Re: [PATCH v3] mm/memory: use pmdp_get_lockless() for the pmd read in do_fault_around()

From: David Hildenbrand (Arm)

Date: Tue Nov 03 2026 - 03:17:21 EST


On 11/3/26 02:47, Hui Zhu wrote:
> From: Hui Zhu <zhuhui@xxxxxxxxxx>
>
> KCSAN reports a data-race in do_read_fault / pmd_install; the same code
> is in mainline:
>
> write (marked) to 0xffff8d52a75fb810 of 8 bytes by task 27487 on cpu 5:
> native_set_pmd arch/x86/include/asm/pgtable_64.h:83 [inline]
> pmd_populate arch/x86/include/asm/pgalloc.h:84 [inline]
> pmd_install+0xe0/0x120 mm/memory.c:444
> finish_fault+0x5bc/0xb00 mm/memory.c:5204
> do_cow_fault mm/memory.c:5432 [inline]
> do_fault+0x5d0/0x6e0 mm/memory.c:5526
> handle_mm_fault+0x211/0x4c0 mm/memory.c:6218
> __mm_populate+0x144/0x270 mm/gup.c:2207
> __do_sys_mlockall+0x2cd/0x380 mm/mlock.c:764
>
> read to 0xffff8d52a75fb810 of 8 bytes by task 27527 on cpu 9:
> do_fault_around mm/memory.c:5341 [inline]
> do_read_fault+0x162/0x670 mm/memory.c:5381
> do_fault+0x31a/0x6e0 mm/memory.c:5524
> handle_mm_fault+0x211/0x4c0 mm/memory.c:6218
> faultin_page_range+0x227/0x530 mm/gup.c:2156
> __x64_sys_madvise+0x67/0x80 mm/madvise.c:1479
>
> value changed: 0x0000000000000000 -> 0x000000001386c067
>
> Both paths only hold mmap_lock for read, so do_fault_around() tests
> vmf->pmd while pmd_install() populates it under the pmd lock. The race is
> benign: a stale pmd_none() only wastes the prealloc_pte, which do_fault()
> frees again, and a pmd seen as populated only makes ->map_pages() find no
> PTE and do_read_fault() fall back to __do_fault().
>
> The load still has to be lockless-safe. pmdp_get() is a plain READ_ONCE()
> and can tear where pmd_t is wider than a word, as on i386-PAE where
> pmd_install() publishes two words with a single cmpxchg8b. Use
> pmdp_get_lockless(), the accessor for pmd reads without the pmd lock and
> what __pte_offset_map() already uses on this very pmd a few instructions
> later. It is pmdp_get() everywhere else, so the report is silenced the
> same way.
>
> No functional change on architectures that can load a pmd in one go.
>
> Signed-off-by: Hui Zhu <zhuhui@xxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> Changelog:
> v3:
> Shorten the comment to one line (David Hildenbrand).
> v2:
> Use pmdp_get_lockless() instead of pmdp_get() (David Hildenbrand).
>
> mm/memory.c | 3 ++-
> 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/mm/memory.c b/mm/memory.c
> index 0fb676dd2bd63..f25c2ce0ef153 100644
> --- a/mm/memory.c
> +++ b/mm/memory.c
> @@ -6017,7 +6017,8 @@ static vm_fault_t do_fault_around(struct vm_fault *vmf)
> to_pte = min3(from_pte + nr_pages, (pgoff_t)PTRS_PER_PTE,
> pte_off + vma_pages(vmf->vma) - vma_off) - 1;
>
> - if (pmd_none(*vmf->pmd)) {
> + /* pmd_install() rechecks pmd_none() under the pmd lock. */
> + if (pmd_none(pmdp_get_lockless(vmf->pmd))) {
> vmf->prealloc_pte = pte_alloc_one(vmf->vma->vm_mm);
> if (!vmf->prealloc_pte)
> return VM_FAULT_OOM;

I'll wait for for review and then pick it up.

--
Cheers,

David