[PATCH 7.2 v10 2/2] x86/tlb: skip redundant sync IPIs for native TLB flush

Lance Yang
2026-04-24T06:26:32Z

From: Lance Yang <lance.yang@linux.dev>

Some page table operations need to synchronize with software/lockless
walkers after a TLB flush by calling tlb_remove_table_sync_{one,rcu}().
On x86, that extra synchronization is redundant when the preceding TLB
flush already broadcast IPIs to all relevant CPUs.

native_pv_tlb_init() checks whether native_flush_tlb_multi() is in use.
On CONFIG_PARAVIRT systems, it checks pv_ops; on non-PARAVIRT, native
flush is always in use.

It decides once at boot whether to enable the optimization: if using
native TLB flush and INVLPGB is not supported, we know IPIs were sent
and can skip the redundant sync. The decision is fixed via a static
key as Peter suggested[1].

PV backends (KVM, Xen, Hyper-V) typically have their own implementations
and don't call native_flush_tlb_multi() directly, so they cannot be trusted
to provide the IPI guarantees we need.

Also rename the x86 flush_tlb_info bit from freed_tables to wake_lazy_cpus,
as Dave suggested[2], to match the behavior it controls: whether the remote
flush may skip CPUs in lazy TLB mode. Both freed_tables and unshared_tables
set it, because lazy-TLB CPUs must receive IPIs before page tables can be
freed or reused. With that guarantee in place,
tlb_table_flush_implies_ipi_broadcast() can safely skip the later sync IPI.

Two-step plan as David suggested[3]:

Step 1 (this patch): Skip redundant sync when we're 100% certain the TLB
flush sent IPIs. INVLPGB is excluded because when supported, we cannot
guarantee IPIs were sent, keeping it clean and simple.

Step 2 (future work): Send targeted IPIs only to CPUs actually doing
software/lockless page table walks, benefiting all architectures.

Regarding Step 2, it obviously only applies to setups where Step 1 does
not apply: like x86 with INVLPGB or arm64.

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/20260302145652.GH1395266@noisy.programming.kicks-ass.net/
[2] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/f856051b-10c7-4d65-9dbe-6b1677af74bd@intel.com/
[3] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/bbfdf226-4660-4949-b17b-0d209ee4ef8c@kernel.org/

Suggested-by: Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@intel.com>
Suggested-by: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>
Suggested-by: David Hildenbrand (Arm) <david@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Lance Yang <lance.yang@linux.dev>
---
arch/x86/hyperv/mmu.c | 4 ++--
arch/x86/include/asm/tlb.h | 19 +++++++++++++++-
arch/x86/include/asm/tlbflush.h | 6 +++--
arch/x86/kernel/smpboot.c | 1 +
arch/x86/mm/tlb.c | 39 +++++++++++++++++++++++----------
5 files changed, 52 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/hyperv/mmu.c b/arch/x86/hyperv/mmu.c
index cfcb60468b01..2cf1eeaffd6f 100644
--- a/arch/x86/hyperv/mmu.c
+++ b/arch/x86/hyperv/mmu.c
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ static void hyperv_flush_tlb_multi(const struct cpumask *cpus,
struct hv_tlb_flush *flush;
u64 status;
unsigned long flags;
- bool do_lazy = !info->freed_tables;
+ bool do_lazy = !info->wake_lazy_cpus;

trace_hyperv_mmu_flush_tlb_multi(cpus, info);

@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ static u64 hyperv_flush_tlb_others_ex(const struct cpumask *cpus,

flush->hv_vp_set.format = HV_GENERIC_SET_SPARSE_4K;
nr_bank = cpumask_to_vpset_skip(&flush->hv_vp_set, cpus,
- info->freed_tables ? NULL : cpu_is_lazy);
+ info->wake_lazy_cpus ? NULL : cpu_is_lazy);
if (nr_bank < 0)
return HV_STATUS_INVALID_PARAMETER;

diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/tlb.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/tlb.h
index 866ea78ba156..fb256fd95f95 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/tlb.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/tlb.h
@@ -5,22 +5,39 @@
#define tlb_flush tlb_flush
static inline void tlb_flush(struct mmu_gather *tlb);

+#define tlb_table_flush_implies_ipi_broadcast tlb_table_flush_implies_ipi_broadcast
+static inline bool tlb_table_flush_implies_ipi_broadcast(void);
+
#include <asm-generic/tlb.h>
#include <linux/kernel.h>
#include <vdso/bits.h>
#include <vdso/page.h>

+DECLARE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(tlb_ipi_broadcast_key);
+
+static inline bool tlb_table_flush_implies_ipi_broadcast(void)
+{
+ return static_branch_likely(&tlb_ipi_broadcast_key);
+}
+
static inline void tlb_flush(struct mmu_gather *tlb)
{
unsigned long start = 0UL, end = TLB_FLUSH_ALL;
unsigned int stride_shift = tlb_get_unmap_shift(tlb);

+ /*
+ * Both freed_tables and unshared_tables must wake lazy-TLB CPUs, so
+ * they receive IPIs before reusing or freeing page tables, allowing
+ * us to safely implement tlb_table_flush_implies_ipi_broadcast().
+ */
+ bool wake_lazy_cpus = tlb->freed_tables || tlb->unshared_tables;
+
if (!tlb->fullmm && !tlb->need_flush_all) {
start = tlb->start;
end = tlb->end;
}

- flush_tlb_mm_range(tlb->mm, start, end, stride_shift, tlb->freed_tables);
+ flush_tlb_mm_range(tlb->mm, start, end, stride_shift, wake_lazy_cpus);
}

static inline void invlpg(unsigned long addr)
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/tlbflush.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/tlbflush.h
index 5a3cdc439e38..39b9454781c3 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/tlbflush.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/tlbflush.h
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@

DECLARE_PER_CPU(u64, tlbstate_untag_mask);

+void __init native_pv_tlb_init(void);
+
void __flush_tlb_all(void);

#define TLB_FLUSH_ALL -1UL
@@ -225,7 +227,7 @@ struct flush_tlb_info {
u64 new_tlb_gen;
unsigned int initiating_cpu;
u8 stride_shift;
- u8 freed_tables;
+ u8 wake_lazy_cpus;
u8 trim_cpumask;
};

@@ -315,7 +317,7 @@ static inline bool mm_in_asid_transition(struct mm_struct *mm) { return false; }
extern void flush_tlb_all(void);
extern void flush_tlb_mm_range(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start,
unsigned long end, unsigned int stride_shift,
- bool freed_tables);
+ bool wake_lazy_cpus);
extern void flush_tlb_kernel_range(unsigned long start, unsigned long end);

static inline void flush_tlb_page(struct vm_area_struct *vma, unsigned long a)
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/smpboot.c b/arch/x86/kernel/smpboot.c
index 294a8ea60298..df776b645a9c 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/smpboot.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/smpboot.c
@@ -1256,6 +1256,7 @@ void __init native_smp_prepare_boot_cpu(void)
switch_gdt_and_percpu_base(me);

native_pv_lock_init();
+ native_pv_tlb_init();
}

void __init native_smp_cpus_done(unsigned int max_cpus)
diff --git a/arch/x86/mm/tlb.c b/arch/x86/mm/tlb.c
index 621e09d049cb..3ce254a3982c 100644
--- a/arch/x86/mm/tlb.c
+++ b/arch/x86/mm/tlb.c
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@

#include "mm_internal.h"

+DEFINE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(tlb_ipi_broadcast_key);
+
#ifdef CONFIG_PARAVIRT
# define STATIC_NOPV
#else
@@ -1360,16 +1362,16 @@ STATIC_NOPV void native_flush_tlb_multi(const struct cpumask *cpumask,
(info->end - info->start) >> PAGE_SHIFT);

/*
- * If no page tables were freed, we can skip sending IPIs to
- * CPUs in lazy TLB mode. They will flush the CPU themselves
- * at the next context switch.
+ * If lazy-TLB CPUs do not need to be woken, we can skip sending
+ * IPIs to them. They will flush themselves at the next context
+ * switch.
*
- * However, if page tables are getting freed, we need to send the
- * IPI everywhere, to prevent CPUs in lazy TLB mode from tripping
- * up on the new contents of what used to be page tables, while
- * doing a speculative memory access.
+ * However, if page tables are getting freed or unshared, we need
+ * to send the IPI everywhere, to prevent CPUs in lazy TLB mode
+ * from tripping up on the new contents of what used to be page
+ * tables, while doing a speculative memory access.
*/
- if (info->freed_tables || mm_in_asid_transition(info->mm))
+ if (info->wake_lazy_cpus || mm_in_asid_transition(info->mm))
on_each_cpu_mask(cpumask, flush_tlb_func, (void *)info, true);
else
on_each_cpu_cond_mask(should_flush_tlb, flush_tlb_func,
@@ -1402,7 +1404,7 @@ static DEFINE_PER_CPU(unsigned int, flush_tlb_info_idx);

static struct flush_tlb_info *get_flush_tlb_info(struct mm_struct *mm,
unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
- unsigned int stride_shift, bool freed_tables,
+ unsigned int stride_shift, bool wake_lazy_cpus,
u64 new_tlb_gen)
{
struct flush_tlb_info *info = this_cpu_ptr(&flush_tlb_info);
@@ -1429,7 +1431,7 @@ static struct flush_tlb_info *get_flush_tlb_info(struct mm_struct *mm,
info->end = end;
info->mm = mm;
info->stride_shift = stride_shift;
- info->freed_tables = freed_tables;
+ info->wake_lazy_cpus = wake_lazy_cpus;
info->new_tlb_gen = new_tlb_gen;
info->initiating_cpu = smp_processor_id();
info->trim_cpumask = 0;
@@ -1448,7 +1450,7 @@ static void put_flush_tlb_info(void)

void flush_tlb_mm_range(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start,
unsigned long end, unsigned int stride_shift,
- bool freed_tables)
+ bool wake_lazy_cpus)
{
struct flush_tlb_info *info;
int cpu = get_cpu();
@@ -1457,7 +1459,7 @@ void flush_tlb_mm_range(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start,
/* This is also a barrier that synchronizes with switch_mm(). */
new_tlb_gen = inc_mm_tlb_gen(mm);

- info = get_flush_tlb_info(mm, start, end, stride_shift, freed_tables,
+ info = get_flush_tlb_info(mm, start, end, stride_shift, wake_lazy_cpus,
new_tlb_gen);

/*
@@ -1834,3 +1836,16 @@ static int __init create_tlb_single_page_flush_ceiling(void)
return 0;
}
late_initcall(create_tlb_single_page_flush_ceiling);
+
+void __init native_pv_tlb_init(void)
+{
+#ifdef CONFIG_PARAVIRT
+ if (pv_ops.mmu.flush_tlb_multi != native_flush_tlb_multi)
+ return;
+#endif
+
+ if (cpu_feature_enabled(X86_FEATURE_INVLPGB))
+ return;
+
+ static_branch_enable(&tlb_ipi_broadcast_key);
+}
--
2.49.0