Re: [PATCH v6 03/10] KVM: guest_memfd: Handle kvm_gmem_handle_folio_put() for KVM as a module

Vlastimil Babka
2025-03-17T13:43:34Z

On 3/13/25 14:49, Ackerley Tng wrote:
> Fuad Tabba <tabba@google.com> writes:
>
>> In some architectures, KVM could be defined as a module. If there is a
>> pending folio_put() while KVM is unloaded, the system could crash. By
>> having a helper check for that and call the function only if it's
>> available, we are able to handle that case more gracefully.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Fuad Tabba <tabba@google.com>
>>
>> ---
>>
>> This patch could be squashed with the previous one of the maintainers
>> think it would be better.
>> ---
>> include/linux/kvm_host.h | 5 +----
>> mm/swap.c | 20 +++++++++++++++++++-
>> virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c | 8 ++++++++
>> 3 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/include/linux/kvm_host.h b/include/linux/kvm_host.h
>> index 7788e3625f6d..3ad0719bfc4f 100644
>> --- a/include/linux/kvm_host.h
>> +++ b/include/linux/kvm_host.h
>> @@ -2572,10 +2572,7 @@ long kvm_arch_vcpu_pre_fault_memory(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu,
>> #endif
>>
>> #ifdef CONFIG_KVM_GMEM_SHARED_MEM
>> -static inline void kvm_gmem_handle_folio_put(struct folio *folio)
>> -{
>> - WARN_ONCE(1, "A placeholder that shouldn't trigger. Work in progress.");
>> -}
>> +void kvm_gmem_handle_folio_put(struct folio *folio);
>> #endif
>>
>> #endif
>> diff --git a/mm/swap.c b/mm/swap.c
>> index 241880a46358..27dfd75536c8 100644
>> --- a/mm/swap.c
>> +++ b/mm/swap.c
>> @@ -98,6 +98,24 @@ static void page_cache_release(struct folio *folio)
>> unlock_page_lruvec_irqrestore(lruvec, flags);
>> }
>>
>> +#ifdef CONFIG_KVM_GMEM_SHARED_MEM
>> +static void gmem_folio_put(struct folio *folio)
>> +{
>> +#if IS_MODULE(CONFIG_KVM)
>> + void (*fn)(struct folio *folio);
>> +
>> + fn = symbol_get(kvm_gmem_handle_folio_put);
>> + if (WARN_ON_ONCE(!fn))
>> + return;
>> +
>> + fn(folio);
>> + symbol_put(kvm_gmem_handle_folio_put);
>> +#else
>> + kvm_gmem_handle_folio_put(folio);
>> +#endif
>> +}
>> +#endif

Yeah, this is not great. The vfio code isn't setting a good example to follow :(

> Sorry about the premature sending earlier!
>
> I was thinking about having a static function pointer in mm/swap.c that
> will be filled in when KVM is loaded and cleared when KVM is unloaded.
>
> One benefit I see is that it'll avoid the lookup that symbol_get() does
> on every folio_put(), but some other pinning on KVM would have to be
> done to prevent KVM from being unloaded in the middle of
> kvm_gmem_handle_folio_put() call.

Isn't there some "natural" dependency between things such that at the point
the KVM module is able to unload itself, no guest_memfd areas should be
existing anymore at that point, and thus also not any pages that would use
this callback should exist? In that case it would mean there's a memory leak
if that happens so while we might be trying to avoid calling a function that
was unleaded, we don't need to try has hard as symbol_get()/put() on every
invocation, but a racy check would be good enough?
Or would such a late folio_put() be legitimate to happen because some
short-lived folio_get() from e.g. a pfn scanner could prolong the page's
lifetime beyond the KVM module? I'd hope that since you want to make pages
PGTY_guestmem only in certain points of their lifetime, then maybe this
should not be possible to happen?

> Do you/anyone else see pros/cons either way?
>
>> +
>> static void free_typed_folio(struct folio *folio)
>> {
>> switch (folio_get_type(folio)) {
>> @@ -108,7 +126,7 @@ static void free_typed_folio(struct folio *folio)
>> #endif
>> #ifdef CONFIG_KVM_GMEM_SHARED_MEM
>> case PGTY_guestmem:
>> - kvm_gmem_handle_folio_put(folio);
>> + gmem_folio_put(folio);
>> return;
>> #endif
>> default:
>> diff --git a/virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c b/virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c
>> index b2aa6bf24d3a..5fc414becae5 100644
>> --- a/virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c
>> +++ b/virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c
>> @@ -13,6 +13,14 @@ struct kvm_gmem {
>> struct list_head entry;
>> };
>>
>> +#ifdef CONFIG_KVM_GMEM_SHARED_MEM
>> +void kvm_gmem_handle_folio_put(struct folio *folio)
>> +{
>> + WARN_ONCE(1, "A placeholder that shouldn't trigger. Work in progress.");
>> +}
>> +EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(kvm_gmem_handle_folio_put);
>> +#endif /* CONFIG_KVM_GMEM_SHARED_MEM */
>> +
>> /**
>> * folio_file_pfn - like folio_file_page, but return a pfn.
>> * @folio: The folio which contains this index.