From: Adam Harshbarger <handyhandyman.adam@gmail.com>
To: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Cc: I Hsin Cheng <richard120310@gmail.com>,
linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-mm@kvack.org,
stable@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH] lib/plist: fix plist_requeue() corrupting order in the last bucket
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2026 17:24:56 -0500 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260903222456.1881786-1-handyhandyman.adam@gmail.com> (raw)
plist_requeue() is meant to move a node to the end of its own priority
run. When the node heads the *last* priority bucket it is instead placed
at the head of the whole list, leaving the plist unsorted:
built: A(prio 0) B(prio 1) C(prio 1)
requeue(B): B(prio 1) A(prio 0) C(prio 1)
expected: A(prio 0) C(prio 1) B(prio 1)
prio_list is a *headless* circular ring of the nodes that lead each
priority bucket. The shortcut added by commit 95d4b3450ebe ("lib/plist.c:
add shortcut for plist_requeue()") takes
iter = list_entry(iter->prio_list.next, struct plist_node,
prio_list);
node_next = &iter->node_list;
which from the last bucket wraps round to the *first* bucket, so
node_next ends up pointing at the head of the list rather than at its
end. The plist_for_each_continue() loop immediately below it computes
the correct answer (&head->node_list) for that case.
With any bucket after it the shortcut is correct, which is why this went
unnoticed: the benchmark in that commit measured elapsed time and never
checked the resulting order.
Keep the shortcut -- it is a real win -- but exclude the case where
iter's bucket is the last one, which is exactly when its ring successor
is the first bucket again.
Reachable from mm/swapfile.c, which rotates swap_avail_heads[] with
plist_requeue(). It takes three or more swap devices: at least two
distinct priorities, so that a later bucket exists for the ring to wrap
round from, and two or more devices sharing the lowest priority, so that
plist_requeue() does not return early. One device per priority returns
early at the node->prio != iter->prio test. A single priority is also
safe, but for a different reason worth stating: with one bucket no node
is ever linked onto prio_list at all -- plist_add() skips it for the
first node and for every node whose predecessor shares its priority --
so list_empty(&iter->prio_list) holds and the shortcut is never entered.
Tested by driving three implementations -- the pre-95d4b3450ebe code,
current mainline, and this patch -- through 1,084,492 identical random
add/del/requeue operations over 24 nodes and 1..5 distinct priorities,
comparing the resulting node_list node for node after every operation:
variant differs from pre-95d4b3450ebe left list unsorted
pre-95d4b3450ebe -- (reference) 0
mainline 289,297 276,660
this patch 0 0
Fixes: 95d4b3450ebe ("lib/plist.c: add shortcut for plist_requeue()")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org # v6.15+
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-5
Signed-off-by: Adam Harshbarger <handyhandyman.adam@gmail.com>
---
The bug was found and this fix was written with the assistance of a large
language model, per Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst. The
Signed-off-by is mine and the DCO certification is mine.
What was and was not done, per that document's step 8:
Verified: the bug reproduces against lib/plist.c taken from torvalds/master
at the time of writing. Three variants -- the pre-95d4b3450ebe code,
current mainline, and this patch -- were driven through 1,084,492 identical
random add/del/requeue operations over 24 nodes and 1..5 distinct
priorities, comparing node_list node for node after every operation. The
patched variant matches the pre-shortcut reference exactly and never leaves
the list unsorted. checkpatch.pl --strict reports 0 errors, 0 warnings,
0 checks.
NOT done: this was verified in userspace only. The patch has not been
compiled into a kernel and has not been booted, and no swap configuration
was exercised on real hardware -- the reachability argument via
mm/swapfile.c is from reading the code, not from observing a stall. If you
would like the userspace reproducer it is available on request; it fetches
lib/plist.c from your tree at run time and vendors nothing.
An alternative patch reverting 95d4b3450ebe outright is available if you
would prefer that for stable.
lib/plist.c | 7 +++++++
1 file changed, 7 insertions(+)
diff --git a/lib/plist.c b/lib/plist.c
index a5bef38..b027353 100644
--- a/lib/plist.c
+++ b/lib/plist.c
@@ -174,8 +174,15 @@ void plist_requeue(struct plist_node *node, struct plist_head *head)
/*
* After plist_del(), iter is the replacement of the node. If the node
* was on prio_list, take shortcut to find node_next instead of looping.
+ *
+ * prio_list is a headless ring, so from the LAST bucket ->next wraps
+ * round to the first one; in that case node_next is the list head.
*/
if (!list_empty(&iter->prio_list)) {
+ struct plist_node *first = plist_first(head);
+
+ if (iter->prio_list.next == &first->prio_list)
+ goto queue;
iter = list_entry(iter->prio_list.next, struct plist_node,
prio_list);
node_next = &iter->node_list;
next reply other threads:[~2026-09-03 22:25 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 2+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-09-03 22:24 Adam Harshbarger [this message]
2026-09-03 23:53 ` Andrew Morton
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