[PATCH mm-hotfixes v5 2/5] x86/mm/pat: acquire init_mm write lock on collapse to avoid UAF
From: Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM)
Date: Fri Jul 17 2026 - 13:34:44 EST
x86 implements page attribute modification using its Change Page
Attributes (CPA) mechanism.
This tracks properties of ranges such as cache mode through x86 page
attributes, and as part of that logic manipulates kernel page tables.
Since commit 41d88484c71c ("x86/mm/pat: restore large ROX pages after
fragmentation") ranges of kernel page table entries can be collapsed into
huge page table entries as part of this logic.
As part of this collapse, it frees the page tables which the collapsed
entries previously pointed to, and it does so without any relevant locks
being held to preclude concurrent kernel page table walkers.
The only way this code can be reached is if CPA_COLLAPSE is specified, and
this is only set in set_memory_rox() via:
set_memory_rox()
-> change_page_attr_set_clr()
-> cpa_flush()
-> cpa_collapse_large_pages()
Notable users of this are execmem and bpf when manipulating executable
mappings.
However, this is problematic for ptdump as it walks ranges it does not own
and thus runs the risk of a use-after-free on page tables freed underneath
it.
In addition, concurrent CPA collapse operations are possible which can also
cause races.
Resolve the issue by acquiring the mmap write lock on init_mm across the
whole operation.
It is safe to acquire a sleeping lock as all the callers invoke
set_memory_rox() from process context and in any case,
change_page_attr_set_clr() calls vm_unmap_alias() which ultimately takes a
mutex, disallowing atomic context here.
Fixes: 41d88484c71c ("x86/mm/pat: restore large ROX pages after fragmentation")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Reviewed-by: Mike Rapoport (Microsoft) <rppt@xxxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Kiryl Shutsemau (Meta) <kas@xxxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: David Hildenbrand (Arm) <david@xxxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Will Deacon <will@xxxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: David Carlier <devnexen@xxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM) <ljs@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
arch/x86/mm/pat/set_memory.c | 15 ++++++++++++++-
include/linux/mmap_lock.h | 2 ++
2 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/arch/x86/mm/pat/set_memory.c b/arch/x86/mm/pat/set_memory.c
index d023a40a1e03..d1e63f7d267f 100644
--- a/arch/x86/mm/pat/set_memory.c
+++ b/arch/x86/mm/pat/set_memory.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
#include <linux/cc_platform.h>
#include <linux/set_memory.h>
#include <linux/memregion.h>
+#include <linux/cleanup.h>
#include <asm/e820/api.h>
#include <asm/processor.h>
@@ -410,7 +411,7 @@ static void __cpa_flush_tlb(void *data)
static int collapse_large_pages(unsigned long addr, struct list_head *pgtables);
-static void cpa_collapse_large_pages(struct cpa_data *cpa)
+static void __cpa_collapse_large_pages(struct cpa_data *cpa)
{
unsigned long start, addr, end;
struct ptdesc *ptdesc, *tmp;
@@ -442,6 +443,18 @@ static void cpa_collapse_large_pages(struct cpa_data *cpa)
}
}
+static void cpa_collapse_large_pages(struct cpa_data *cpa)
+{
+ /*
+ * Take the mmap write lock on init_mm to:
+ * - Avoid a use-after-free if raced by ptdump (which takes its own
+ * write lock on init_mm).
+ * - Serialise concurrent CPA walkers.
+ */
+ scoped_guard(mmap_write_lock, &init_mm)
+ __cpa_collapse_large_pages(cpa);
+}
+
static void cpa_flush(struct cpa_data *cpa, int cache)
{
unsigned int i;
diff --git a/include/linux/mmap_lock.h b/include/linux/mmap_lock.h
index 6b5c2390cc30..047f5f5e2c34 100644
--- a/include/linux/mmap_lock.h
+++ b/include/linux/mmap_lock.h
@@ -621,6 +621,8 @@ static inline void mmap_read_unlock(struct mm_struct *mm)
DEFINE_GUARD(mmap_read_lock, struct mm_struct *,
mmap_read_lock(_T), mmap_read_unlock(_T))
+DEFINE_GUARD(mmap_write_lock, struct mm_struct *,
+ mmap_write_lock(_T), mmap_write_unlock(_T))
DEFINE_GUARD_COND(mmap_read_lock, _try, mmap_read_trylock(_T))
static inline void mmap_read_unlock_non_owner(struct mm_struct *mm)
--
2.55.0