[PATCH 0/6] arm64: distinguish HW PTE pointers from SW PTE value pointers

From: Muhammad Usama Anjum

Date: Mon Sep 14 2026 - 11:31:10 EST


Hi,

The generic series introduces hw_pte_t for HW PTEs, while SW PTE values
use pte_t. This series enables the distinct type on arm64 so the
compiler can distinguish HW PTE pointers (hw_pte_t *) from SW PTE value
pointers (pte_t *).

The conversion updates HW PTE pointers and accessors, including atomic
updates, fixmap, and early page-table construction, before selecting
ARCH_HAS_HW_PTE_T. Higher-level entry types remain out of scope, and
shared helpers retain explicit casts.

The linked generic series is a prerequisite. Its cover contains the
Coccinelle script used for most pointer conversions; the remaining sites
were converted by hand.

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260903103002.1091859-1-usama.anjum@xxxxxxx/
Signed-off-by: Muhammad Usama Anjum <usama.anjum@xxxxxxx>
---
Muhammad Usama Anjum (6):
arm64: use hw_pte_t for HW PTE pointers
arm64: use hw_pte_val for HW PTE atomics
arm64: convert between HW PTEs and SW PTE values
arm64: use hw_pte_t for fixmap HW PTEs
arm64: use HW PTE accessors in early map_range()
arm64: enable a distinct type for HW PTEs

arch/arm64/Kconfig | 1 +
arch/arm64/include/asm/hugetlb.h | 19 ++---
arch/arm64/include/asm/pgalloc.h | 2 +-
arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h | 157 ++++++++++++++++++++------------------
arch/arm64/include/asm/vmalloc.h | 2 +-
arch/arm64/kernel/efi.c | 3 +-
arch/arm64/kernel/pi/map_kernel.c | 4 +-
arch/arm64/kernel/pi/map_range.c | 20 +++--
arch/arm64/kernel/pi/pi.h | 3 +-
arch/arm64/mm/contpte.c | 49 ++++++------
arch/arm64/mm/fault.c | 11 +--
arch/arm64/mm/fixmap.c | 8 +-
arch/arm64/mm/hugetlbpage.c | 48 ++++++------
arch/arm64/mm/kasan_init.c | 4 +-
arch/arm64/mm/mmu.c | 46 ++++++-----
arch/arm64/mm/pageattr.c | 4 +-
arch/arm64/mm/trans_pgd.c | 4 +-
include/linux/pgtable_types.h | 6 ++
18 files changed, 215 insertions(+), 176 deletions(-)
---
base-commit: ead700ca770c82167af32622cf8b68c9f87c3c7c
change-id: 20260911-pte0_arm-f1b7df7c0b51
prerequisite-message-id: 20260903103002.1091859-1-usama.anjum@xxxxxxx
prerequisite-patch-id: 0114fcc6ab0dbb739b5bb6fc0fe6b1c8f1fa37a1
prerequisite-patch-id: 09fcf65970074620dd3a9cce6850b901beb01db8
prerequisite-patch-id: 9b2fdab97c99effabb85526fa7f141c933b3aa23
prerequisite-patch-id: 1aa309a26d98a1e93a54742705a03567ee93be71
prerequisite-patch-id: ebe32f52c95ad0542982f0b37798d209595e25e1
prerequisite-patch-id: a60d249f52d092524176851b2570d7245bb24434
prerequisite-patch-id: 81ebd1378e25d40a1771b53973abcc4defa87535
prerequisite-patch-id: d982f2b00c5eddb2459f69008a73e4f4ae4d8299

Best regards,
--
Usama