Re: [PATCH 1/4] arm64: tlb: Use __tlbi_sync_s1ish_kernel() for kernel TLB maintenance

Mark Rutland
2026-03-09T12:12:58Z

On Thu, Mar 05, 2026 at 11:27:54AM +0000, Catalin Marinas wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 03, 2026 at 01:12:50PM +0000, Mark Rutland wrote:
> > On Mon, Mar 02, 2026 at 04:57:54PM +0000, Catalin Marinas wrote:

> > > diff --git a/arch/arm64/include/asm/tlbflush.h b/arch/arm64/include/asm/tlbflush.h
> > > index 1416e652612b..19be0f7bfca5 100644
> > > --- a/arch/arm64/include/asm/tlbflush.h
> > > +++ b/arch/arm64/include/asm/tlbflush.h
> > > @@ -191,6 +191,12 @@ static inline void __tlbi_sync_s1ish(void)
> > > __repeat_tlbi_sync(vale1is, 0);
> > > }
> > >
> > > +static inline void __tlbi_sync_s1ish_kernel(void)
> > > +{
> > > + dsb(ish);
> > > + __repeat_tlbi_sync(vale1is, 0);
> > > +}
> > > +
> > > /*
> > > * Complete broadcast TLB maintenance issued by hyp code which invalidates
> > > * stage 1 translation information in any translation regime.
> > > @@ -299,7 +305,7 @@ static inline void flush_tlb_all(void)
> > > {
> > > dsb(ishst);
> > > __tlbi(vmalle1is);
> > > - __tlbi_sync_s1ish();
> > > + __tlbi_sync_s1ish_kernel();
> > > isb();
> > > }
> >
> > The commit message is correct that flush_tlb_all() is only used for
> > kernel mappings today, via flush_tlb_kernel_range(), so this is safe.
>
> Unfortunately, it's also used by the core code -
> hugetlb_vmemmap_restore_folios() (and another function in this file).

Sorry, I missed that.

AFAICT even with that it's only used for kernel mappings, though it's
not clear to me exactly what the xen balloon driver is doing.

> > However, the big comment block around line 200 says:
> >
> > flush_tlb_all()
> > Invalidate the entire TLB (kernel + user) on all CPUs
> >
> > ... and:
> >
> > local_flush_tlb_all()
> > Same as flush_tlb_all(), but only applies to the calling CPU.
> >
> > ... where the latter is used for user mappings (upon ASID overflow), so
> > I think there's some risk of future confusion.
>
> Ignoring this erratum, the statements are still correct for arm64 as it
> flushes both kernel and user, though I see what you mean w.r.t. its
> intended use.

My concern was just in the presence of this erratum, since we skip the
workaround in flush_tlb_all() by calling __tlbi_sync_s1ish_kernel().

As below, I agree this doesn't need to change now.

> > To minimize the risk that flush_tlb_all() gets used for user mappings in
> > future, how about we rename flush_tlb_all() => flush_tlb_kernel_all(), and
> > update those comments:
> >
> > flush_tlb_kernel_all()
> > Invalidate all kernel mappings on all CPUs.
> > Should not be used to invalidate user mappings.
> >
> > local_flush_tlb_all()
> > Invalidate all (kernel + user) mappings on the calling CPU.
> >
> > Note: I chose flush_tlb_kernel_all() rather than flush_tlb_all_kernel()
> > __flush_tlb_kernel_{pgtable,range}, with 'kernel' before the operation/scope.
>
> I'm fine to update the comments but, for backporting, I'd not change the
> function name as it will have to touch core code. Ideally we should go
> around and change the other architectures to follow the same semantics
> (I briefly looked at x86 and powerpc and they also seem to use
> flush_tlb_all() only for kernel mappings).
>
> So, I think it's better to do this cleanup separately ;).

That's fair enough, and my ack stands even without any changes.

Mark.