linux-kernel - migrate_misplaced_transhuge_page: no page

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Message-ID: <alpine.LNX.2.00.1212192011320.25992@eggly.anvils>
Date:	Wed, 19 Dec 2012 20:52:37 -0800 (PST)
From:	Hugh Dickins <hughd@...gle.com>
To:	Mel Gorman <mgorman@...e.de>, Ingo Molnar <mingo@...nel.org>
cc:	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, linux-mm@...ck.org
Subject: migrate_misplaced_transhuge_page: no page_count check?

Mel, Ingo,

I want to raise again a question I raised (in offline mail with Mel)
a couple of weeks ago.

I see only a page_mapcount check in migrate_misplaced_transhuge_page,
and don't understand how migration can be safe against the possibility
of an earlier call to get_user_pages or get_user_pages_fast (intended
to pin a part of the THP) without a page_count check.

(I'm also still somewhat worried about unidentified attempts to
pin the page concurrently; but since I don't have an example to give,
and concurrent get_user_pages or get_user_pages_fast wouldn't get past
the pmd_numa, let's not worry too much about my unidentified anxiety ;)

migrate_page_move_mapping and migrate_huge_page_move_mapping check
page_count, but migrate_misplaced_transhuge_page doesn't use those.
__collapse_huge_page_isolate and khugepaged_scan_pmd (over in
huge_memory.c) take commented care to check page_count lest GUP.

I can see that page_count might often be raised by concurrent faults
on the same pmd_numa, waiting on the lock_page in do_huge_pmd_numa_page.
That's unfortunate, and maybe you can find a clever way to discount
those.  But safety must come first: don't we need to check page_count?

Hugh
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