[PATCH 01/14] mm: decouple protnone helpers from CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING

Kiryl Shutsemau (Meta)
2026-04-27T11:46:24Z

pte_protnone() and pmd_protnone() detect present-but-inaccessible page
table entries. This capability is useful beyond NUMA balancing — for
example, userfaultfd working set tracking uses protnone PTEs to track
page access without unmapping pages.

Introduce CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE to decouple the protnone PTE
infrastructure from CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING. The six architectures that
support protnone PTEs (x86_64, arm64, powerpc, s390, riscv, loongarch)
now select this option, and CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING depends on it.

No functional change — the same set of architectures continues to have
working protnone support, but the infrastructure is now available
independently of NUMA balancing.

Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau (Meta) <kas@kernel.org>
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-6
---
arch/arm64/Kconfig | 1 +
arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h | 7 ++-----
arch/loongarch/Kconfig | 1 +
arch/loongarch/include/asm/pgtable.h | 4 ++--
arch/powerpc/include/asm/book3s/64/pgtable.h | 8 +++----
arch/powerpc/platforms/Kconfig.cputype | 1 +
arch/riscv/Kconfig | 1 +
arch/riscv/include/asm/pgtable.h | 7 ++-----
arch/s390/Kconfig | 1 +
arch/s390/include/asm/pgtable.h | 4 ++--
arch/x86/Kconfig | 1 +
arch/x86/include/asm/pgtable.h | 8 ++-----
include/linux/pgtable.h | 22 +++++++++-----------
init/Kconfig | 8 +++++++
mm/debug_vm_pgtable.c | 4 ++--
15 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 38 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/arm64/Kconfig b/arch/arm64/Kconfig
index fe60738e5943..319470b3b1bb 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/arm64/Kconfig
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ config ARM64
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_CFI
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_ATOMIC_RMW
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_INT128 if CC_HAS_INT128
+ select ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_NUMA_BALANCING
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_PAGE_TABLE_CHECK
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_PER_VMA_LOCK
diff --git a/arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h b/arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h
index 4dfa42b7d053..873f4ea2e288 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h
+++ b/arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h
@@ -553,10 +553,7 @@ static inline pte_t pte_swp_clear_uffd_wp(pte_t pte)
}
#endif /* CONFIG_HAVE_ARCH_USERFAULTFD_WP */

-#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING
-/*
- * See the comment in include/linux/pgtable.h
- */
+#ifdef CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
static inline int pte_protnone(pte_t pte)
{
/*
@@ -575,7 +572,7 @@ static inline int pmd_protnone(pmd_t pmd)
{
return pte_protnone(pmd_pte(pmd));
}
-#endif
+#endif /* CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE */

#define pmd_present(pmd) pte_present(pmd_pte(pmd))
#define pmd_dirty(pmd) pte_dirty(pmd_pte(pmd))
diff --git a/arch/loongarch/Kconfig b/arch/loongarch/Kconfig
index 3b042dbb2c41..229b3d1b7056 100644
--- a/arch/loongarch/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/loongarch/Kconfig
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ config LOONGARCH
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_LTO_CLANG
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_LTO_CLANG_THIN
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_MSEAL_SYSTEM_MAPPINGS
+ select ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_NUMA_BALANCING if NUMA
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_PER_VMA_LOCK
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_RT
diff --git a/arch/loongarch/include/asm/pgtable.h b/arch/loongarch/include/asm/pgtable.h
index 2a0b63ae421f..d295447a2763 100644
--- a/arch/loongarch/include/asm/pgtable.h
+++ b/arch/loongarch/include/asm/pgtable.h
@@ -619,7 +619,7 @@ static inline pmd_t pmdp_huge_get_and_clear(struct mm_struct *mm,

#endif /* CONFIG_TRANSPARENT_HUGEPAGE */

-#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING
+#ifdef CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
static inline long pte_protnone(pte_t pte)
{
return (pte_val(pte) & _PAGE_PROTNONE);
@@ -629,7 +629,7 @@ static inline long pmd_protnone(pmd_t pmd)
{
return (pmd_val(pmd) & _PAGE_PROTNONE);
}
-#endif /* CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING */
+#endif /* CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE */

#define pmd_leaf(pmd) ((pmd_val(pmd) & _PAGE_HUGE) != 0)
#define pud_leaf(pud) ((pud_val(pud) & _PAGE_HUGE) != 0)
diff --git a/arch/powerpc/include/asm/book3s/64/pgtable.h b/arch/powerpc/include/asm/book3s/64/pgtable.h
index e67e64ac6e8c..53a0c5892548 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/include/asm/book3s/64/pgtable.h
+++ b/arch/powerpc/include/asm/book3s/64/pgtable.h
@@ -490,13 +490,13 @@ static inline pte_t pte_clear_soft_dirty(pte_t pte)
}
#endif /* CONFIG_HAVE_ARCH_SOFT_DIRTY */

-#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING
+#ifdef CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
static inline int pte_protnone(pte_t pte)
{
return (pte_raw(pte) & cpu_to_be64(_PAGE_PRESENT | _PAGE_PTE | _PAGE_RWX)) ==
cpu_to_be64(_PAGE_PRESENT | _PAGE_PTE);
}
-#endif /* CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING */
+#endif /* CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE */

static inline bool pte_hw_valid(pte_t pte)
{
@@ -1067,12 +1067,12 @@ static inline pte_t *pmdp_ptep(pmd_t *pmd)
#endif
#endif /* CONFIG_HAVE_ARCH_SOFT_DIRTY */

-#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING
+#ifdef CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
static inline int pmd_protnone(pmd_t pmd)
{
return pte_protnone(pmd_pte(pmd));
}
-#endif /* CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING */
+#endif /* CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE */

#define pmd_write(pmd) pte_write(pmd_pte(pmd))

diff --git a/arch/powerpc/platforms/Kconfig.cputype b/arch/powerpc/platforms/Kconfig.cputype
index bac02c83bb3e..36b64a24cf30 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/platforms/Kconfig.cputype
+++ b/arch/powerpc/platforms/Kconfig.cputype
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ config PPC_BOOK3S_64
select ARCH_ENABLE_HUGEPAGE_MIGRATION if HUGETLB_PAGE && MIGRATION
select ARCH_ENABLE_SPLIT_PMD_PTLOCK
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_HUGETLBFS
+ select ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_NUMA_BALANCING
select HAVE_MOVE_PMD
select HAVE_MOVE_PUD
diff --git a/arch/riscv/Kconfig b/arch/riscv/Kconfig
index d235396c4514..9eb4a9315bdf 100644
--- a/arch/riscv/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/riscv/Kconfig
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ config RISCV
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_MSEAL_SYSTEM_MAPPINGS if 64BIT && MMU
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_PAGE_TABLE_CHECK if MMU
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_PER_VMA_LOCK if MMU
+ select ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE if MMU
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_RT
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_SHADOW_CALL_STACK if HAVE_SHADOW_CALL_STACK
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_SCHED_MC if SMP
diff --git a/arch/riscv/include/asm/pgtable.h b/arch/riscv/include/asm/pgtable.h
index a1a7c6520a09..48a127323b21 100644
--- a/arch/riscv/include/asm/pgtable.h
+++ b/arch/riscv/include/asm/pgtable.h
@@ -524,10 +524,7 @@ static inline pte_t pte_swp_clear_soft_dirty(pte_t pte)
PAGE_SIZE)
#endif

-#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING
-/*
- * See the comment in include/asm-generic/pgtable.h
- */
+#ifdef CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
static inline int pte_protnone(pte_t pte)
{
return (pte_val(pte) & (_PAGE_PRESENT | _PAGE_PROT_NONE)) == _PAGE_PROT_NONE;
@@ -537,7 +534,7 @@ static inline int pmd_protnone(pmd_t pmd)
{
return pte_protnone(pmd_pte(pmd));
}
-#endif
+#endif /* CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE */

/* Modify page protection bits */
static inline pte_t pte_modify(pte_t pte, pgprot_t newprot)
diff --git a/arch/s390/Kconfig b/arch/s390/Kconfig
index ecbcbb781e40..bc5bef08454b 100644
--- a/arch/s390/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/s390/Kconfig
@@ -151,6 +151,7 @@ config S390
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_HUGETLBFS
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_INT128 if CC_HAS_INT128 && CC_IS_CLANG
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_MSEAL_SYSTEM_MAPPINGS
+ select ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_NUMA_BALANCING
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_PAGE_TABLE_CHECK
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_PER_VMA_LOCK
diff --git a/arch/s390/include/asm/pgtable.h b/arch/s390/include/asm/pgtable.h
index 2c6cee8241e0..97241dea5573 100644
--- a/arch/s390/include/asm/pgtable.h
+++ b/arch/s390/include/asm/pgtable.h
@@ -842,7 +842,7 @@ static inline int pte_same(pte_t a, pte_t b)
return pte_val(a) == pte_val(b);
}

-#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING
+#ifdef CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
static inline int pte_protnone(pte_t pte)
{
return pte_present(pte) && !(pte_val(pte) & _PAGE_READ);
@@ -853,7 +853,7 @@ static inline int pmd_protnone(pmd_t pmd)
/* pmd_leaf(pmd) implies pmd_present(pmd) */
return pmd_leaf(pmd) && !(pmd_val(pmd) & _SEGMENT_ENTRY_READ);
}
-#endif
+#endif /* CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE */

static inline bool pte_swp_exclusive(pte_t pte)
{
diff --git a/arch/x86/Kconfig b/arch/x86/Kconfig
index f3f7cb01d69d..9da1119e8ff6 100644
--- a/arch/x86/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/x86/Kconfig
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ config X86
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_DEBUG_PAGEALLOC
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_HUGETLBFS
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_PAGE_TABLE_CHECK if X86_64
+ select ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE if X86_64
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_NUMA_BALANCING if X86_64
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_KMAP_LOCAL_FORCE_MAP if NR_CPUS <= 4096
select ARCH_SUPPORTS_CFI if X86_64
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/pgtable.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/pgtable.h
index 2187e9cfcefa..c7f014cbf0a9 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/pgtable.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/pgtable.h
@@ -985,11 +985,7 @@ static inline int pmd_present(pmd_t pmd)
return pmd_flags(pmd) & (_PAGE_PRESENT | _PAGE_PROTNONE | _PAGE_PSE);
}

-#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING
-/*
- * These work without NUMA balancing but the kernel does not care. See the
- * comment in include/linux/pgtable.h
- */
+#ifdef CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
static inline int pte_protnone(pte_t pte)
{
return (pte_flags(pte) & (_PAGE_PROTNONE | _PAGE_PRESENT))
@@ -1001,7 +997,7 @@ static inline int pmd_protnone(pmd_t pmd)
return (pmd_flags(pmd) & (_PAGE_PROTNONE | _PAGE_PRESENT))
== _PAGE_PROTNONE;
}
-#endif /* CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING */
+#endif /* CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE */

static inline int pmd_none(pmd_t pmd)
{
diff --git a/include/linux/pgtable.h b/include/linux/pgtable.h
index cdd68ed3ae1a..15c5bc288ca1 100644
--- a/include/linux/pgtable.h
+++ b/include/linux/pgtable.h
@@ -2052,18 +2052,12 @@ static inline int pud_trans_unstable(pud_t *pud)
return 0;
}

-#ifndef CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING
+#ifndef CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
/*
- * In an inaccessible (PROT_NONE) VMA, pte_protnone() may indicate "yes". It is
- * perfectly valid to indicate "no" in that case, which is why our default
- * implementation defaults to "always no".
- *
- * In an accessible VMA, however, pte_protnone() reliably indicates PROT_NONE
- * page protection due to NUMA hinting. NUMA hinting faults only apply in
- * accessible VMAs.
- *
- * So, to reliably identify PROT_NONE PTEs that require a NUMA hinting fault,
- * looking at the VMA accessibility is sufficient.
+ * Stubs for architectures that do not support present-but-inaccessible
+ * (PROT_NONE) page table entries. Generic code may still reference
+ * PAGE_NONE from paths that fold to dead code on these arches; the
+ * BUILD_BUG() fallback fires only if such a reference is actually live.
*/
static inline int pte_protnone(pte_t pte)
{
@@ -2074,7 +2068,11 @@ static inline int pmd_protnone(pmd_t pmd)
{
return 0;
}
-#endif /* CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING */
+
+#ifndef PAGE_NONE
+#define PAGE_NONE ({ BUILD_BUG(); (pgprot_t){0}; })
+#endif
+#endif /* CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE */

#endif /* CONFIG_MMU */

diff --git a/init/Kconfig b/init/Kconfig
index 2937c4d308ae..58abb7f19206 100644
--- a/init/Kconfig
+++ b/init/Kconfig
@@ -944,6 +944,13 @@ config SCHED_PROXY_EXEC

endmenu

+#
+# For architectures that support present-but-inaccessible (PROT_NONE) page
+# table entries detectable via pte_protnone() / pmd_protnone():
+#
+config ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
+ bool
+
#
# For architectures that want to enable the support for NUMA-affine scheduler
# balancing logic:
@@ -1010,6 +1017,7 @@ config ARCH_WANT_NUMA_VARIABLE_LOCALITY
config NUMA_BALANCING
bool "Memory placement aware NUMA scheduler"
depends on ARCH_SUPPORTS_NUMA_BALANCING
+ depends on ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE
depends on !ARCH_WANT_NUMA_VARIABLE_LOCALITY
depends on SMP && NUMA_MIGRATION && !PREEMPT_RT
help
diff --git a/mm/debug_vm_pgtable.c b/mm/debug_vm_pgtable.c
index 23dc3ee09561..5e9f3a35f924 100644
--- a/mm/debug_vm_pgtable.c
+++ b/mm/debug_vm_pgtable.c
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ static void __init pte_protnone_tests(struct pgtable_debug_args *args)
{
pte_t pte = pfn_pte(args->fixed_pte_pfn, args->page_prot_none);

- if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING))
+ if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE))
return;

pr_debug("Validating PTE protnone\n");
@@ -685,7 +685,7 @@ static void __init pmd_protnone_tests(struct pgtable_debug_args *args)
{
pmd_t pmd;

- if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING))
+ if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_PROTNONE))
return;

if (!has_transparent_hugepage())
--
2.51.2