[PATCH v7] x86/mm/64: free the gap between BSS_MAIN and BSS_DECRYPTED
From: Hamza Mahfooz
Date: Fri Aug 28 2026 - 20:35:53 EST
This region is unused after mark_rodata_ro() and takes up, up to 2 MiB
of memory. So, free it in mark_rodata_ro().
Tested on a CoCo VM running on an AMD EPYC 7763v which generated the
following print:
Freeing unused kernel image (bss_decrypted gap) memory: 184K
Signed-off-by: Hamza Mahfooz <hamzamahfooz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
arch/x86/include/asm/sections.h | 1 +
arch/x86/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S | 8 +++++++-
arch/x86/mm/init_64.c | 2 ++
3 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/sections.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/sections.h
index 30e8ee7006f9..49ef1428aa72 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/sections.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/sections.h
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
extern char __relocate_kernel_start[], __relocate_kernel_end[];
extern char __brk_base[], __brk_limit[];
extern char __end_rodata_aligned[];
+extern char __start_bss_decrypted_gap[], __end_bss_decrypted_gap[];
#if defined(CONFIG_X86_64)
extern char __end_rodata_hpage_align[];
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S b/arch/x86/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
index 2438b89a4620..825381b1ed33 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
@@ -94,8 +94,11 @@ const_cpu_current_top_of_stack = cpu_current_top_of_stack;
* decrypted to avoid exposing more than we wish.
*/
#define BSS_DECRYPTED \
+ . = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE); \
+ __start_bss_decrypted_gap = .; \
. = ALIGN(PMD_SIZE); \
__start_bss_decrypted = .; \
+ __end_bss_decrypted_gap = .; \
__pi___start_bss_decrypted = .; \
*(.bss..decrypted); \
. = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE); \
@@ -105,7 +108,10 @@ const_cpu_current_top_of_stack = cpu_current_top_of_stack;
__pi___end_bss_decrypted = .; \
#else
-#define BSS_DECRYPTED
+#define BSS_DECRYPTED \
+ . = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE); \
+ __start_bss_decrypted_gap = .; \
+ __end_bss_decrypted_gap = .;
#endif
#if defined(CONFIG_X86_64) && defined(CONFIG_KEXEC_CORE)
diff --git a/arch/x86/mm/init_64.c b/arch/x86/mm/init_64.c
index 70e682180291..d2e1f087ef31 100644
--- a/arch/x86/mm/init_64.c
+++ b/arch/x86/mm/init_64.c
@@ -1400,6 +1400,8 @@ void mark_rodata_ro(void)
(void *)text_end, (void *)rodata_start);
free_kernel_image_pages("unused kernel image (rodata/data gap)",
(void *)rodata_end, (void *)_sdata);
+ free_kernel_image_pages("unused kernel image (bss_decrypted gap)",
+ __start_bss_decrypted_gap, __end_bss_decrypted_gap);
}
/*
--
2.55.0