Re: [PATCH v4] mm/hugetlb_cma: Fix null nodemask dereference in hugetlb_cma_alloc_frozen_folio

From: Andrew Morton

Date: Mon Jul 27 2026 - 20:58:18 EST


On Sun, 26 Jul 2026 07:29:34 +0000 Sourav Panda <souravpanda@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> alloc_buddy_hugetlb_folio_with_mpol() can pass a NULL nodemask to
> alloc_fresh_hugetlb_folio() as a fallback to allocate from all
> nodes. If order is gigantic, alloc_fresh_hugetlb_folio() propagates
> the NULL nodemask down to hugetlb_cma_alloc_frozen_folio() via
> alloc_gigantic_frozen_folio().
>
> hugetlb_cma_alloc_frozen_folio() blindly dereferences the nodemask in
> node_isset(nid, *nodemask) and for_each_node_mask(node, *nodemask),
> leading to a null pointer dereference kernel panic.
>
> Fix this by checking if nodemask is NULL in
> hugetlb_cma_alloc_frozen_folio() and defaulting it to
> node_states[N_MEMORY]. This allows hugetlb_cma allocations to fall
> back to any node with memory, keeping behavior consistent with
> alloc_contig_frozen_pages() and alloc_buddy_frozen_folio().
>
> >From a userspace perspective, this bug allows an unprivileged user to
> crash the kernel (trigger a panic) by requesting a gigantic hugepage
> allocation with MPOL_PREFERRED_MANY on a system where CMA is only
> configured on a subset of NUMA nodes.
>
> This can be reproduced by booting a VM with two NUMA nodes, restricting
> CMA to Node 1 (e.g., hugetlb_cma=1:1G default_hugepagesz=1G
> hugepagesz=1G hugepages=0), and running a program that allocates a
> 1GB hugepage area without reserving, restricts allocation to Node 0
> using mbind() with MPOL_PREFERRED_MANY, and triggers a page fault:
>
> void *ptr = mmap(NULL, 1UL << 30, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
> MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANONYMOUS | MAP_HUGETLB |
> MAP_HUGE_1GB | MAP_NORESERVE, -1, 0);
> unsigned long nodemask = 1; /* Node 0 */
> mbind(ptr, 1UL << 30, MPOL_PREFERRED_MANY, &nodemask,
> sizeof(nodemask) * 8, 0);
> memset(ptr, 0, 1UL << 30); /* Trigger fault */
>
> This results in a NULL pointer dereference:
>
> BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
> #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
> #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
> Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
> RIP: 0010:hugetlb_cma_alloc_frozen_folio+0x75/0x120
> Call Trace:
> <TASK>
> only_alloc_fresh_hugetlb_folio.isra.0+0x2c/0x160
> alloc_surplus_hugetlb_folio+0x6d/0x100
> alloc_hugetlb_folio+0x3c5/0x660
> hugetlb_no_page+0x3d9/0x650

Thanks. I'll queue this as a hotfix while we await review.

> Fixes: eb02f14c4a2b ("mm/hugetlb: allow overcommitting gigantic hugepages")

It's a good idea to cc the people who were involved in the to-be-fixed
patch - Author and Reviewers.

>
> ...
>
> --- a/mm/hugetlb_cma.c
> +++ b/mm/hugetlb_cma.c
> @@ -34,7 +34,10 @@ struct folio *hugetlb_cma_alloc_frozen_folio(int order, gfp_t gfp_mask,
> if (!hugetlb_cma_size)
> return NULL;
>
> - if (hugetlb_cma[nid])
> + if (!nodemask)
> + nodemask = &node_states[N_MEMORY];
> +
> + if (hugetlb_cma[nid] && node_isset(nid, *nodemask))
> page = cma_alloc_frozen_compound(hugetlb_cma[nid], order);
>
> if (!page && !(gfp_mask & __GFP_THISNODE)) {
> --
> 2.55.0