[PATCH bpf-next] bpf: arena: fix mmap_lock deadlock on arena lock failure

[PATCH bpf-next] bpf: arena: fix mmap_lock deadlock on arena lock failure

[Jiayuan Chen]

Reported by the Sashiko AI review.

arena_vm_fault() returns VM_FAULT_RETRY when it can't take
arena->spinlock, but it never took mmap_lock. The fault path assumes a
VM_FAULT_RETRY handler already dropped mmap_lock and re-takes it on the
retry, so mmap_lock gets taken twice and can deadlock:

	do_user_addr_fault()
	{
		fault = handle_mm_fault(...);   // calls arena_vm_fault()
		if (fault & VM_FAULT_RETRY)
			goto retry;   // re-locks mmap_lock
		mmap_read_unlock(mm);
	}

Return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS instead, for two reasons:

1. We could keep VM_FAULT_RETRY, but then we'd have to drop the fault
   lock first and cap the retry ourselves, the way __folio_lock_or_retry()
   does.

2. A failed raw_res_spin_lock_irqsave() already means a possible deadlock
   was detected, so retrying just hits the same lock again.

So returning VM_FAULT_RETRY here is overkill.

Fixes: b8467290edab ("bpf: arena: make arena kfuncs any context safe")
Signed-off-by: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@linux.dev>

---
target to bpf-next since I think it is moderate.
---
 kernel/bpf/arena.c | 8 ++++++--
 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/bpf/arena.c b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
index 34f023a537fe..555ee2531ef9 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/arena.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
@@ -490,8 +490,12 @@ static vm_fault_t arena_vm_fault(struct vm_fault *vmf)
 	kaddr = kbase + (u32)(vmf->address);
 
 	if (raw_res_spin_lock_irqsave(&arena->spinlock, flags))
-		/* Make a reasonable effort to address impossible case */
-		return VM_FAULT_RETRY;
+		/*
+		 * A failed lock means a possible deadlock was detected. Don't
+		 * return VM_FAULT_RETRY: this handler never took mmap_lock, but
+		 * the fault path would re-take it on retry and deadlock. Fail.
+		 */
+		return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS;
 
 	page = vmalloc_to_page((void *)kaddr);
 	if (page) {
-- 
2.43.0

Re: [PATCH bpf-next] bpf: arena: fix mmap_lock deadlock on arena lock failure

[sashiko-bot]

Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 1 potential issue(s) to consider:

Pre-existing issues:
- [High] BPF arena page faults can spuriously crash the user process with SIGSEGV due to transient lockless allocation failures.
--

--- Patch [1]: [PATCH bpf-next] bpf: arena: fix mmap_lock deadlock on arena lock failure ---
commit c57623f4077e743e8c901306fcec7c67d2aafc17
Author: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@linux.dev>

bpf: arena: fix mmap_lock deadlock on arena lock failure

This commit fixes a potential deadlock in the arena page fault handler by
returning VM_FAULT_SIGBUS instead of VM_FAULT_RETRY when the arena spinlock
cannot be acquired. Returning retry would cause the fault path to attempt
retaking the mmap_lock, which was never dropped.

> diff --git a/kernel/bpf/arena.c b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
> --- a/kernel/bpf/arena.c
> +++ b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
> @@ -490,8 +490,12 @@ static vm_fault_t arena_vm_fault(struct vm_fault *vmf)
>  	kaddr = kbase + (u32)(vmf->address);
>  
>  	if (raw_res_spin_lock_irqsave(&arena->spinlock, flags))
> -		/* Make a reasonable effort to address impossible case */
> -		return VM_FAULT_RETRY;
> +		/*
> +		 * A failed lock means a possible deadlock was detected. Don't
> +		 * return VM_FAULT_RETRY: this handler never took mmap_lock, but
> +		 * the fault path would re-take it on retry and deadlock. Fail.
> +		 */
> +		return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS;

[Severity: High]
This is a pre-existing issue, but looking further down in arena_vm_fault(),
does a transient allocation failure unexpectedly cause a SIGSEGV?

Since the raw spinlock is held, disabling IRQs, bpf_map_alloc_pages()
falls back to an opportunistic lockless allocation which can fail under
memory pressure:

	ret = bpf_map_alloc_pages(map, NUMA_NO_NODE, 1, &page);
	if (ret) {
		range_tree_set(&arena->rt, vmf->pgoff, 1);
		goto out_sigsegv_memcg;
	}

When this lockless allocation fails, the error path jumps to
out_sigsegv_memcg and returns VM_FAULT_SIGSEGV instead of VM_FAULT_OOM or
safely dropping the lock to retry.

Could this cause user processes mapping a BPF arena to experience spurious
crashes during memory contention?

-- 
Sashiko AI review · https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260728060517.95183-1-jiayuan.chen@linux.dev?part=1

Re: [PATCH bpf-next] bpf: arena: fix mmap_lock deadlock on arena lock failure

[Jiayuan Chen]

On 7/28/26 2:23 PM, sashiko-bot@kernel.org wrote:
> Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 1 potential issue(s) to consider:
>
> Pre-existing issues:
> - [High] BPF arena page faults can spuriously crash the user process with SIGSEGV due to transient lockless allocation failures.
> --
>
> --- Patch [1]: [PATCH bpf-next] bpf: arena: fix mmap_lock deadlock on arena lock failure ---
> commit c57623f4077e743e8c901306fcec7c67d2aafc17
> Author: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@linux.dev>
>
> bpf: arena: fix mmap_lock deadlock on arena lock failure
>
> This commit fixes a potential deadlock in the arena page fault handler by
> returning VM_FAULT_SIGBUS instead of VM_FAULT_RETRY when the arena spinlock
> cannot be acquired. Returning retry would cause the fault path to attempt
> retaking the mmap_lock, which was never dropped.
>
>> diff --git a/kernel/bpf/arena.c b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
>> --- a/kernel/bpf/arena.c
>> +++ b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
>> @@ -490,8 +490,12 @@ static vm_fault_t arena_vm_fault(struct vm_fault *vmf)
>>   	kaddr = kbase + (u32)(vmf->address);
>>   
>>   	if (raw_res_spin_lock_irqsave(&arena->spinlock, flags))
>> -		/* Make a reasonable effort to address impossible case */
>> -		return VM_FAULT_RETRY;
>> +		/*
>> +		 * A failed lock means a possible deadlock was detected. Don't
>> +		 * return VM_FAULT_RETRY: this handler never took mmap_lock, but
>> +		 * the fault path would re-take it on retry and deadlock. Fail.
>> +		 */
>> +		return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS;
> [Severity: High]
> This is a pre-existing issue, but looking further down in arena_vm_fault(),
> does a transient allocation failure unexpectedly cause a SIGSEGV?
>
> Since the raw spinlock is held, disabling IRQs, bpf_map_alloc_pages()
> falls back to an opportunistic lockless allocation which can fail under
> memory pressure:
>
> 	ret = bpf_map_alloc_pages(map, NUMA_NO_NODE, 1, &page);
> 	if (ret) {
> 		range_tree_set(&arena->rt, vmf->pgoff, 1);
> 		goto out_sigsegv_memcg;
> 	}
>
> When this lockless allocation fails, the error path jumps to
> out_sigsegv_memcg and returns VM_FAULT_SIGSEGV instead of VM_FAULT_OOM or
> safely dropping the lock to retry.
>
> Could this cause user processes mapping a BPF arena to experience spurious
> crashes during memory contention?


Yes I'm on it 
https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260727062521.376231-1-jiayuan.chen@linux.dev/

And current patch is from your review result of that patch...

Re: [PATCH bpf-next] bpf: arena: fix mmap_lock deadlock on arena lock failure

[Emil Tsalapatis]

On Tue Jul 28, 2026 at 2:05 AM EDT, Jiayuan Chen wrote:
> Reported by the Sashiko AI review.
>
> arena_vm_fault() returns VM_FAULT_RETRY when it can't take
> arena->spinlock, but it never took mmap_lock. The fault path assumes a
> VM_FAULT_RETRY handler already dropped mmap_lock and re-takes it on the
> retry, so mmap_lock gets taken twice and can deadlock:
>
> 	do_user_addr_fault()
> 	{
> 		fault = handle_mm_fault(...);   // calls arena_vm_fault()
> 		if (fault & VM_FAULT_RETRY)
> 			goto retry;   // re-locks mmap_lock
> 		mmap_read_unlock(mm);
> 	}
>
> Return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS instead, for two reasons:
>
> 1. We could keep VM_FAULT_RETRY, but then we'd have to drop the fault
>    lock first and cap the retry ourselves, the way __folio_lock_or_retry()
>    does.
>
> 2. A failed raw_res_spin_lock_irqsave() already means a possible deadlock
>    was detected, so retrying just hits the same lock again.
>
> So returning VM_FAULT_RETRY here is overkill.
>
> Fixes: b8467290edab ("bpf: arena: make arena kfuncs any context safe")
> Signed-off-by: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@linux.dev>

Reviewed-by: Emil Tsalapatis <emil@etsalapatis.com>

>
> ---
> target to bpf-next since I think it is moderate.

Agreed, I think either branch is fine.

> ---
>  kernel/bpf/arena.c | 8 ++++++--
>  1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/kernel/bpf/arena.c b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
> index 34f023a537fe..555ee2531ef9 100644
> --- a/kernel/bpf/arena.c
> +++ b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
> @@ -490,8 +490,12 @@ static vm_fault_t arena_vm_fault(struct vm_fault *vmf)
>  	kaddr = kbase + (u32)(vmf->address);
>  
>  	if (raw_res_spin_lock_irqsave(&arena->spinlock, flags))
> -		/* Make a reasonable effort to address impossible case */
> -		return VM_FAULT_RETRY;
> +		/*
> +		 * A failed lock means a possible deadlock was detected. Don't
> +		 * return VM_FAULT_RETRY: this handler never took mmap_lock, but
> +		 * the fault path would re-take it on retry and deadlock. Fail.
> +		 */
> +		return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS;
>  
>  	page = vmalloc_to_page((void *)kaddr);
>  	if (page) {

Re: [PATCH bpf-next] bpf: arena: fix mmap_lock deadlock on arena lock failure

[Emil Tsalapatis]

On Tue Jul 28, 2026 at 2:05 AM EDT, Jiayuan Chen wrote:
> Reported by the Sashiko AI review.
>
> arena_vm_fault() returns VM_FAULT_RETRY when it can't take
> arena->spinlock, but it never took mmap_lock. The fault path assumes a
> VM_FAULT_RETRY handler already dropped mmap_lock and re-takes it on the
> retry, so mmap_lock gets taken twice and can deadlock:
>
> 	do_user_addr_fault()
> 	{
> 		fault = handle_mm_fault(...);   // calls arena_vm_fault()
> 		if (fault & VM_FAULT_RETRY)
> 			goto retry;   // re-locks mmap_lock
> 		mmap_read_unlock(mm);
> 	}
>
> Return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS instead, for two reasons:
>
> 1. We could keep VM_FAULT_RETRY, but then we'd have to drop the fault
>    lock first and cap the retry ourselves, the way __folio_lock_or_retry()
>    does.
>
> 2. A failed raw_res_spin_lock_irqsave() already means a possible deadlock
>    was detected, so retrying just hits the same lock again.
>
> So returning VM_FAULT_RETRY here is overkill.
>
> Fixes: b8467290edab ("bpf: arena: make arena kfuncs any context safe")
> Signed-off-by: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@linux.dev>

Reviewed-by: Emil Tsalapatis <emil@etsalapatis.com>
>
> ---
> target to bpf-next since I think it is moderate.

Agreed, I think either branch is fine.

> ---
>  kernel/bpf/arena.c | 8 ++++++--
>  1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/kernel/bpf/arena.c b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
> index 34f023a537fe..555ee2531ef9 100644
> --- a/kernel/bpf/arena.c
> +++ b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
> @@ -490,8 +490,12 @@ static vm_fault_t arena_vm_fault(struct vm_fault *vmf)
>  	kaddr = kbase + (u32)(vmf->address);
>  
>  	if (raw_res_spin_lock_irqsave(&arena->spinlock, flags))
> -		/* Make a reasonable effort to address impossible case */
> -		return VM_FAULT_RETRY;
> +		/*
> +		 * A failed lock means a possible deadlock was detected. Don't
> +		 * return VM_FAULT_RETRY: this handler never took mmap_lock, but
> +		 * the fault path would re-take it on retry and deadlock. Fail.
> +		 */
> +		return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS;
>  
>  	page = vmalloc_to_page((void *)kaddr);
>  	if (page) {

Re: [PATCH bpf-next] bpf: arena: fix mmap_lock deadlock on arena lock failure

[Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi]

On Tue Jul 28, 2026 at 8:05 AM CEST, Jiayuan Chen wrote:
> Reported by the Sashiko AI review.
>
> arena_vm_fault() returns VM_FAULT_RETRY when it can't take
> arena->spinlock, but it never took mmap_lock. The fault path assumes a
> VM_FAULT_RETRY handler already dropped mmap_lock and re-takes it on the
> retry, so mmap_lock gets taken twice and can deadlock:
>
> 	do_user_addr_fault()
> 	{
> 		fault = handle_mm_fault(...);   // calls arena_vm_fault()
> 		if (fault & VM_FAULT_RETRY)
> 			goto retry;   // re-locks mmap_lock
> 		mmap_read_unlock(mm);
> 	}
>
> Return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS instead, for two reasons:
>
> 1. We could keep VM_FAULT_RETRY, but then we'd have to drop the fault
>    lock first and cap the retry ourselves, the way __folio_lock_or_retry()
>    does.
>
> 2. A failed raw_res_spin_lock_irqsave() already means a possible deadlock
>    was detected, so retrying just hits the same lock again.
>
> So returning VM_FAULT_RETRY here is overkill.
>
> Fixes: b8467290edab ("bpf: arena: make arena kfuncs any context safe")
> Signed-off-by: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@linux.dev>
>
> ---
> target to bpf-next since I think it is moderate.
> ---

This looks ok to me, but after staring at this function for longer, I think all
kinds of non-recoverable errors should be using VM_FAULT_SIGBUS vs SIGSEGV.

The only case with SIGSEGV should be the flag based request to disable
allocation on lazy faults. That should include the scratch page case, since it
represents a hole.

SIGSEGV: BPF_F_SEGV_ON_FAULT, scratch page.
SIGBUS: lock acquisition failure, range-tree failures, page allocation failure,
kernel PTE install failure.

All of these SIGBUS are almost improbable, but I think it would be cleaner to
keep semantics clear.

Could you follow up with this change? I applied this one for now.

>  kernel/bpf/arena.c | 8 ++++++--
>  1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/kernel/bpf/arena.c b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
> index 34f023a537fe..555ee2531ef9 100644
> --- a/kernel/bpf/arena.c
> +++ b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
> @@ -490,8 +490,12 @@ static vm_fault_t arena_vm_fault(struct vm_fault *vmf)
>  	kaddr = kbase + (u32)(vmf->address);
>
>  	if (raw_res_spin_lock_irqsave(&arena->spinlock, flags))
> -		/* Make a reasonable effort to address impossible case */
> -		return VM_FAULT_RETRY;
> +		/*
> +		 * A failed lock means a possible deadlock was detected. Don't
> +		 * return VM_FAULT_RETRY: this handler never took mmap_lock, but
> +		 * the fault path would re-take it on retry and deadlock. Fail.
> +		 */
> +		return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS;
>
>  	page = vmalloc_to_page((void *)kaddr);
>  	if (page) {

Re: [PATCH bpf-next] bpf: arena: fix mmap_lock deadlock on arena lock failure

[Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi]

On Mon Aug 3, 2026 at 3:21 AM CEST, Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi wrote:
> On Tue Jul 28, 2026 at 8:05 AM CEST, Jiayuan Chen wrote:
>> Reported by the Sashiko AI review.
>>
>> arena_vm_fault() returns VM_FAULT_RETRY when it can't take
>> arena->spinlock, but it never took mmap_lock. The fault path assumes a
>> VM_FAULT_RETRY handler already dropped mmap_lock and re-takes it on the
>> retry, so mmap_lock gets taken twice and can deadlock:
>>
>> 	do_user_addr_fault()
>> 	{
>> 		fault = handle_mm_fault(...);   // calls arena_vm_fault()
>> 		if (fault & VM_FAULT_RETRY)
>> 			goto retry;   // re-locks mmap_lock
>> 		mmap_read_unlock(mm);
>> 	}
>>
>> Return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS instead, for two reasons:
>>
>> 1. We could keep VM_FAULT_RETRY, but then we'd have to drop the fault
>>    lock first and cap the retry ourselves, the way __folio_lock_or_retry()
>>    does.
>>
>> 2. A failed raw_res_spin_lock_irqsave() already means a possible deadlock
>>    was detected, so retrying just hits the same lock again.
>>
>> So returning VM_FAULT_RETRY here is overkill.
>>
>> Fixes: b8467290edab ("bpf: arena: make arena kfuncs any context safe")
>> Signed-off-by: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@linux.dev>
>>
>> ---
>> target to bpf-next since I think it is moderate.
>> ---
>
> This looks ok to me, but after staring at this function for longer, I think all
> kinds of non-recoverable errors should be using VM_FAULT_SIGBUS vs SIGSEGV.
>
> The only case with SIGSEGV should be the flag based request to disable
> allocation on lazy faults. That should include the scratch page case, since it
> represents a hole.
>
> SIGSEGV: BPF_F_SEGV_ON_FAULT, scratch page.
> SIGBUS: lock acquisition failure, range-tree failures, page allocation failure,
> kernel PTE install failure.
>
> All of these SIGBUS are almost improbable, but I think it would be cleaner to
> keep semantics clear.
>
> Could you follow up with this change? I applied this one for now.
>

For the scratch page case, I think we do SIGSEGV when the BPF_F_SEGV_ON_FAULT
flag is set, but SIGBUS otherwise there too, since we could but choose not to
lazy allocate a page due to the program's error / bug.

Re: [PATCH bpf-next] bpf: arena: fix mmap_lock deadlock on arena lock failure

[Jiayuan Chen]

On 8/3/26 9:21 AM, Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi wrote:
> On Tue Jul 28, 2026 at 8:05 AM CEST, Jiayuan Chen wrote:
>> Reported by the Sashiko AI review.
>>
>> arena_vm_fault() returns VM_FAULT_RETRY when it can't take
>> arena->spinlock, but it never took mmap_lock. The fault path assumes a
>> VM_FAULT_RETRY handler already dropped mmap_lock and re-takes it on the
>> retry, so mmap_lock gets taken twice and can deadlock:
>>
>> 	do_user_addr_fault()
>> 	{
>> 		fault = handle_mm_fault(...);   // calls arena_vm_fault()
>> 		if (fault & VM_FAULT_RETRY)
>> 			goto retry;   // re-locks mmap_lock
>> 		mmap_read_unlock(mm);
>> 	}
>>
>> Return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS instead, for two reasons:
>>
>> 1. We could keep VM_FAULT_RETRY, but then we'd have to drop the fault
>>     lock first and cap the retry ourselves, the way __folio_lock_or_retry()
>>     does.
>>
>> 2. A failed raw_res_spin_lock_irqsave() already means a possible deadlock
>>     was detected, so retrying just hits the same lock again.
>>
>> So returning VM_FAULT_RETRY here is overkill.
>>
>> Fixes: b8467290edab ("bpf: arena: make arena kfuncs any context safe")
>> Signed-off-by: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@linux.dev>
>>
>> ---
>> target to bpf-next since I think it is moderate.
>> ---
> This looks ok to me, but after staring at this function for longer, I think all
> kinds of non-recoverable errors should be using VM_FAULT_SIGBUS vs SIGSEGV.
>
> The only case with SIGSEGV should be the flag based request to disable
> allocation on lazy faults. That should include the scratch page case, since it
> represents a hole.
>
> SIGSEGV: BPF_F_SEGV_ON_FAULT, scratch page.
> SIGBUS: lock acquisition failure, range-tree failures, page allocation failure,
> kernel PTE install failure.
>
> All of these SIGBUS are almost improbable, but I think it would be cleaner to
> keep semantics clear.
>
> Could you follow up with this change? I applied this one for now.


Sure. I'm happy to do it.

>>   kernel/bpf/arena.c | 8 ++++++--
>>   1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/kernel/bpf/arena.c b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
>> index 34f023a537fe..555ee2531ef9 100644
>> --- a/kernel/bpf/arena.c
>> +++ b/kernel/bpf/arena.c
>> @@ -490,8 +490,12 @@ static vm_fault_t arena_vm_fault(struct vm_fault *vmf)
>>   	kaddr = kbase + (u32)(vmf->address);
>>
>>   	if (raw_res_spin_lock_irqsave(&arena->spinlock, flags))
>> -		/* Make a reasonable effort to address impossible case */
>> -		return VM_FAULT_RETRY;
>> +		/*
>> +		 * A failed lock means a possible deadlock was detected. Don't
>> +		 * return VM_FAULT_RETRY: this handler never took mmap_lock, but
>> +		 * the fault path would re-take it on retry and deadlock. Fail.
>> +		 */
>> +		return VM_FAULT_SIGBUS;
>>
>>   	page = vmalloc_to_page((void *)kaddr);
>>   	if (page) {