[PATCH v2] selftests/mm: Fix incorrect mmap() error handling with NULL instead of MAP_FAILED

From: Hongfu Li

Date: Wed May 13 2026 - 05:56:25 EST


mmap() returns MAP_FAILED, which is defined as (void *)-1, on error,
not NULL. Several selftests incorrectly check the return value of
mmap() using !ptr or ptr == NULL, which would erroneously treat
MAP_FAILED as a valid pointer since MAP_FAILED is non-zero and
non-NULL. This can lead to segfaults when mmap() actually fails
under memory pressure.

Signed-off-by: Hongfu Li <lihongfu@xxxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Dev Jain <dev.jain@xxxxxxx>
---
v2:
- Add missing mmap() return value checks in pkey_sighandler_tests.c
and protection_keys.c
---
tools/testing/selftests/mm/ksm_tests.c | 2 +-
tools/testing/selftests/mm/madv_populate.c | 2 +-
tools/testing/selftests/mm/pkey_sighandler_tests.c | 2 ++
tools/testing/selftests/mm/protection_keys.c | 1 +
tools/testing/selftests/mm/soft-dirty.c | 4 ++--
tools/testing/selftests/mm/vm_util.c | 2 +-
6 files changed, 8 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/ksm_tests.c b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/ksm_tests.c
index a0b48b839d54..ed481f817282 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/ksm_tests.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/ksm_tests.c
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ static void *allocate_memory(void *ptr, int prot, int mapping, char data, size_
{
void *map_ptr = mmap(ptr, map_size, PROT_WRITE, mapping, -1, 0);

- if (!map_ptr) {
+ if (map_ptr == MAP_FAILED) {
perror("mmap");
return NULL;
}
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/madv_populate.c b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/madv_populate.c
index 88050e0f829a..7fce5d0b622b 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/madv_populate.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/madv_populate.c
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ static void sense_support(void)

addr = mmap(0, pagesize, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
MAP_ANONYMOUS | MAP_PRIVATE, 0, 0);
- if (!addr)
+ if (addr == MAP_FAILED)
ksft_exit_fail_msg("mmap failed\n");

ret = madvise(addr, pagesize, MADV_POPULATE_READ);
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/pkey_sighandler_tests.c b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/pkey_sighandler_tests.c
index 302fef54049c..4637809192f9 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/pkey_sighandler_tests.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/pkey_sighandler_tests.c
@@ -317,6 +317,7 @@ static void test_sigsegv_handler_with_different_pkey_for_stack(void)
/* Set up alternate signal stack that will use the default MPK */
sigstack.ss_sp = mmap(0, STACK_SIZE, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0);
+ assert(sigstack.ss_sp != MAP_FAILED);
sigstack.ss_flags = 0;
sigstack.ss_size = STACK_SIZE;

@@ -490,6 +491,7 @@ static void test_pkru_sigreturn(void)
/* Set up alternate signal stack that will use the default MPK */
sigstack.ss_sp = mmap(0, STACK_SIZE, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0);
+ assert(sigstack.ss_sp != MAP_FAILED);
sigstack.ss_flags = 0;
sigstack.ss_size = STACK_SIZE;

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/protection_keys.c b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/protection_keys.c
index 2085982dba69..580bf1668c71 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/protection_keys.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/protection_keys.c
@@ -1217,6 +1217,7 @@ static void arch_force_pkey_reg_init(void)
* doing the XSAVE size enumeration dance.
*/
buf = mmap(NULL, 1*MB, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_ANONYMOUS|MAP_PRIVATE, -1, 0);
+ pkey_assert(buf != (void *)-1);

/* These __builtins require compiling with -mxsave */

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/soft-dirty.c b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/soft-dirty.c
index bcfcac99b436..67c26c265880 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/soft-dirty.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/soft-dirty.c
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ static void test_mprotect(int pagemap_fd, int pagesize, bool anon)
if (anon) {
map = mmap(NULL, pagesize, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE,
MAP_ANONYMOUS|MAP_PRIVATE, -1, 0);
- if (!map)
+ if (map == MAP_FAILED)
ksft_exit_fail_msg("anon mmap failed\n");
} else {
test_fd = open(fname, O_RDWR | O_CREAT, 0664);
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ static void test_mprotect(int pagemap_fd, int pagesize, bool anon)
ftruncate(test_fd, pagesize);
map = mmap(NULL, pagesize, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE,
MAP_SHARED, test_fd, 0);
- if (!map)
+ if (map == MAP_FAILED)
ksft_exit_fail_msg("file mmap failed\n");
}

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/vm_util.c b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/vm_util.c
index db94564f4431..63aaa2d9ec0b 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/vm_util.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/vm_util.c
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ bool softdirty_supported(void)
/* New mappings are expected to be marked with VM_SOFTDIRTY (sd). */
addr = mmap(0, pagesize, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
MAP_ANONYMOUS | MAP_PRIVATE, 0, 0);
- if (!addr)
+ if (addr == MAP_FAILED)
ksft_exit_fail_msg("mmap failed\n");

supported = check_vmflag(addr, "sd");
--
2.25.1