn) {
last = cfile->notified_at;
next = last + CGROUP_FILE_NOTIFY_MIN_INTV;
@@ -4709,7 +4701,7 @@ void cgroup_file_notify(struct cgroup_file *cfile)
WRITE_ONCE(cfile->notified_at, jiffies);
}
}
- spin_unlock_irqrestore(&cgroup_file_kn_lock, flags);
+ spin_unlock_irqrestore(&cfile->lock, flags);
if (kn) {
kernfs_notify(kn);
@@ -4727,10 +4719,10 @@ void cgroup_file_show(struct cgroup_file *cfile, bool show)
{
struct kernfs_node *kn;
- spin_lock_irq(&cgroup_file_kn_lock);
+ spin_lock_irq(&cfile->lock);
kn = cfile->kn;
kernfs_get(kn);
- spin_unlock_irq(&cgroup_file_kn_lock);
+ spin_unlock_irq(&cfile->lock);
if (kn)
kernfs_show(kn, show);
--
2.47.3