From: Song Liu <song@kernel.org>
To: bpf@vger.kernel.org
Cc: ast@kernel.org, daniel@iogearbox.net, andrii@kernel.org,
eddyz87@gmail.com, memxor@gmail.com, kernel-team@meta.com,
Song Liu <song@kernel.org>
Subject: [PATCH v5 bpf-next] bpf: Populate mmap-able array map memory lazily
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:02:48 -0700 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260812230248.2452103-1-song@kernel.org> (raw)
An mmap-able BPF array map (BPF_F_MMAPABLE) has its backing memory
vmalloc'ed up front at map creation time. array_map_mmap() then wired up
the whole mapping eagerly via remap_vmalloc_range(), which calls
vm_insert_page() for every page of the map. For large maps this makes
every mmap() O(number of pages): an 8MiB map inserts 2048 PTEs per
mmap() and tears them all down again on munmap(), even when user space
only touches a few pages (or none at all).
Populate the mapping lazily instead, the same way the arena map already
does. array_map_mmap() now only performs the bounds check and returns,
leaving the PTEs unpopulated; pages are inserted on demand by a new
array_map_mmap_fault() handler. Because the memory is already resident,
the fault handler simply resolves the vmalloc page and hands it to the
fault path. This turns mmap()/munmap() into an O(1) operation.
The handler is reached through a new optional ->map_mmap_fault callback
dispatched from the shared bpf_map_default_vmops, so the existing VMA
open/close accounting (VM_MAYWRITE write-active tracking, freeze
handling) stays centralized rather than each map installing its own
vm_operations_struct.
Lazy population requires page faults, so on !CONFIG_MMU array_map_mmap()
keeps populating the mapping eagerly via remap_vmalloc_range().
Callers that want the pages populated up front can still request that
explicitly with MAP_POPULATE. Kernel-side access to the map (via the
vmalloc address) is unaffected.
Time for one mmap()+munmap() of an 8MiB mmap-able array map:
before after
no MAP_POPULATE, no access 226us 1.1us
no MAP_POPULATE, access all pages 236us 1341us
MAP_POPULATE, no access 312us 493us
MAP_POPULATE, access all pages 318us 519us
Mapping without touching the data, which is what this change targets,
gets ~160x cheaper. Faulting in the whole mapping one page at a time is
more expensive than the eager remap_vmalloc_range() loop, so users that
do touch every page should ask for MAP_POPULATE. Note that MAP_POPULATE
is not free before this change either: it adds ~85us (226us => 312us)
for no benefit, as the mapping is already fully populated.
Signed-off-by: Song Liu <song@kernel.org>
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8
---
Changes in v5:
- Drop the ->map_pages (fault-around) handler, it pulls in too much mm
internal API for the gain. (Andrii)
- Drop the fault path overflow and bounds checks, and the verbose
comments; VM_DONTEXPAND plus the mmap() time check already bound the
faulting offset. (Andrii)
- No cover letter for a single patch. (Andrii)
v4: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260729192419.41331-1-song@kernel.org/
Changes in v4:
- Flush the D-cache before exposing a page at a new user address, as the
eager vm_insert_page() path did. (Sashiko AI review)
- Fix the build on !CONFIG_MMU: keep populating the mapping eagerly
there, as there are no page faults. (kernel test robot)
v3: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260729001033.3433328-1-song@kernel.org/
Changes in v3:
- Add a ->map_pages (fault-around) handler so mmap(MAP_POPULATE) and
linear access populate PTEs in batches instead of one fault per page.
- Harden the fault path with check_shl_overflow() and explicit bounds
checks instead of a plain (u64) cast. (Andrii)
- Drop selftests (2/2 in v2). (Andrii)
v2: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260722205032.1245094-1-song@kernel.org/
Changes in v2:
- Use 64-bit arithmetic for the mmap offset and bounds check to avoid a
potential overflow on 32-bit architectures.
v1: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260722065308.4116186-1-song@kernel.org/
---
include/linux/bpf.h | 1 +
kernel/bpf/arraymap.c | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
kernel/bpf/syscall.c | 12 ++++++++++++
3 files changed, 46 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/include/linux/bpf.h b/include/linux/bpf.h
index b4a10c9878cf..4a50324e7818 100644
--- a/include/linux/bpf.h
+++ b/include/linux/bpf.h
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ struct bpf_map_ops {
int (*map_direct_value_meta)(const struct bpf_map *map,
u64 imm, u32 *off);
int (*map_mmap)(struct bpf_map *map, struct vm_area_struct *vma);
+ vm_fault_t (*map_mmap_fault)(struct bpf_map *map, struct vm_fault *vmf);
__poll_t (*map_poll)(struct bpf_map *map, struct file *filp,
struct poll_table_struct *pts);
unsigned long (*map_get_unmapped_area)(struct file *filep, unsigned long addr,
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/arraymap.c b/kernel/bpf/arraymap.c
index 248b4818178c..a1767ef2b473 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/arraymap.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/arraymap.c
@@ -576,17 +576,45 @@ static int array_map_check_btf(struct bpf_map *map,
static int array_map_mmap(struct bpf_map *map, struct vm_area_struct *vma)
{
struct bpf_array *array = container_of(map, struct bpf_array, map);
- pgoff_t pgoff = PAGE_ALIGN(sizeof(*array)) >> PAGE_SHIFT;
if (!(map->map_flags & BPF_F_MMAPABLE))
return -EINVAL;
- if (vma->vm_pgoff * PAGE_SIZE + (vma->vm_end - vma->vm_start) >
+ /* use u64 math so the offset cannot overflow on 32-bit archs */
+ if ((u64)vma->vm_pgoff * PAGE_SIZE + (vma->vm_end - vma->vm_start) >
PAGE_ALIGN((u64)array->map.max_entries * array->elem_size))
return -EINVAL;
- return remap_vmalloc_range(vma, array_map_vmalloc_addr(array),
- vma->vm_pgoff + pgoff);
+ if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_MMU)) {
+ pgoff_t pgoff = PAGE_ALIGN(sizeof(*array)) >> PAGE_SHIFT;
+
+ /* no page faults without an MMU, populate the mapping now */
+ return remap_vmalloc_range(vma, array_map_vmalloc_addr(array),
+ vma->vm_pgoff + pgoff);
+ }
+
+ /* pages are faulted in on demand by array_map_mmap_fault() */
+ vm_flags_set(vma, VM_DONTEXPAND | VM_DONTDUMP);
+
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static vm_fault_t array_map_mmap_fault(struct bpf_map *map,
+ struct vm_fault *vmf)
+{
+ struct bpf_array *array = container_of(map, struct bpf_array, map);
+ struct page *page;
+
+ page = vmalloc_to_page(array->value + ((u64)vmf->pgoff << PAGE_SHIFT));
+ if (!page)
+ return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS;
+
+ /* the eager remap_vmalloc_range() flushed via vm_insert_page() */
+ flush_dcache_folio(page_folio(page));
+ get_page(page);
+ vmf->page = page;
+
+ return 0;
}
static bool array_map_meta_equal(const struct bpf_map *meta0,
@@ -812,6 +840,7 @@ const struct bpf_map_ops array_map_ops = {
.map_direct_value_addr = array_map_direct_value_addr,
.map_direct_value_meta = array_map_direct_value_meta,
.map_mmap = array_map_mmap,
+ .map_mmap_fault = array_map_mmap_fault,
.map_seq_show_elem = array_map_seq_show_elem,
.map_check_btf = array_map_check_btf,
.map_lookup_batch = generic_map_lookup_batch,
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/syscall.c b/kernel/bpf/syscall.c
index 8d111da88655..ee0b01373a4b 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/syscall.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/syscall.c
@@ -1077,9 +1077,21 @@ static void bpf_map_mmap_close(struct vm_area_struct *vma)
bpf_map_write_active_dec(map);
}
+/* Called for maps that populate their memory-mapped region lazily. */
+static vm_fault_t bpf_map_mmap_fault(struct vm_fault *vmf)
+{
+ struct bpf_map *map = vmf->vma->vm_private_data;
+
+ if (!map->ops->map_mmap_fault)
+ return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS;
+
+ return map->ops->map_mmap_fault(map, vmf);
+}
+
static const struct vm_operations_struct bpf_map_default_vmops = {
.open = bpf_map_mmap_open,
.close = bpf_map_mmap_close,
+ .fault = bpf_map_mmap_fault,
};
static int bpf_map_mmap(struct file *filp, struct vm_area_struct *vma)
base-commit: 3a59f11e0f989bdd637c87151992605a6559a7cb
--
2.53.0-Meta
next reply other threads:[~2026-08-12 23:02 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 2+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-08-12 23:02 Song Liu [this message]
2026-08-13 0:21 ` [PATCH v5 bpf-next] bpf: Populate mmap-able array map memory lazily bot+bpf-ci
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