From: "Vlastimil Babka (SUSE)" <vbabka@kernel.org>
To: "Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM)" <ljs@kernel.org>,
Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>,
Suren Baghdasaryan <surenb@google.com>,
"Liam R. Howlett" <liam@infradead.org>,
Shakeel Butt <shakeel.butt@linux.dev>
Cc: linux-mm@kvack.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH 2/3] mm: only assert VMA locks if CONFIG_DEBUG_VM is set
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2026 10:38:15 +0100 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <d053c2b5-dc2b-4475-9832-db575e4b8cd5@kernel.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20261110-tame-vma-asserts-v1-2-be293ff499a7@kernel.org>
On 11/10/26 17:57, Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM) wrote:
> Similar to the mmap lock asserts, we have also asserted VMA locks
> regardless of whether or not the kernel is a debug build or not.
>
> Similarly, these are asserting basic assumptions about kernel code which
> should never assert in production code.
>
> Since all such bugs are generally asserted using VM_WARN_ON_ONCE() or
> similar, it creates an odd and inconsistent situation where some
> programmatic asserts are only checked under CONFIG_DEBUG_VM and some are
> always checked.
>
> Since the intent is the same as any VM_WARN_ON_ONCE() check, do not assert
> if CONFIG_DEBUG_VM is not set.
>
> Implement by updating vma_assert_attached() and vma_assert_detached() to
> use VM_WARN_ON_ONCE() rather than WARN_ON_ONCE(), and gating
> vma_assert_[write_]locked() and vma_assert_can_modify() on CONFIG_DEBUG_VM.
>
> nommu loses its CONFIG_LOCKDEP asserts if !CONFIG_DEBUG_VM in
> vma_assert_[write_]locked(), but this doesn't seem to be a problem.
>
> In addition, there were already inconsistencies - vma_assert_write_locked()
> uses VM_WARN_ON_ONCE_VMA() and performs no actions if CONFIG_DEBUG_VM is
> not set, and vma_assert_locked() looked up vma->vm_refcnt but also only
> asserted if CONFIG_DEBUG_VM was set.
>
> Therefore simply update these functions such that they're predicated on
> CONFIG_DEBUG_VM and update their kdoc descriptions accordingly.
>
> Signed-off-by: Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM) <ljs@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Vlastimil Babka (SUSE) <vbabka@kernel.org>
> ---
> include/linux/mmap_lock.h | 17 +++++++++++++++--
> 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/mmap_lock.h b/include/linux/mmap_lock.h
> index 9367430ee53c..bada7a03ddf4 100644
> --- a/include/linux/mmap_lock.h
> +++ b/include/linux/mmap_lock.h
> @@ -354,9 +354,14 @@ int vma_start_write_killable(struct vm_area_struct *vma)
> /**
> * vma_assert_write_locked() - assert that @vma holds a VMA write lock.
> * @vma: The VMA to assert.
> + *
> + * Assert only if CONFIG_DEBUG_VM is set.
> */
> static inline void vma_assert_write_locked(const struct vm_area_struct *vma)
> {
> + if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_DEBUG_VM))
> + return;
> +
> if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_MMU)) {
> mmap_assert_write_locked(vma->vm_mm);
> return;
> @@ -369,11 +374,16 @@ static inline void vma_assert_write_locked(const struct vm_area_struct *vma)
> * vma_assert_locked() - assert that @vma holds either a VMA read or a VMA write
> * lock and is not detached.
> * @vma: The VMA to assert.
> + *
> + * Assert only if CONFIG_DEBUG_VM is set.
> */
> static inline void vma_assert_locked(const struct vm_area_struct *vma)
> {
> unsigned int refcnt;
>
> + if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_DEBUG_VM))
> + return;
> +
> if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_MMU)) {
> mmap_assert_locked(vma->vm_mm);
> return;
> @@ -480,12 +490,12 @@ static inline void vma_assert_attached(struct vm_area_struct *vma)
> if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_MMU))
> return;
>
> - WARN_ON_ONCE(!vma_is_attached(vma));
> + VM_WARN_ON_ONCE(!vma_is_attached(vma));
> }
>
> static inline void vma_assert_detached(struct vm_area_struct *vma)
> {
> - WARN_ON_ONCE(vma_is_attached(vma));
> + VM_WARN_ON_ONCE(vma_is_attached(vma));
> }
>
> static inline void vma_mark_attached(struct vm_area_struct *vma)
> @@ -549,6 +559,9 @@ struct vm_area_struct *lock_next_vma(struct vma_rcu_iter *rvmi,
>
> static inline void vma_assert_can_modify(struct vm_area_struct *vma)
> {
> + if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_DEBUG_VM))
> + return;
> +
> if (vma_is_attached(vma))
> vma_assert_write_locked(vma);
> }
>
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-11-11 9:38 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 10+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-11-10 16:57 [PATCH 0/3] mm: only assert mmap and " Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM)
2026-11-10 16:57 ` [PATCH 1/3] mm: only assert mmap locks if CONFIG_DEBUG_VM or lockdep " Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM)
2026-11-11 1:23 ` Liam R. Howlett
2026-11-11 9:35 ` Vlastimil Babka (SUSE)
2026-11-10 16:57 ` [PATCH 2/3] mm: only assert VMA locks if CONFIG_DEBUG_VM " Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM)
2026-11-11 1:29 ` Liam R. Howlett
2026-11-11 9:38 ` Vlastimil Babka (SUSE) [this message]
2026-11-10 16:57 ` [PATCH 3/3] mm: convert WARN_ON_ONCE()'s to VM_WARN_ON_ONCE() in VMA lock code Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM)
2026-11-11 1:30 ` Liam R. Howlett
2026-11-11 9:38 ` Vlastimil Babka (SUSE)
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