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smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=kernel.org header.i=@kernel.org header.b=e+EG9G68; arc=none smtp.client-ip=100.103.45.18 Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=kernel.org header.i=@kernel.org header.b="e+EG9G68" Received: by smtp.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 73FE71F000E9; Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:55:08 +0000 (UTC) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=kernel.org; s=k20260515; t=1788180910; bh=OmPaskXm6g4JpidhOBhlM22xpKNyZgtcM28tDodfu/o=; h=Date:Subject:To:Cc:References:From:In-Reply-To; b=e+EG9G68U0egvi5dVujy7wSn5FyFsg24+XtNF1z9xGohynv3E5mfZEfo4t3cYN4dB 5Hkx8+6x8V/sUsaxLHZHHB3jF8PiYiN6Z+2BUKF1A4F4F7EuBxxRdBpc3xDNBTpK1n E0TnZ6I9SeYDKmlj/P2fBQgDGy5Yprf9Vv4f00KLQqcUrm9x65Cosi9lRr7puiwWpE Y0DQEpz6b6XjtdHmmro5rRk9s5oyrRf4WRVfo1soZlYnD3MXGltT9Vg34EcPhhug54 IuWuOxxe+RoDrN1q/OdwSLyP/IFTVd0yO/HuqjwefKpEMTfnM1l8wYroTj+wpt52xA ujXU3u3+/e0Vw== Message-ID: Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2026 14:55:06 +0200 Precedence: bulk X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org List-Id: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: MIME-Version: 1.0 User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird Subject: Re: [PATCH] mm/slab: take n->list_lock for the list_add() in __refill_objects_node() Content-Language: en-US To: Hao Li , Harry Yoo Cc: Hyunwoo Kim , Andrew Morton , Christoph Lameter , David Rientjes , Roman Gushchin , Suren Baghdasaryan , linux-mm@kvack.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org References: From: "Vlastimil Babka (SUSE)" Autocrypt: addr=vbabka@kernel.org; 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charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On 8/30/26 16:35, Hao Li wrote: > On Sun, Aug 30, 2026 at 12:45:17PM +0000, Harry Yoo wrote: >> On Sun, Aug 30, 2026 at 04:25:45PM +0900, Hyunwoo Kim wrote: >> > In __refill_objects_node(), the list_add(&slab->slab_list, &pc.slabs) that >> > follows a successful __slab_try_return_freelist() is done without >> > n->list_lock. >> > >> > __slab_try_return_freelist() only succeeds while slab->freelist is NULL. The >> > slab we are refilling from is taken off pc.slabs by the list_del() at the >> > top of the loop, so at that point it is on no list. >> > >> > If another CPU frees an object of that slab, __slab_free() sees the slab as >> > full and puts it back on n->partial. If a third CPU then takes that object >> > in get_from_partial_node(), the freelist becomes NULL again. >> >> Ouch. Good catch, Hyunwoo. >> A classic ABA problem :) Ouch, indeed. >> > A slab that sits on n->partial with a NULL freelist only exists while >> > get_from_partial_node() holds n->list_lock, between its cmpxchg and its >> > remove_partial(). >> > >> > A list_add() in that window overwrites slab_list to point into pc.slabs. >> > The list_del() in remove_partial() then follows the overwritten links, so it >> > unlinks the slab from pc.slabs and poisons slab_list while leaving the >> > n->partial side alone. n->partial is left pointing at the poisoned slab. >> > >> > CPU0 CPU1 CPU2 >> > >> > __refill_objects_node() >> > get_partial_node_bulk() // n->partial to pc.slabs >> > list_del() // on no list now >> > get_freelist_nofreeze() // freelist = NULL >> > __slab_free() >> > add_partial() >> > // back on n->partial >> > // freelist is not NULL >> > >> > get_from_partial_node() >> > lock >> > cmpxchg >> > // freelist = NULL >> > __slab_try_return_freelist() >> > list_add(&pc.slabs) // overwrites slab_list >> > remove_partial() >> > list_del() >> > // off pc.slabs >> > // slab_list = POISON >> > >> > panic log: >> > >> > list_add corruption. next->prev should be prev >> > (ffff888100000248), but was dead000000000122. >> > (next=ffffea000416e410). >> > kernel BUG at lib/list_debug.c:29! >> > Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI >> > CPU: 1 UID: 65534 PID: 144 Comm: poc Not tainted >> > 7.2.0-16172-gcf72cbb39da8-dirty #1 PREEMPT(lazy) >> > RIP: 0010:__list_add_valid_or_report+0x80/0xd0 >> > ... >> > Call Trace: >> > alloc_from_new_slab+0x183/0x300 >> > ___slab_alloc+0x31c/0x890 >> > __kmalloc_noprof+0x3d4/0x800 >> > lsm_blob_alloc+0x2d/0x50 >> > security_msg_msg_alloc+0x26/0x90 >> > load_msg+0x1aa/0x210 >> > do_msgsnd+0x91/0x800 >> > do_syscall_64+0x109/0x5d0 >> > entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f >> > ... >> > Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception >> > >> > Do the list_add() under n->list_lock. Reattaching the freelist stays outside >> > the lock. Once it succeeds the freelist is no longer NULL, so __slab_free() >> > cannot put the slab back, and by the time the lock is taken remove_partial() >> > has finished and the slab is on no list. >> >> Yeah, this should work correctly. >> >> > The lock is held until the block below that returns the remaining slabs to >> > the partial list. That block already took the same lock on this path, so no >> > lock/unlock pair is added. >> > >> > The unlock is keyed on having taken the lock instead of on pc.slabs being >> > empty. With CONFIG_DEBUG_LIST or CONFIG_LIST_HARDENED, __list_add() returns >> > without linking anything if its check fails, which would leave pc.slabs >> > empty. >> >> Well, if the check fails, it has a bug and should be fixed. >> We should not make the code less readable to handle a bug. >> >> I think it's better to have (diff on top of the patch, not tested): >> >> diff --git a/mm/slub.c b/mm/slub.c >> index 7a7f9935c711..eff96b992164 100644 >> --- a/mm/slub.c >> +++ b/mm/slub.c >> @@ -7216,12 +7216,10 @@ __refill_objects_node(struct kmem_cache *s, void **p, gfp_t gfp, unsigned int mi >> break; >> } >> >> - if (!locked && !list_empty(&pc.slabs)) { >> - spin_lock_irqsave(&n->list_lock, flags); >> - locked = true; >> - } >> + if (!list_empty(&pc.slabs)) { >> + if (!locked) >> + spin_lock_irqsave(&n->list_lock, flags); >> >> - if (locked) { >> list_for_each_entry(slab, &pc.slabs, slab_list) >> set_node_partial_state(n, slab); > > Since introducing a new variable seems unavoidable, what if we temporarily > stash this slab in a pointer like below, and then add it to pc.slabs once we > acquire the lock. > > struct slab *leftover_slab = NULL; > > ... > ... > if (__slab_try_return_freelist(s, slab, head, count)) { > leftover_slab = slab; > break; > } > > ... > ... > if (!list_empty(&pc.slabs)) { > spin_lock_irqsave(&n->list_lock, flags); > > if (leftover_slab) > list_add(&leftover_slab->slab_list, &pc.slabs); > ... > ... > } > > PS: If I recall correctly, Vlastimil's initial patch was actually fine. It was > my suggestion to save an extra lock/unlock pair that accidentally led to this > trap... Ah, thanks for the reminder. This [1] was the original attempt. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260421-b4-refill-optimistic-return-v1-1-24f0bfc1acff@kernel.org/ I wonder if the fix should be to return to that approach and just have __slab_try_return_freelist() handle the list_lock. The code would be simpler with not "bool locked". It should be really very rare that we would end up returning a partial list and also have additional slabs to return on pc.slabs? So I think there would be no noticeable performance downside to the simpler code potentially ending up taking the list_lock twice instead of once. >> >> > Fixes: ba7425312607 ("mm, slab: add an optimistic __slab_try_return_freelist()") >> > Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org >> > Signed-off-by: Hyunwoo Kim >> > --- >> > mm/slub.c | 9 ++++++++- >> > 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) >> > >> > diff --git a/mm/slub.c b/mm/slub.c >> > index f9b56cb439e709..4f6d1a03a8ee46 100644 >> > --- a/mm/slub.c >> > +++ b/mm/slub.c >> > @@ -7260,6 +7260,7 @@ __refill_objects_node(struct kmem_cache *s, void **p, gfp_t gfp, unsigned int mi >> > struct slab *slab, *slab2; >> > unsigned int refilled = 0; >> > unsigned long flags; >> > + bool locked = false; >> > void *object; >> > >> > pc.flags = gfp; >> >> uh, I'm not a big fan of having a new variable to store 'locked' state, >> but okay, this seems unavoidable with current implementation. >> >> > @@ -7297,7 +7298,10 @@ __refill_objects_node(struct kmem_cache *s, void **p, gfp_t gfp, unsigned int mi >> > void *tail; >> > >> > if (__slab_try_return_freelist(s, slab, head, count)) { >> > + /* get_from_partial_node() may be mid-removal of the slab */ >> > + spin_lock_irqsave(&n->list_lock, flags); >> > list_add(&slab->slab_list, &pc.slabs); >> > + locked = true; >> > break; >> > } >> > >> > @@ -7312,9 +7316,12 @@ __refill_objects_node(struct kmem_cache *s, void **p, gfp_t gfp, unsigned int mi >> > break; >> > } >> > >> > - if (!list_empty(&pc.slabs)) { >> > + if (!locked && !list_empty(&pc.slabs)) { >> > spin_lock_irqsave(&n->list_lock, flags); >> > + locked = true; >> > + } >> >> -- >> Cheers, >> Harry / Hyeonggon >> >