linux-kernel - Re: [RFC PATCH 2/2] mm: implement page refcount locking via dedicated bit

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Message-ID: <ed1dcc5d-1e80-44ad-b050-e37460d3dac7@h-partners.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2025 22:08:54 +0300
From: Gladyshev Ilya <gladyshev.ilya1@...artners.com>
To: Kiryl Shutsemau <kirill@...temov.name>
CC: <guohanjun@...wei.com>, <wangkefeng.wang@...wei.com>,
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Subject: Re: [RFC PATCH 2/2] mm: implement page refcount locking via dedicated
 bit

On 12/19/2025 8:46 PM, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 19, 2025 at 07:18:53PM +0300, Gladyshev Ilya wrote:
>> On 12/19/2025 5:50 PM, Kiryl Shutsemau wrote:
>>> On Fri, Dec 19, 2025 at 12:46:39PM +0000, Gladyshev Ilya wrote:
>>>> The current atomic-based page refcount implementation treats zero
>>>> counter as dead and requires a compare-and-swap loop in folio_try_get()
>>>> to prevent incrementing a dead refcount. This CAS loop acts as a
>>>> serialization point and can become a significant bottleneck during
>>>> high-frequency file read operations.
>>>>
>>>> This patch introduces FOLIO_LOCKED_BIT to distinguish between a
>>>
>>> s/FOLIO_LOCKED_BIT/PAGEREF_LOCKED_BIT/
>> Ack, thanks
>>
>>>> (temporary) zero refcount and a locked (dead/frozen) state. Because now
>>>> incrementing counter doesn't affect it's locked/unlocked state, it is
>>>> possible to use an optimistic atomic_fetch_add() in
>>>> page_ref_add_unless_zero() that operates independently of the locked bit.
>>>> The locked state is handled after the increment attempt, eliminating the
>>>> need for the CAS loop.
>>>
>>> I don't think I follow.
>>>
>>> Your trick with the PAGEREF_LOCKED_BIT helps with serialization against
>>> page_ref_freeze(), but I don't think it does anything to serialize
>>> against freeing the page under you.
>>>
>>> Like, if the page in the process of freeing, page allocator sets its
>>> refcount to zero and your version of page_ref_add_unless_zero()
>>> successfully acquirees reference for the freed page.
>>>
>>> How is it safe?
>>
>> Page is freed only after a successful page_ref_dec_and_test() call, which
>> will set LOCKED_BIT. This bit will persist until set_page_count(1) is called
>> somewhere in the allocation path [alloc_pages()], and effectively block any
>> "use after free" users.
> 
> Okay, fair enough.
> 
> But what prevent the following scenario?
> 
> 		CPU0					CPU1
> page_ref_dec_and_test()
>    atomic_dec_and_test() // refcount=0
> 					page_ref_add_unless_zero()
> 					  atomic_add_return() // refcount=1, no LOCKED_BIT
> 					page_ref_dec_and_test()
> 					  atomic_dec_and_test() // refcount=0
> 					  atomic_cmpxchg(0, LOCKED_BIT) // succeeds
>    atomic_cmpxchg(0, LOCKED_BIT) // fails
>    // return false to caller
> // Use-after-free: BOOM!
> 
But you can't trust that the page is safe to use after 
page_ref_dec_and_test() returns false, if I understood your example 
correctly. For example, current implementation can also lead to this 
'bug' if you slightly change the order of atomic ops in your example:

Initial refcount value: 1 from CPU 0
        CPU 0                                CPU 1
page_ref_and_dec()               page_ref_add_unless_zero()
                                     atomic_add_return() [1 -> 2]
    atomic_dec_and_test() [2 -> 1]
                                  page_ref_dec_and_test()
                                     atomic_dec_and_test() [1 -> 0]
                                  /* page is logically freed here */
    return false [cause 1!=0]
// Caller with use after free?