[PATCH v4 08/14] mm, swap: defer xswap shrink to workqueue to avoid lock recursion

From: Baoquan He

Date: Fri Oct 02 2026 - 20:35:37 EST


__free_cluster() called xswap_try_shrink() while holding ci->lock, but
shrinking unmaps the backing pages and the subsequent unlock faults on
the unmapped address. Run the shrink via schedule_work() instead, so no
cluster lock is held. The work is only scheduled for xswap devices and
is cancelled on swapoff.

Signed-off-by: Baoquan He <hebaoquan@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
include/linux/swap.h | 1 +
mm/swapfile.c | 129 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------
2 files changed, 97 insertions(+), 33 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/swap.h b/include/linux/swap.h
index 382a578140b5..12cdc00f78f9 100644
--- a/include/linux/swap.h
+++ b/include/linux/swap.h
@@ -246,6 +246,7 @@ struct swap_info_struct {
struct vm_struct *cluster_vm; /* VM_SPARSE area for cluster_info */
unsigned long nr_clusters_max;/* total clusters in the xswap address space */
unsigned long nr_clusters_mapped; /* currently mapped cluster count */
+ struct work_struct xswap_shrink_work; /* deferred shrink trigger */
struct mutex xswap_lock; /* serialize map/unmap operations */
#endif
struct list_head free_clusters; /* free clusters list */
diff --git a/mm/swapfile.c b/mm/swapfile.c
index 7c062e772f5b..49703731ffd5 100644
--- a/mm/swapfile.c
+++ b/mm/swapfile.c
@@ -727,7 +727,9 @@ static void __free_cluster(struct swap_info_struct *si, struct swap_cluster_info
move_cluster(si, ci, &si->free_clusters, CLUSTER_FLAG_FREE);
ci->order = 0;
#ifdef CONFIG_XSWAP
- xswap_try_shrink(si);
+ /* Only xswap devices, and not while the device is being torn down. */
+ if ((si->flags & SWP_XSWAP) && (si->flags & SWP_WRITEOK))
+ schedule_work(&si->xswap_shrink_work);
#endif
}

@@ -3334,6 +3336,7 @@ static void free_swap_cluster_info(struct swap_info_struct *si)
if (si->flags & SWP_XSWAP) {
unsigned long nr_mapped;

+ cancel_work_sync(&si->xswap_shrink_work);
/*
* Cluster 0 keeps the bad header slot, so it never empties
* and __free_cluster() never frees its table.
@@ -3452,6 +3455,11 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE1(swapoff, const char __user *, specialfile)
spin_unlock(&p->lock);
spin_unlock(&swap_lock);

+#ifdef CONFIG_XSWAP
+ if (p->flags & SWP_XSWAP)
+ cancel_work_sync(&p->xswap_shrink_work);
+#endif
+
wait_for_allocation(p);

set_current_oom_origin();
@@ -4074,8 +4082,9 @@ static void xswap_unmap_range(struct swap_info_struct *si,
__free_page(pages[i]);
}

-static void xswap_unmap_clusters(struct swap_info_struct *si,
- unsigned long start_idx, unsigned long nr)
+/* Caller must hold si->xswap_lock. Cannot fail. */
+static void xswap_unmap_clusters_locked(struct swap_info_struct *si,
+ unsigned long start_idx, unsigned long nr)
{
unsigned long start_addr = (unsigned long)si->cluster_info +
(size_t)start_idx * sizeof(struct swap_cluster_info);
@@ -4087,11 +4096,9 @@ static void xswap_unmap_clusters(struct swap_info_struct *si,
unsigned int noreclaim_flags;
unsigned long npages, idx;

- mutex_lock(&si->xswap_lock);
-
if (vm_start >= vm_end) {
WRITE_ONCE(si->nr_clusters_mapped, start_idx);
- goto out_unlock;
+ return;
}

/*
@@ -4113,7 +4120,7 @@ static void xswap_unmap_clusters(struct swap_info_struct *si,
xswap_unmap_range(si, vm_start, vm_end, pages, npages);
kvfree(pages);
WRITE_ONCE(si->nr_clusters_mapped, start_idx);
- goto out_unlock;
+ return;
}

/* No memory for the array: unmap in bounded batches instead. */
@@ -4133,7 +4140,13 @@ static void xswap_unmap_clusters(struct swap_info_struct *si,
}

WRITE_ONCE(si->nr_clusters_mapped, start_idx);
-out_unlock:
+}
+
+static void xswap_unmap_clusters(struct swap_info_struct *si,
+ unsigned long start_idx, unsigned long nr)
+{
+ mutex_lock(&si->xswap_lock);
+ xswap_unmap_clusters_locked(si, start_idx, nr);
mutex_unlock(&si->xswap_lock);
}

@@ -4157,6 +4170,16 @@ static int xswap_mapped_end(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr, void *data)
#define XSWAP_SHRINK_SLACK XSWAP_GROW_CLUSTERS
#define XSWAP_SHRINK_MIN (XSWAP_GROW_CLUSTERS * 8)

+static void xswap_shrink_work_fn(struct work_struct *work)
+{
+ struct swap_info_struct *si = container_of(work,
+ struct swap_info_struct, xswap_shrink_work);
+
+ if (!(READ_ONCE(si->flags) & SWP_WRITEOK))
+ return;
+ xswap_try_shrink(si);
+}
+
/*
* Try to shrink the cluster_info tail: unmap contiguous free clusters
* at the end of the mapped range.
@@ -4164,14 +4187,20 @@ static int xswap_mapped_end(pte_t *pte, unsigned long addr, void *data)
static void xswap_try_shrink(struct swap_info_struct *si)
{
struct swap_cluster_info *ci;
- unsigned long nr_mapped, last, keep, idx;
+ unsigned long nr_mapped, nr_tail, keep, nr_unmap, start_idx, i;

if (!(si->flags & SWP_XSWAP))
return;

+ mutex_lock(&si->xswap_lock);
+
+ /* A swapoff raced us and is about to walk this mapping. */
+ if (!(READ_ONCE(si->flags) & SWP_WRITEOK))
+ goto out_unlock;
+
nr_mapped = READ_ONCE(si->nr_clusters_mapped);
- if (nr_mapped <= 1) /* keep cluster 0 */
- return;
+ if (nr_mapped <= 1) /* keep cluster 0 */
+ goto out_unlock;

/*
* Reclaim on our own, but only once the mapped range is at most
@@ -4181,40 +4210,73 @@ static void xswap_try_shrink(struct swap_info_struct *si)
*/
if (swap_usage_in_pages(si) * 100 >
nr_mapped * SWAPFILE_CLUSTER * XSWAP_SHRINK_WHEN)
- return;
+ goto out_unlock;

- /* Find the last non-free cluster from the tail */
- last = nr_mapped;
- while (last > 1) {
- idx = last - 1;
- ci = &si->cluster_info[idx];
- if (ci->count || ci->flags != CLUSTER_FLAG_FREE)
+ /*
+ * Count the free clusters at the tail of the mapped range. Scanned,
+ * not tracked: the count must be exact to size the unmap, and an
+ * incremental count falls behind on out-of-order frees.
+ */
+ nr_tail = 0;
+ while (nr_mapped - nr_tail > 1) {
+ ci = &si->cluster_info[nr_mapped - nr_tail - 1];
+ if (READ_ONCE(ci->count) ||
+ READ_ONCE(ci->flags) != CLUSTER_FLAG_FREE)
break;
- last = idx;
+ nr_tail++;
}
-
- if (last == nr_mapped)
- return; /* nothing to shrink */
-
- /* Below `last` has to stay mapped: the free ones in between are
- * not part of the tail, and unmapping them orphans what is above.
- */
- if (nr_mapped - last < XSWAP_SHRINK_SLACK + XSWAP_SHRINK_MIN)
- return;
+ if (nr_tail < XSWAP_SHRINK_SLACK + XSWAP_SHRINK_MIN)
+ goto out_unlock;

/*
* Stop at SHRINK_UNTIL rather than at the end of the tail, or the
- * range comes out full enough for the grow to be woken.
+ * range comes out full enough for the grow to be woken. Below the
+ * tail everything stays mapped, and one chunk of tail with it.
*/
keep = DIV_ROUND_UP(swap_usage_in_pages(si) * 100,
XSWAP_SHRINK_UNTIL * SWAPFILE_CLUSTER);
- if (keep < last + XSWAP_SHRINK_SLACK)
- keep = last + XSWAP_SHRINK_SLACK;
+ if (keep < nr_mapped - nr_tail + XSWAP_SHRINK_SLACK)
+ keep = nr_mapped - nr_tail + XSWAP_SHRINK_SLACK;

if (nr_mapped < keep + XSWAP_SHRINK_MIN)
- return;
+ goto out_unlock;
+
+ nr_unmap = rounddown(nr_mapped - keep, XSWAP_GROW_CLUSTERS);
+ if (!nr_unmap)
+ goto out_unlock;
+ start_idx = nr_mapped - nr_unmap;
+
+ /*
+ * Only shrink a run that reaches the mapped end; otherwise
+ * truncating nr_clusters_mapped would orphan the active tail.
+ */
+ spin_lock(&si->lock);
+ for (i = start_idx; i < nr_mapped; i++) {
+ ci = &si->cluster_info[i];
+ if (READ_ONCE(ci->flags) != CLUSTER_FLAG_FREE)
+ break;
+ if (!spin_trylock(&ci->lock)) {
+ spin_unlock(&si->lock);
+ goto out_unlock;
+ }
+ spin_unlock(&ci->lock);
+ }
+ if (i != nr_mapped) {
+ spin_unlock(&si->lock);
+ goto out_unlock;
+ }
+
+ for (i = start_idx; i < nr_mapped; i++) {
+ ci = &si->cluster_info[i];
+ list_del_init(&ci->list);
+ WRITE_ONCE(ci->flags, CLUSTER_FLAG_NONE);
+ }
+ spin_unlock(&si->lock);

- xswap_unmap_clusters(si, keep, nr_mapped - keep);
+ xswap_unmap_clusters_locked(si, start_idx, nr_unmap);
+
+out_unlock:
+ mutex_unlock(&si->xswap_lock);
}
#endif /* CONFIG_XSWAP */

@@ -4278,6 +4340,7 @@ static int setup_swap_clusters_info(struct swap_info_struct *si,
}
}

+ INIT_WORK(&si->xswap_shrink_work, xswap_shrink_work_fn);
return 0;

err_unmap:
--
2.54.0