Re: [RFC PATCH] mm/vmalloc: add vmalloc_decrypted() and vzalloc_decrypted()

[Catalin Marinas]

On Fri, Jun 12, 2026 at 03:18:07PM -0300, Jason Gunthorpe wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 12, 2026 at 06:49:28PM +0100, Catalin Marinas wrote:
> > On Thu, Jun 11, 2026 at 08:49:54AM -0300, Jason Gunthorpe wrote:
> > > On Mon, Jun 08, 2026 at 04:37:02PM +0100, Catalin Marinas wrote:
> > > > > +/**
> > > > > + * vzalloc_decrypted - allocate zeroed virtually contiguous decrypted memory
> > > > > + * @size:    allocation size
> > > > > + *
> > > > > + * Like vmalloc_decrypted(), but the memory is set to zero.
> > > > > + *
> > > > > + * Return: pointer to the allocated memory or %NULL on error
> > > > > + */
> > > > > +void *vzalloc_decrypted_noprof(unsigned long size)
> > > > > +{
> > > > > +	void *addr;
> > > > > +
> > > > > +	addr = __vmalloc_node_range_noprof(size, 1, VMALLOC_START, VMALLOC_END,
> > > > > +					   GFP_KERNEL,
> > > > > +					   pgprot_decrypted(PAGE_KERNEL),
> > > > > +					   VM_DECRYPTED, NUMA_NO_NODE,
> > > > > +					   __builtin_return_address(0));
> > > > > +	if (addr)
> > > > > +		memset(addr, 0, size);
[...]
> > > But what is the purpose of this? I guess some hyperv thing - but
> > > shouldn't we have a more structured way to "DMA map" things for the
> > > hypervisor instead of stuff like this? Why can't you use
> > > dma_alloc_coherent() which actually gives you an address that is
> > > sensible to pass to the hypervisor?
> > 
> > IIRC netvsc_init_buf() uses vzalloc() to allocate some memory and that
> > buffer ends up in set_memory_decrypted() via vmbus_establish_gpadl().
> > arm64 does not support changing the decrypted/shared attributed of
> > vmalloc mappings and I don't think we should add it. Better to just
> > allocate it properly upfront.
> 
> Sure
>  
> > We might be able to use the DMA API but we won't get something like
> > vmalloc() - physically non-contiguous. 
> 
> The entry point is dma_alloc_noncontiguous() and you get a scatterlist
> back.

Yes but not scattered pages unless there's an iommu behind. Anyway,
that's an implementation detail, something like
dma_alloc_noncontiguous_vmap() could allocate scattered pages as a
fallback.

> > I think dma_alloc_noncontiguous() just falls back to
> > dma_direct_alloc_pages() in the absence of an iommu.
> 
> In all cases you get a scatterlist with a CPU list and a DMA
> list. iommu gives a smaller DMA list.
> 
> If you want a vmap then you can feed that CPU page list from the sgl
> into vmap().
> 
> A dma_alloc_noncontiguous_vmap() helper would not be hard to make, and
> IMHO, would make alot more sense for hyperv to treat the memory access
> from the hypervisor as "DMA" instead of trying to re-invent the DMA
> API.. :\
> 
> HCH was already saying we should not be allowing drivers to use
> set_memory_decrypted() at all, and hyperv is the biggest non-core user
> right now...

That's a good aim longer term. I'm not familiar with hyper-v but I think
it needs a mix of private or shared allocations depending on whether a
paravisor is present. That's handled by the vmbus code and the
information is encoded in the vmbus_channel objects.

Currently, something like netvsc_init_buf() just does a vzalloc() and
passes it down to vmbus_establish_gpadl() which knows how to interpret
the channel encryption status. I assume with the vzalloc_decrypted()
API, that info needs to be interpreted at the netvsc_init_buf() level to
know which allocation to call.

If we move towards a dma_alloc_noncontiguous_vmap() API we need vmbus to
encode the encryption requirement in the hv_device::device somehow so
that force_dma_unencrypted() knows what do return. We have the
DMA_ATTR_CC_SHARED but that's not interpreted on the DMA alloc path, so
there's a bit more work needed on the DMA API I think (not sure whether
Aneesh's series covers any of this).

-- 
Catalin