diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'mm/pagewalk.c')
| -rw-r--r-- | mm/pagewalk.c | 29 |
1 files changed, 28 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/mm/pagewalk.c b/mm/pagewalk.c index b7d7e4fcfad7aa..f46c80b18ce4fd 100644 --- a/mm/pagewalk.c +++ b/mm/pagewalk.c @@ -539,6 +539,11 @@ int walk_page_range(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start, * not backed by VMAs. Because 'unusual' entries may be walked this function * will also not lock the PTEs for the pte_entry() callback. This is useful for * walking the kernel pages tables or page tables for firmware. + * + * Note: Be careful to walk the kernel pages tables, the caller may be need to + * take other effective approache (mmap lock may be insufficient) to prevent + * the intermediate kernel page tables belonging to the specified address range + * from being freed (e.g. memory hot-remove). */ int walk_page_range_novma(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start, unsigned long end, const struct mm_walk_ops *ops, @@ -556,7 +561,29 @@ int walk_page_range_novma(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start, if (start >= end || !walk.mm) return -EINVAL; - mmap_assert_write_locked(walk.mm); + /* + * 1) For walking the user virtual address space: + * + * The mmap lock protects the page walker from changes to the page + * tables during the walk. However a read lock is insufficient to + * protect those areas which don't have a VMA as munmap() detaches + * the VMAs before downgrading to a read lock and actually tearing + * down PTEs/page tables. In which case, the mmap write lock should + * be hold. + * + * 2) For walking the kernel virtual address space: + * + * The kernel intermediate page tables usually do not be freed, so + * the mmap map read lock is sufficient. But there are some exceptions. + * E.g. memory hot-remove. In which case, the mmap lock is insufficient + * to prevent the intermediate kernel pages tables belonging to the + * specified address range from being freed. The caller should take + * other actions to prevent this race. + */ + if (mm == &init_mm) + mmap_assert_locked(walk.mm); + else + mmap_assert_write_locked(walk.mm); return walk_pgd_range(start, end, &walk); } |