[PATCH v9 11/16] KVM: arm64: PMU: Protect the list of PMUs with RCU

From: Akihiko Odaki

Date: Mon Jul 20 2026 - 01:40:53 EST


Convert the list of PMUs to a RCU-protected list that has primitives to
avoid read-side contention.

Assisted-by: Codex:gpt-5.5
Signed-off-by: Akihiko Odaki <odaki@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
arch/arm64/kvm/pmu-emul.c | 18 ++++++++++--------
1 file changed, 10 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/arm64/kvm/pmu-emul.c b/arch/arm64/kvm/pmu-emul.c
index 9ac5f307ea31..c5c505b6fc61 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kvm/pmu-emul.c
+++ b/arch/arm64/kvm/pmu-emul.c
@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@
#include <linux/cpu.h>
#include <linux/kvm.h>
#include <linux/kvm_host.h>
-#include <linux/list.h>
#include <linux/perf_event.h>
#include <linux/perf/arm_pmu.h>
+#include <linux/rculist.h>
#include <linux/uaccess.h>
#include <asm/kvm_emulate.h>
#include <kvm/arm_pmu.h>
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@
#define MDCR_EL2_PMU_RECREATE_MASK (MDCR_EL2_HPMN | MDCR_EL2_HPMD | \
MDCR_EL2_HLP)

+/*
+ * arm_pmus is append-only. kvm_supports_guest_pmuv3() feeds persistent
+ * VM state, so a true result must remain valid after the check.
+ */
static LIST_HEAD(arm_pmus);
static DEFINE_MUTEX(arm_pmus_lock);

@@ -29,7 +33,6 @@ static bool kvm_pmu_counter_is_enabled(struct kvm_pmc *pmc);

bool kvm_supports_guest_pmuv3(void)
{
- guard(mutex)(&arm_pmus_lock);
return !list_empty(&arm_pmus);
}

@@ -807,7 +810,7 @@ void kvm_host_pmu_init(struct arm_pmu *pmu)
return;

entry->arm_pmu = pmu;
- list_add_tail(&entry->entry, &arm_pmus);
+ list_add_tail_rcu(&entry->entry, &arm_pmus);
}

static struct arm_pmu *kvm_pmu_probe_armpmu(void)
@@ -816,7 +819,7 @@ static struct arm_pmu *kvm_pmu_probe_armpmu(void)
struct arm_pmu *pmu;
int cpu;

- guard(mutex)(&arm_pmus_lock);
+ guard(rcu)();

/*
* It is safe to use a stale cpu to iterate the list of PMUs so long as
@@ -836,7 +839,7 @@ static struct arm_pmu *kvm_pmu_probe_armpmu(void)
* carried here.
*/
cpu = raw_smp_processor_id();
- list_for_each_entry(entry, &arm_pmus, entry) {
+ list_for_each_entry_rcu(entry, &arm_pmus, entry) {
pmu = entry->arm_pmu;

if (cpumask_test_cpu(cpu, &pmu->supported_cpus))
@@ -1088,9 +1091,9 @@ static int kvm_arm_pmu_v3_set_pmu(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, int pmu_id)
int ret = -ENXIO;

lockdep_assert_held(&kvm->arch.config_lock);
- mutex_lock(&arm_pmus_lock);
+ guard(rcu)();

- list_for_each_entry(entry, &arm_pmus, entry) {
+ list_for_each_entry_rcu(entry, &arm_pmus, entry) {
arm_pmu = entry->arm_pmu;
if (arm_pmu->pmu.type == pmu_id) {
if (kvm_vm_has_ran_once(kvm) ||
@@ -1106,7 +1109,6 @@ static int kvm_arm_pmu_v3_set_pmu(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, int pmu_id)
}
}

- mutex_unlock(&arm_pmus_lock);
return ret;
}


--
2.55.0