FAILED: patch "[PATCH] x86/mm/pat: Allocate split page tables as kernel page tables" failed to apply to 7.2-stable tree

The patch below does not apply to the 7.2-stable tree.
If someone wants it applied there, or to any other stable or longterm tree, then please email the backport, including the original git commit id to <[email protected]>.

To reproduce the conflict and resubmit, you may use the following commands:

git fetch https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/ linux-7.2.y
git checkout FETCH_HEAD
git cherry-pick -x 9e4a3ec3411bb6bb59e3c1f29b75609f1e87aac4
# <resolve conflicts, build, test, etc.>
git commit -s
git send-email --to '<[email protected]>' --in-reply-to '2026091603-illusion-provolone-913f@gregkh' --subject-prefix 'PATCH 7.2.y' 'HEAD^..'

Possible dependencies:

thanks,

greg k-h

------------------ original commit in Linus's tree ------------------

From 9e4a3ec3411bb6bb59e3c1f29b75609f1e87aac4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM)" <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2026 12:01:27 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] x86/mm/pat: Allocate split page tables as kernel page tables

A PTE is allocated directly without going through the standard page table allocation routines (such as pte_alloc_one_kernel()) when the CPA code splits a large page (__split_large_page()).

This means the page table constructor is never called nor is the page table marked as a kernel page table.

The former results in the folio associated with the page table not being marked as a page table (__pagetable_ctor() is never called thus neither is __folio_set_pgtable()) nor are statistics updated to reflect it (lruvec_stat_add_folio() is never called).

The latter issue of failing to mark the page table as a kernel page table (ptdesc_set_kernel() is never called) is far more problematic.

Since commit:

5ba2f0a15564 ("mm: introduce deferred freeing for kernel page tables")

kernel page table freeing has been batched and since the subsequent commit:

e37d5a2d60a3 ("iommu/sva: invalidate stale IOTLB entries for kernel address space")

IOTLB cache entries for kernel page tables have been invalidated upon being freed.

Since split page tables are freed without this invalidation, the IOTLB can contain stale entries for them.

Resolve the issue by using the ordinary PTE allocation API at split time.

This results in these kernel page tables invoking a page table constructor, and thus requires a page table destructor.

Destructors are not always present, like for early allocated direct map page tables). Conditionally call pagetable_dtor_free() if the PG_table folio flag for the ptdesc is set, otherwise we free the page table via pagetable_free().

Regardless of which path is taken page tables marked as kernel page tables, which now includes split page tables, take the correct route through pagetable_free_kernel().

There is a user-visible side effect in that split page tables will appear in nr_page_table_pages in /proc/vmstat (as do other kernel page tables allocated after early boot), however this is a positive change.

This issue started being markedly problematic after commit:

5ba2f0a15564 ("mm: introduce deferred freeing for kernel page tables")

so choose this as the Fixes target.

[ dhansen: rephrase in imperative mood ]

index cb5d6d6f71a4..4652487b5572 100644
@@ -441,7 +441,15 @@ static void __cpa_collapse_large_pages(struct cpa_data *cpa)
 
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(ptdesc, tmp, &pgtables, pt_list) {
 		list_del(&ptdesc->pt_list);
-		pagetable_free(ptdesc);
+		/*
+		 * Only early alloc'd direct map should not be flagged PG_table
+		 * here and those shouldn't be collapsed. However be abundantly
+		 * cautious and handle the !PG_table case too.
+		 */
+		if (PageTable((ptdesc_page(ptdesc))))
+			pagetable_dtor_free(ptdesc);
+		else
+			pagetable_free(ptdesc);
 	}
 }
 

@@ -1134,11 +1142,10 @@ static void split_set_pte(struct cpa_data *cpa, pte_t *pte, unsigned long pfn,
 
 static int
 __split_large_page(struct cpa_data *cpa, pte_t *kpte, unsigned long address,
-		   struct ptdesc *ptdesc)
+		   pte_t *pbase)
 {
 	unsigned long lpaddr, lpinc, ref_pfn, pfn, pfninc = 1;
-	struct page *base = ptdesc_page(ptdesc);
-	pte_t *pbase = (pte_t *)page_address(base);
+	struct page *base = virt_to_page(pbase);
 	unsigned int i, level;
 	pgprot_t ref_prot;
 	bool nx, rw;

@@ -1238,20 +1245,20 @@ __split_large_page(struct cpa_data *cpa, pte_t *kpte, unsigned long address,
 static int split_large_page(struct cpa_data *cpa, pte_t *kpte,
 			    unsigned long address)
 {
-	struct ptdesc *ptdesc;
+	pte_t *pte;
 
 	spin_unlock(&cpa_lock);
 	if (cpa->init_mm_read_locked)
 		mmap_read_unlock(&init_mm);
-	ptdesc = pagetable_alloc(GFP_KERNEL, 0);
+	pte = pte_alloc_one_kernel(&init_mm);
 	if (cpa->init_mm_read_locked)
 		mmap_read_lock(&init_mm);
 	spin_lock(&cpa_lock);
-	if (!ptdesc)
+	if (!pte)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-	if (__split_large_page(cpa, kpte, address, ptdesc))
-		pagetable_free(ptdesc);
+	if (__split_large_page(cpa, kpte, address, pte))
+		pte_free_kernel(&init_mm, pte);
 
 	return 0;
 }

From: "Mike Rapoport (Microsoft)" <[email protected]>

[ Upstream commit 5fce67641a3ed9a0782eaa228ddece526461a367 ]

The splitting and merging of kernel page table mappings between small and large is protected by cpa_lock. The merging is relatively new but the splitting is ancient.

The splitting has a locking optimization: since DEBUG_PAGEALLOC forces all mappings to 4k, there are no large pages to split. So the code that *might* cause a split can just skip the locking (and a few other things).

This is entertaining, but it adds complexity and makes for weird locking rules. Plus it's all for a debugging feature which makes the kernel super slow in the first place. Optimizing something which is already super slow and not used in production is not the best way to spend our complexity budget.

Stop gating cpa_lock on debug_pagealloc_enabled() to simplify the code and the locking rules.

[ dhansen: flesh out changelog ]

Stable-dep-of: 9e4a3ec3411b ("x86/mm/pat: Allocate split page tables as kernel page tables")

---
 arch/x86/mm/pat/set_memory.c | 19 +++++++------------
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

index 3b7e807e803c3..6dda81a629d69 100644
@@ -62,10 +62,9 @@ enum cpa_warn {
 static const int cpa_warn_level = CPA_PROTECT;
 
 /*
- * Serialize cpa() (for !DEBUG_PAGEALLOC which uses large identity mappings)
- * using cpa_lock. So that we don't allow any other cpu, with stale large tlb
- * entries change the page attribute in parallel to some other cpu
- * splitting a large page entry along with changing the attribute.
+ * Serialize cpa() using cpa_lock so that we don't allow any other cpu, with
+ * stale large tlb entries, to change the page attribute in parallel to some
+ * other cpu splitting a large page entry along with changing the attribute.
  */
 static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(cpa_lock);
 

@@ -1241,11 +1240,9 @@ static int split_large_page(struct cpa_data *cpa, pte_t *kpte,
 {
 	struct ptdesc *ptdesc;
 
-	if (!debug_pagealloc_enabled())
-		spin_unlock(&cpa_lock);
+	spin_unlock(&cpa_lock);
 	ptdesc = pagetable_alloc(GFP_KERNEL, 0);
-	if (!debug_pagealloc_enabled())
-		spin_lock(&cpa_lock);
+	spin_lock(&cpa_lock);
 	if (!ptdesc)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 

@@ -2029,11 +2026,9 @@ static int __change_page_attr_set_clr(struct cpa_data *cpa, int primary)
 		if (cpa->flags & (CPA_ARRAY | CPA_PAGES_ARRAY))
 			cpa->numpages = 1;
 
-		if (!debug_pagealloc_enabled())
-			spin_lock(&cpa_lock);
+		spin_lock(&cpa_lock);
 		ret = __change_page_attr(cpa, primary);
-		if (!debug_pagealloc_enabled())
-			spin_unlock(&cpa_lock);
+		spin_unlock(&cpa_lock);
 		if (ret)
 			goto out;
 

2.53.0

From: "Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM)" <[email protected]>

[ Upstream commit d5d8b8662e6e5a565b47a0388640e88402f23274 ]

A previous commit protected against races between ptdump and CPA collapse, however one still exists between attribute changes and collapse as reported by Denis V. Lunev (linked).

When an attribute change arises, a lockless page table walker obtains a PTE entry, which is later written to via set_pte_atomic():

...
-> change_page_attr_set_clr()
-> __change_page_attr_set_clr()
-> __change_page_attr()

	-> _lookup_address_cpa()
	-> lookup_address_in_pgd_attr()
	-> [ lockless page table walker ]

-> set_pte_atomic()

There is nothing preventing a concurrent CPA collapse which can free the PTE that was retrieved here, resulting in a use-after-free.

With the mmap write lock taken on init_mm over CPA collapse, resolve this race by acquiring an mmap read lock on init_mm over __change_page_attr_set_clr().

This locks across the whole operation over which the walk and the PTE entry write occurs, solving the race.

It is safe to do this here, as no spinlocks are held upon entry to __change_page_attr_set_clr().

However, the lock must not be held over an allocation, as allocation can trigger reclaim and shrinkers may call into CPA recursively, making deadlocks possible (init_mm -> ... -> fs_reclaim -> init_mm).

A page table is allocated when a huge page needs to be split:

-> change_page_attr_set_clr()
-> __change_page_attr_set_clr()
-> __change_page_attr()
-> split_large_page()
[ pagetable_alloc() ]
-> __split_large_page()

Avoid deadlocks by dropping the mmap lock across pagetable_alloc() in split_large_page() and track whether this is needed by adding a new 'init_mm_read_locked' flag to struct cpa_data.

This is safe as __split_large_page() (called with locks re-established) revalidates that the page table entry is the same as it was prior to the locks being dropped and __change_page_attr() repeats the entire page table walk whenever a split occurs, so concurrent split and collapse are accounted for.

Concurrent ptdump is also safe as the lock is only dropped over page table allocation during which time the page table has not yet been modified.

The CPA_COLLAPSE flag is only set by set_memory_rox(), which exclusively operates upon vmalloc ranges, and on x86 only within the module mapping space.

This is important, because some callers directly invoke __change_page_attr_set_clr(), bypassing this lock. However, none of these operate within the module mapping space.

* cpa_process_alias() - a recursive helper called by

    __change_page_attr_set_clr().

* __set_memory_enc_pgtable() - operates on the direct mapping and (via __vmbus_establish_gpadl()) the vmalloc mapping space.
* __set_pages_[n]p() - called by set_direct_map_[invalid, default, valid]_noflush(), __kernel_map_pages() - operates on the direct map.
* kernel_[un]map_pages_in_pgd() - operates on EFI ranges.

This work is based upon Denis V. Lunev's excellent analysis of the bug with gratitude.

[ dhansen: move to imperative voice in changelog ]

Stable-dep-of: 9e4a3ec3411b ("x86/mm/pat: Allocate split page tables as kernel page tables")

---
 arch/x86/mm/pat/set_memory.c | 13 +++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

index 6dda81a629d69..18f88e578be35 100644
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ struct cpa_data {
 	unsigned int	flags;
 	unsigned int	force_split		: 1,
 			force_static_prot	: 1,
-			force_flush_all		: 1;
+			force_flush_all		: 1,
+			init_mm_read_locked	: 1;
 	struct page	**pages;
 };
 

@@ -1241,7 +1242,11 @@ static int split_large_page(struct cpa_data *cpa, pte_t *kpte,
 	struct ptdesc *ptdesc;
 
 	spin_unlock(&cpa_lock);
+	if (cpa->init_mm_read_locked)
+		mmap_read_unlock(&init_mm);
 	ptdesc = pagetable_alloc(GFP_KERNEL, 0);
+	if (cpa->init_mm_read_locked)
+		mmap_read_lock(&init_mm);
 	spin_lock(&cpa_lock);
 	if (!ptdesc)
 		return -ENOMEM;

@@ -2110,7 +2115,11 @@ static int change_page_attr_set_clr(unsigned long *addr, int numpages,
 	cpa.curpage = 0;
 	cpa.force_split = force_split;
 
-	ret = __change_page_attr_set_clr(&cpa, 1);
+	/* Avoid race with concurrent CPA collapse. */
+	cpa.init_mm_read_locked = true;
+	scoped_guard(mmap_read_lock, &init_mm)
+		ret = __change_page_attr_set_clr(&cpa, 1);
+	cpa.init_mm_read_locked = false;
 
 	/*
 	 * Check whether we really changed something:

2.53.0

From: "Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM)" <[email protected]>

[ Upstream commit 9e4a3ec3411bb6bb59e3c1f29b75609f1e87aac4 ]

A PTE is allocated directly without going through the standard page table allocation routines (such as pte_alloc_one_kernel()) when the CPA code splits a large page (__split_large_page()).

This means the page table constructor is never called nor is the page table marked as a kernel page table.

The former results in the folio associated with the page table not being marked as a page table (__pagetable_ctor() is never called thus neither is __folio_set_pgtable()) nor are statistics updated to reflect it (lruvec_stat_add_folio() is never called).

The latter issue of failing to mark the page table as a kernel page table (ptdesc_set_kernel() is never called) is far more problematic.

Since commit:

5ba2f0a15564 ("mm: introduce deferred freeing for kernel page tables")

kernel page table freeing has been batched and since the subsequent commit:

e37d5a2d60a3 ("iommu/sva: invalidate stale IOTLB entries for kernel address space")

IOTLB cache entries for kernel page tables have been invalidated upon being freed.

Since split page tables are freed without this invalidation, the IOTLB can contain stale entries for them.

Resolve the issue by using the ordinary PTE allocation API at split time.

This results in these kernel page tables invoking a page table constructor, and thus requires a page table destructor.

Destructors are not always present, like for early allocated direct map page tables). Conditionally call pagetable_dtor_free() if the PG_table folio flag for the ptdesc is set, otherwise we free the page table via pagetable_free().

Regardless of which path is taken page tables marked as kernel page tables, which now includes split page tables, take the correct route through pagetable_free_kernel().

There is a user-visible side effect in that split page tables will appear in nr_page_table_pages in /proc/vmstat (as do other kernel page tables allocated after early boot), however this is a positive change.

This issue started being markedly problematic after commit:

5ba2f0a15564 ("mm: introduce deferred freeing for kernel page tables")

so choose this as the Fixes target.

[ dhansen: rephrase in imperative mood ]

---
 arch/x86/mm/pat/set_memory.c | 25 ++++++++++++++++---------
 1 file changed, 16 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

index 18f88e578be35..136ce0b8b256c 100644
@@ -442,7 +442,15 @@ static void cpa_collapse_large_pages(struct cpa_data *cpa)
 
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(ptdesc, tmp, &pgtables, pt_list) {
 		list_del(&ptdesc->pt_list);
-		pagetable_free(ptdesc);
+		/*
+		 * Only early alloc'd direct map should not be flagged PG_table
+		 * here and those shouldn't be collapsed. However be abundantly
+		 * cautious and handle the !PG_table case too.
+		 */
+		if (PageTable((ptdesc_page(ptdesc))))
+			pagetable_dtor_free(ptdesc);
+		else
+			pagetable_free(ptdesc);
 	}
 
 	spin_unlock(&cpa_lock);

@@ -1131,11 +1139,10 @@ static void split_set_pte(struct cpa_data *cpa, pte_t *pte, unsigned long pfn,
 
 static int
 __split_large_page(struct cpa_data *cpa, pte_t *kpte, unsigned long address,
-		   struct ptdesc *ptdesc)
+		   pte_t *pbase)
 {
 	unsigned long lpaddr, lpinc, ref_pfn, pfn, pfninc = 1;
-	struct page *base = ptdesc_page(ptdesc);
-	pte_t *pbase = (pte_t *)page_address(base);
+	struct page *base = virt_to_page(pbase);
 	unsigned int i, level;
 	pgprot_t ref_prot;
 	bool nx, rw;

@@ -1239,20 +1246,20 @@ __split_large_page(struct cpa_data *cpa, pte_t *kpte, unsigned long address,
 static int split_large_page(struct cpa_data *cpa, pte_t *kpte,
 			    unsigned long address)
 {
-	struct ptdesc *ptdesc;
+	pte_t *pte;
 
 	spin_unlock(&cpa_lock);
 	if (cpa->init_mm_read_locked)
 		mmap_read_unlock(&init_mm);
-	ptdesc = pagetable_alloc(GFP_KERNEL, 0);
+	pte = pte_alloc_one_kernel(&init_mm);
 	if (cpa->init_mm_read_locked)
 		mmap_read_lock(&init_mm);
 	spin_lock(&cpa_lock);
-	if (!ptdesc)
+	if (!pte)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-	if (__split_large_page(cpa, kpte, address, ptdesc))
-		pagetable_free(ptdesc);
+	if (__split_large_page(cpa, kpte, address, pte))
+		pte_free_kernel(&init_mm, pte);
 
 	return 0;
 }

2.53.0