+ percpu_counter-annotate-lockless-read-in-_limited_add.patch added to mm-nonmm-unstable branch

+ percpu_counter-annotate-lockless-read-in-_limited_add.patch added to mm-nonmm-unstable branch

[Andrew Morton]

The patch titled
     Subject: percpu_counter: annotate lockless read in _limited_add()
has been added to the -mm mm-nonmm-unstable branch.  Its filename is
     percpu_counter-annotate-lockless-read-in-_limited_add.patch

This patch will shortly appear at
     https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/akpm/25-new.git/tree/patches/percpu_counter-annotate-lockless-read-in-_limited_add.patch

This patch will later appear in the mm-nonmm-unstable branch at
    git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/akpm/mm

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------------------------------------------------------
From: "Jose A. Perez de Azpillaga" <azpijr@gmail.com>
Subject: percpu_counter: annotate lockless read in _limited_add()
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2026 23:55:04 +0200

syzbot reports a data race on fbc->count between the lockless read in the
fast path of __percpu_counter_limited_add() and the locked update in
percpu_counter_add_batch(), reached via shmem's used_blocks counter: the
alloc path reads it through percpu_counter_limited_add() while the free
path updates it through percpu_counter_sub().

Annotate the read rather than change the logic: the lockless read is
deliberate, only the annotation is missing.  It is an approximation, not a
conservative bound.  A concurrent flush moves value between fbc->count and
a per-cpu counter, and other CPUs' locked slow paths add to fbc->count
too, so a stale low value can let the fast path proceed where the slow
path would refuse.  The error is bounded by the per-cpu slack (unknown =
batch * num_online_cpus()).  This is existing behavior, no functional
change intended.

Read it with data_race(READ_ONCE(fbc->count)): data_race() tells KCSAN the
race is intended (READ_ONCE() alone still triggers the report, because
KCSAN reports against watchpoints set up by plain accesses), while
READ_ONCE() stops the compiler from refetching the value, as in
percpu_counter_read_positive().  The lock-protected accesses stay plain,
so future buggy lockless writes are still caught.

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/20260921215508.141641-1-azpijr@gmail.com
Signed-off-by: Jose A. Perez de Azpillaga <azpijr@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Reported-by: syzbot+a3c71b9db9c11c270f59@syzkaller.appspotmail.com
Closes: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=a3c71b9db9c11c270f59
Reviewed-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Cc: Dennis Zhou <dennis@kernel.org>
Cc: Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>
Cc: Christoph Lameter <cl@gentwo.org>
Cc: Hugh Dickins <hughd@google.com>
Cc: Baolin Wang <baolin.wang@linux.alibaba.com>
---

 lib/percpu_counter.c |   10 ++++++++--
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

--- a/lib/percpu_counter.c~percpu_counter-annotate-lockless-read-in-_limited_add
+++ a/lib/percpu_counter.c
@@ -328,6 +328,7 @@ bool __percpu_counter_limited_add(struct
 				  s64 limit, s64 amount, s32 batch)
 {
 	s64 count;
+	s64 gcount;
 	s64 unknown;
 	unsigned long flags;
 	bool good = false;
@@ -338,11 +339,16 @@ bool __percpu_counter_limited_add(struct
 	local_irq_save(flags);
 	unknown = batch * num_online_cpus();
 	count = __this_cpu_read(*fbc->counters);
+	/*
+	 * Lockless on purpose: gcount may be stale, so this is only an
+	 * approximation, bounded by the per-cpu slack ("unknown").
+	 */
+	gcount = data_race(READ_ONCE(fbc->count));
 
 	/* Skip taking the lock when safe */
 	if (abs(count + amount) <= batch &&
-	    ((amount > 0 && fbc->count + unknown <= limit) ||
-	     (amount < 0 && fbc->count - unknown >= limit))) {
+	    ((amount > 0 && gcount + unknown <= limit) ||
+	     (amount < 0 && gcount - unknown >= limit))) {
 		this_cpu_add(*fbc->counters, amount);
 		local_irq_restore(flags);
 		return true;
_

Patches currently in -mm which might be from azpijr@gmail.com are

percpu_counter-annotate-lockless-read-in-_limited_add.patch