[PATCH 6.12 235/369] vhost: Reintroduce kthread API and add mode selection

[Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>]

6.12-stable review patch.  If anyone has any objections, please let me know.

------------------

From: Cindy Lu <lulu@redhat.com>

[ Upstream commit 7d9896e9f6d02d8aa85e63f736871f96c59a5263 ]

Since commit 6e890c5d5021 ("vhost: use vhost_tasks for worker threads"),
the vhost uses vhost_task and operates as a child of the
owner thread. This is required for correct CPU usage accounting,
especially when using containers.

However, this change has caused confusion for some legacy
userspace applications, and we didn't notice until it's too late.

Unfortunately, it's too late to revert - we now have userspace
depending both on old and new behaviour :(

To address the issue, reintroduce kthread mode for vhost workers and
provide a configuration to select between kthread and task worker.

- Add 'fork_owner' parameter to vhost_dev to let users select kthread
  or task mode. Default mode is task mode(VHOST_FORK_OWNER_TASK).

- Reintroduce kthread mode support:
  * Bring back the original vhost_worker() implementation,
    and renamed to vhost_run_work_kthread_list().
  * Add cgroup support for the kthread
  * Introduce struct vhost_worker_ops:
    - Encapsulates create / stop / wake‑up callbacks.
    - vhost_worker_create() selects the proper ops according to
      inherit_owner.

- Userspace configuration interface:
  * New IOCTLs:
      - VHOST_SET_FORK_FROM_OWNER lets userspace select task mode
        (VHOST_FORK_OWNER_TASK) or kthread mode (VHOST_FORK_OWNER_KTHREAD)
      - VHOST_GET_FORK_FROM_OWNER reads the current worker mode
  * Expose module parameter 'fork_from_owner_default' to allow system
    administrators to configure the default mode for vhost workers
  * Kconfig option CONFIG_VHOST_ENABLE_FORK_OWNER_CONTROL controls whether
    these IOCTLs and the parameter are available

- The VHOST_NEW_WORKER functionality requires fork_owner to be set
  to true, with validation added to ensure proper configuration

This partially reverts or improves upon:
  commit 6e890c5d5021 ("vhost: use vhost_tasks for worker threads")
  commit 1cdaafa1b8b4 ("vhost: replace single worker pointer with xarray")

Fixes: 6e890c5d5021 ("vhost: use vhost_tasks for worker threads"),
Signed-off-by: Cindy Lu <lulu@redhat.com>
Message-Id: <20250714071333.59794-2-lulu@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Michael S. Tsirkin <mst@redhat.com>
Acked-by: Jason Wang <jasowang@redhat.com>
Tested-by: Lei Yang <leiyang@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin <sashal@kernel.org>
---
 drivers/vhost/Kconfig      |  18 +++
 drivers/vhost/vhost.c      | 244 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
 drivers/vhost/vhost.h      |  22 ++++
 include/uapi/linux/vhost.h |  29 +++++
 4 files changed, 295 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/vhost/Kconfig b/drivers/vhost/Kconfig
index b455d9ab6f3d..a4730217bfb6 100644
--- a/drivers/vhost/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/vhost/Kconfig
@@ -94,4 +94,22 @@ config VHOST_CROSS_ENDIAN_LEGACY
 
 	  If unsure, say "N".
 
+config VHOST_ENABLE_FORK_OWNER_CONTROL
+	bool "Enable VHOST_ENABLE_FORK_OWNER_CONTROL"
+	default y
+	help
+	  This option enables two IOCTLs: VHOST_SET_FORK_FROM_OWNER and
+	  VHOST_GET_FORK_FROM_OWNER. These allow userspace applications
+	  to modify the vhost worker mode for vhost devices.
+
+	  Also expose module parameter 'fork_from_owner_default' to allow users
+	  to configure the default mode for vhost workers.
+
+	  By default, `VHOST_ENABLE_FORK_OWNER_CONTROL` is set to `y`,
+	  users can change the worker thread mode as needed.
+	  If this config is disabled (n),the related IOCTLs and parameters will
+	  be unavailable.
+
+	  If unsure, say "Y".
+
 endif
diff --git a/drivers/vhost/vhost.c b/drivers/vhost/vhost.c
index 63612faeab72..79b0b7cd2860 100644
--- a/drivers/vhost/vhost.c
+++ b/drivers/vhost/vhost.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include <linux/slab.h>
 #include <linux/vmalloc.h>
 #include <linux/kthread.h>
+#include <linux/cgroup.h>
 #include <linux/module.h>
 #include <linux/sort.h>
 #include <linux/sched/mm.h>
@@ -41,6 +42,13 @@ static int max_iotlb_entries = 2048;
 module_param(max_iotlb_entries, int, 0444);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(max_iotlb_entries,
 	"Maximum number of iotlb entries. (default: 2048)");
+static bool fork_from_owner_default = VHOST_FORK_OWNER_TASK;
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_VHOST_ENABLE_FORK_OWNER_CONTROL
+module_param(fork_from_owner_default, bool, 0444);
+MODULE_PARM_DESC(fork_from_owner_default,
+		 "Set task mode as the default(default: Y)");
+#endif
 
 enum {
 	VHOST_MEMORY_F_LOG = 0x1,
@@ -242,7 +250,7 @@ static void vhost_worker_queue(struct vhost_worker *worker,
 		 * test_and_set_bit() implies a memory barrier.
 		 */
 		llist_add(&work->node, &worker->work_list);
-		vhost_task_wake(worker->vtsk);
+		worker->ops->wakeup(worker);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -388,6 +396,44 @@ static void vhost_vq_reset(struct vhost_dev *dev,
 	__vhost_vq_meta_reset(vq);
 }
 
+static int vhost_run_work_kthread_list(void *data)
+{
+	struct vhost_worker *worker = data;
+	struct vhost_work *work, *work_next;
+	struct vhost_dev *dev = worker->dev;
+	struct llist_node *node;
+
+	kthread_use_mm(dev->mm);
+
+	for (;;) {
+		/* mb paired w/ kthread_stop */
+		set_current_state(TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
+
+		if (kthread_should_stop()) {
+			__set_current_state(TASK_RUNNING);
+			break;
+		}
+		node = llist_del_all(&worker->work_list);
+		if (!node)
+			schedule();
+
+		node = llist_reverse_order(node);
+		/* make sure flag is seen after deletion */
+		smp_wmb();
+		llist_for_each_entry_safe(work, work_next, node, node) {
+			clear_bit(VHOST_WORK_QUEUED, &work->flags);
+			__set_current_state(TASK_RUNNING);
+			kcov_remote_start_common(worker->kcov_handle);
+			work->fn(work);
+			kcov_remote_stop();
+			cond_resched();
+		}
+	}
+	kthread_unuse_mm(dev->mm);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static bool vhost_run_work_list(void *data)
 {
 	struct vhost_worker *worker = data;
@@ -552,6 +598,7 @@ void vhost_dev_init(struct vhost_dev *dev,
 	dev->byte_weight = byte_weight;
 	dev->use_worker = use_worker;
 	dev->msg_handler = msg_handler;
+	dev->fork_owner = fork_from_owner_default;
 	init_waitqueue_head(&dev->wait);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&dev->read_list);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&dev->pending_list);
@@ -581,6 +628,46 @@ long vhost_dev_check_owner(struct vhost_dev *dev)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(vhost_dev_check_owner);
 
+struct vhost_attach_cgroups_struct {
+	struct vhost_work work;
+	struct task_struct *owner;
+	int ret;
+};
+
+static void vhost_attach_cgroups_work(struct vhost_work *work)
+{
+	struct vhost_attach_cgroups_struct *s;
+
+	s = container_of(work, struct vhost_attach_cgroups_struct, work);
+	s->ret = cgroup_attach_task_all(s->owner, current);
+}
+
+static int vhost_attach_task_to_cgroups(struct vhost_worker *worker)
+{
+	struct vhost_attach_cgroups_struct attach;
+	int saved_cnt;
+
+	attach.owner = current;
+
+	vhost_work_init(&attach.work, vhost_attach_cgroups_work);
+	vhost_worker_queue(worker, &attach.work);
+
+	mutex_lock(&worker->mutex);
+
+	/*
+	 * Bypass attachment_cnt check in __vhost_worker_flush:
+	 * Temporarily change it to INT_MAX to bypass the check
+	 */
+	saved_cnt = worker->attachment_cnt;
+	worker->attachment_cnt = INT_MAX;
+	__vhost_worker_flush(worker);
+	worker->attachment_cnt = saved_cnt;
+
+	mutex_unlock(&worker->mutex);
+
+	return attach.ret;
+}
+
 /* Caller should have device mutex */
 bool vhost_dev_has_owner(struct vhost_dev *dev)
 {
@@ -626,7 +713,7 @@ static void vhost_worker_destroy(struct vhost_dev *dev,
 
 	WARN_ON(!llist_empty(&worker->work_list));
 	xa_erase(&dev->worker_xa, worker->id);
-	vhost_task_stop(worker->vtsk);
+	worker->ops->stop(worker);
 	kfree(worker);
 }
 
@@ -649,42 +736,115 @@ static void vhost_workers_free(struct vhost_dev *dev)
 	xa_destroy(&dev->worker_xa);
 }
 
+static void vhost_task_wakeup(struct vhost_worker *worker)
+{
+	return vhost_task_wake(worker->vtsk);
+}
+
+static void vhost_kthread_wakeup(struct vhost_worker *worker)
+{
+	wake_up_process(worker->kthread_task);
+}
+
+static void vhost_task_do_stop(struct vhost_worker *worker)
+{
+	return vhost_task_stop(worker->vtsk);
+}
+
+static void vhost_kthread_do_stop(struct vhost_worker *worker)
+{
+	kthread_stop(worker->kthread_task);
+}
+
+static int vhost_task_worker_create(struct vhost_worker *worker,
+				    struct vhost_dev *dev, const char *name)
+{
+	struct vhost_task *vtsk;
+	u32 id;
+	int ret;
+
+	vtsk = vhost_task_create(vhost_run_work_list, vhost_worker_killed,
+				 worker, name);
+	if (IS_ERR(vtsk))
+		return PTR_ERR(vtsk);
+
+	worker->vtsk = vtsk;
+	vhost_task_start(vtsk);
+	ret = xa_alloc(&dev->worker_xa, &id, worker, xa_limit_32b, GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (ret < 0) {
+		vhost_task_do_stop(worker);
+		return ret;
+	}
+	worker->id = id;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int vhost_kthread_worker_create(struct vhost_worker *worker,
+				       struct vhost_dev *dev, const char *name)
+{
+	struct task_struct *task;
+	u32 id;
+	int ret;
+
+	task = kthread_create(vhost_run_work_kthread_list, worker, "%s", name);
+	if (IS_ERR(task))
+		return PTR_ERR(task);
+
+	worker->kthread_task = task;
+	wake_up_process(task);
+	ret = xa_alloc(&dev->worker_xa, &id, worker, xa_limit_32b, GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		goto stop_worker;
+
+	ret = vhost_attach_task_to_cgroups(worker);
+	if (ret)
+		goto stop_worker;
+
+	worker->id = id;
+	return 0;
+
+stop_worker:
+	vhost_kthread_do_stop(worker);
+	return ret;
+}
+
+static const struct vhost_worker_ops kthread_ops = {
+	.create = vhost_kthread_worker_create,
+	.stop = vhost_kthread_do_stop,
+	.wakeup = vhost_kthread_wakeup,
+};
+
+static const struct vhost_worker_ops vhost_task_ops = {
+	.create = vhost_task_worker_create,
+	.stop = vhost_task_do_stop,
+	.wakeup = vhost_task_wakeup,
+};
+
 static struct vhost_worker *vhost_worker_create(struct vhost_dev *dev)
 {
 	struct vhost_worker *worker;
-	struct vhost_task *vtsk;
 	char name[TASK_COMM_LEN];
 	int ret;
-	u32 id;
+	const struct vhost_worker_ops *ops = dev->fork_owner ? &vhost_task_ops :
+							       &kthread_ops;
 
 	worker = kzalloc(sizeof(*worker), GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT);
 	if (!worker)
 		return NULL;
 
 	worker->dev = dev;
+	worker->ops = ops;
 	snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "vhost-%d", current->pid);
 
-	vtsk = vhost_task_create(vhost_run_work_list, vhost_worker_killed,
-				 worker, name);
-	if (IS_ERR(vtsk))
-		goto free_worker;
-
 	mutex_init(&worker->mutex);
 	init_llist_head(&worker->work_list);
 	worker->kcov_handle = kcov_common_handle();
-	worker->vtsk = vtsk;
-
-	vhost_task_start(vtsk);
-
-	ret = xa_alloc(&dev->worker_xa, &id, worker, xa_limit_32b, GFP_KERNEL);
+	ret = ops->create(worker, dev, name);
 	if (ret < 0)
-		goto stop_worker;
-	worker->id = id;
+		goto free_worker;
 
 	return worker;
 
-stop_worker:
-	vhost_task_stop(vtsk);
 free_worker:
 	kfree(worker);
 	return NULL;
@@ -865,6 +1025,14 @@ long vhost_worker_ioctl(struct vhost_dev *dev, unsigned int ioctl,
 	switch (ioctl) {
 	/* dev worker ioctls */
 	case VHOST_NEW_WORKER:
+		/*
+		 * vhost_tasks will account for worker threads under the parent's
+		 * NPROC value but kthreads do not. To avoid userspace overflowing
+		 * the system with worker threads fork_owner must be true.
+		 */
+		if (!dev->fork_owner)
+			return -EFAULT;
+
 		ret = vhost_new_worker(dev, &state);
 		if (!ret && copy_to_user(argp, &state, sizeof(state)))
 			ret = -EFAULT;
@@ -982,6 +1150,7 @@ void vhost_dev_reset_owner(struct vhost_dev *dev, struct vhost_iotlb *umem)
 
 	vhost_dev_cleanup(dev);
 
+	dev->fork_owner = fork_from_owner_default;
 	dev->umem = umem;
 	/* We don't need VQ locks below since vhost_dev_cleanup makes sure
 	 * VQs aren't running.
@@ -2135,6 +2304,45 @@ long vhost_dev_ioctl(struct vhost_dev *d, unsigned int ioctl, void __user *argp)
 		goto done;
 	}
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_VHOST_ENABLE_FORK_OWNER_CONTROL
+	if (ioctl == VHOST_SET_FORK_FROM_OWNER) {
+		/* Only allow modification before owner is set */
+		if (vhost_dev_has_owner(d)) {
+			r = -EBUSY;
+			goto done;
+		}
+		u8 fork_owner_val;
+
+		if (get_user(fork_owner_val, (u8 __user *)argp)) {
+			r = -EFAULT;
+			goto done;
+		}
+		if (fork_owner_val != VHOST_FORK_OWNER_TASK &&
+		    fork_owner_val != VHOST_FORK_OWNER_KTHREAD) {
+			r = -EINVAL;
+			goto done;
+		}
+		d->fork_owner = !!fork_owner_val;
+		r = 0;
+		goto done;
+	}
+	if (ioctl == VHOST_GET_FORK_FROM_OWNER) {
+		u8 fork_owner_val = d->fork_owner;
+
+		if (fork_owner_val != VHOST_FORK_OWNER_TASK &&
+		    fork_owner_val != VHOST_FORK_OWNER_KTHREAD) {
+			r = -EINVAL;
+			goto done;
+		}
+		if (put_user(fork_owner_val, (u8 __user *)argp)) {
+			r = -EFAULT;
+			goto done;
+		}
+		r = 0;
+		goto done;
+	}
+#endif
+
 	/* You must be the owner to do anything else */
 	r = vhost_dev_check_owner(d);
 	if (r)
diff --git a/drivers/vhost/vhost.h b/drivers/vhost/vhost.h
index bb75a292d50c..ab704d84fb34 100644
--- a/drivers/vhost/vhost.h
+++ b/drivers/vhost/vhost.h
@@ -26,7 +26,18 @@ struct vhost_work {
 	unsigned long		flags;
 };
 
+struct vhost_worker;
+struct vhost_dev;
+
+struct vhost_worker_ops {
+	int (*create)(struct vhost_worker *worker, struct vhost_dev *dev,
+		      const char *name);
+	void (*stop)(struct vhost_worker *worker);
+	void (*wakeup)(struct vhost_worker *worker);
+};
+
 struct vhost_worker {
+	struct task_struct *kthread_task;
 	struct vhost_task	*vtsk;
 	struct vhost_dev	*dev;
 	/* Used to serialize device wide flushing with worker swapping. */
@@ -36,6 +47,7 @@ struct vhost_worker {
 	u32			id;
 	int			attachment_cnt;
 	bool			killed;
+	const struct vhost_worker_ops *ops;
 };
 
 /* Poll a file (eventfd or socket) */
@@ -176,6 +188,16 @@ struct vhost_dev {
 	int byte_weight;
 	struct xarray worker_xa;
 	bool use_worker;
+	/*
+	 * If fork_owner is true we use vhost_tasks to create
+	 * the worker so all settings/limits like cgroups, NPROC,
+	 * scheduler, etc are inherited from the owner. If false,
+	 * we use kthreads and only attach to the same cgroups
+	 * as the owner for compat with older kernels.
+	 * here we use true as default value.
+	 * The default value is set by fork_from_owner_default
+	 */
+	bool fork_owner;
 	int (*msg_handler)(struct vhost_dev *dev, u32 asid,
 			   struct vhost_iotlb_msg *msg);
 };
diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/vhost.h b/include/uapi/linux/vhost.h
index b95dd84eef2d..1c7e7035fc49 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/vhost.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/vhost.h
@@ -235,4 +235,33 @@
  */
 #define VHOST_VDPA_GET_VRING_SIZE	_IOWR(VHOST_VIRTIO, 0x82,	\
 					      struct vhost_vring_state)
+
+/* fork_owner values for vhost */
+#define VHOST_FORK_OWNER_KTHREAD 0
+#define VHOST_FORK_OWNER_TASK 1
+
+/**
+ * VHOST_SET_FORK_FROM_OWNER - Set the fork_owner flag for the vhost device,
+ * This ioctl must called before VHOST_SET_OWNER.
+ * Only available when CONFIG_VHOST_ENABLE_FORK_OWNER_CONTROL=y
+ *
+ * @param fork_owner: An 8-bit value that determines the vhost thread mode
+ *
+ * When fork_owner is set to VHOST_FORK_OWNER_TASK(default value):
+ *   - Vhost will create vhost worker as tasks forked from the owner,
+ *     inheriting all of the owner's attributes.
+ *
+ * When fork_owner is set to VHOST_FORK_OWNER_KTHREAD:
+ *   - Vhost will create vhost workers as kernel threads.
+ */
+#define VHOST_SET_FORK_FROM_OWNER _IOW(VHOST_VIRTIO, 0x83, __u8)
+
+/**
+ * VHOST_GET_FORK_OWNER - Get the current fork_owner flag for the vhost device.
+ * Only available when CONFIG_VHOST_ENABLE_FORK_OWNER_CONTROL=y
+ *
+ * @return: An 8-bit value indicating the current thread mode.
+ */
+#define VHOST_GET_FORK_FROM_OWNER _IOR(VHOST_VIRTIO, 0x84, __u8)
+
 #endif
-- 
2.39.5