[PATCH v5 0/3] mm: khugepaged: fix tracepoint UAF

COLD30d IN MM

Revision v5 of 4 in this series; queued in mm as 942c8ec27aa4 on 2026-10-07.

5 messages, 2 authors, 2026-09-09 · open the first message on its own page

[PATCH v5 0/3] mm: khugepaged: fix tracepoint UAF

From: Vernon Yang <hidden>
Date: 2026-09-09 02:58:30

From: Vernon Yang <redacted>

The khugepaged tracepoints take a folio pointer and call folio_pfn(),
but by then the folio may no longer be valid: freed after folio_put(),
folio_unlock() or pte_unmap_unlock(), or not a folio at all but an
xarray-encoded swap entry. On classic SPARSEMEM, dereferencing it oopses
khugepaged as soon as the trace event is enabled; on other memory models
it merely prints a bogus pfn.

Pass the pfn to the tracepoints directly, captured while the folio is
still pinned, closing the use-after-free windows in
mm_khugepaged_scan_file(), mm_khugepaged_scan_pmd() and
mm_khugepaged_collapse_file().

This series is based on mm-new + revert v4.

V4 -> V5:
- Use a single trace statement.
- Collect Acked-by.

V3 -> V4:
- Only trace the PFN if it really was problematic.
- Calling the respective trace_xxx() functions separately on success and
  failure.
- Set new_pfn once after successful alloc_charge_folio().

V2 -> V3:
- Place folio_pfn() inside the xas_for_each() loop in PATCH#1.
- Already defaulted the pfn value to -1, to simple it in PATCH#2.

V1 -> V2:
- Instead of passing the folio, just pass the pfn directly.
- Using the folio_pfn() before dropping the reference or the page table
  lock.

V4 : https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/20260828055926.346744-1-vernon2gm@gmail.com/
V3 : https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/20260824092935.73892-1-vernon2gm@gmail.com/
V2 : https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/20260815051924.194810-1-vernon2gm@gmail.com/
V1 : https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/20260811133655.267739-1-vernon2gm@gmail.com/

Vernon Yang (3):
  mm: khugepaged: fix swap entry value to folio_pfn()
  mm: khugepaged: fix folio is used after pte_unmap_unlock()
  mm: khugepaged: fix folio is used after folio_put/unlock()

 include/trace/events/huge_memory.h | 18 +++++++++---------
 mm/khugepaged.c                    | 21 ++++++++++++++++++---
 2 files changed, 27 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

--
2.53.0

[PATCH v5 1/3] mm: khugepaged: fix swap entry value to folio_pfn()

From: Vernon Yang <hidden>
Date: 2026-09-09 02:58:33

From: Vernon Yang <redacted>

When the swap entries found exceed max_ptes_swap, the loop is left via
break with folio still holding the xarray value that encodes the swap
entry, not valid folio pointer.

That value is passed to trace_mm_khugepaged_scan_file(), which feeds it
to folio_pfn(). On FLATMEM and SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP, the page_to_pfn() is
plain pointer arithmetic, so the trace event merely prints bogus
scan_pfn. On classic SPARSEMEM, the page_to_pfn() reads page->flags,
dereferencing the tiny encoded integer and oopsing khugepaged whenever
the trace event is enabled.

So when folio is the swap entry value, simply set pfn to -1, just like
exhausted scan naturally.

And the folio_put() has maybe dropped the last reference of folio. The
trace_mm_khugepaged_scan_file() is left with a dangling folio pointer.
so using the folio_pfn() before dropping the reference, closing
use-after-free window.

Acked-by: David Hildenbrand (Arm) <david@kernel.org>
Fixes: d41fd2016ed0 ("mm/khugepaged: add tracepoint to hpage_collapse_scan_file()")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Vernon Yang <redacted>
---
 include/trace/events/huge_memory.h | 6 +++---
 mm/khugepaged.c                    | 7 ++++++-
 2 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/trace/events/huge_memory.h b/include/trace/events/huge_memory.h
index 5a48c5406cce..7b526528f85b 100644
--- a/include/trace/events/huge_memory.h
+++ b/include/trace/events/huge_memory.h

@@ -178,10 +178,10 @@ TRACE_EVENT(mm_collapse_huge_page_swapin,
 
 TRACE_EVENT(mm_khugepaged_scan_file,
 
-	TP_PROTO(struct mm_struct *mm, struct folio *folio, struct file *file,
+	TP_PROTO(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long pfn, struct file *file,
 		 int present, int swap, int result),
 
-	TP_ARGS(mm, folio, file, present, swap, result),
+	TP_ARGS(mm, pfn, file, present, swap, result),
 
 	TP_STRUCT__entry(
 		__field(struct mm_struct *, mm)

@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ TRACE_EVENT(mm_khugepaged_scan_file,
 
 	TP_fast_assign(
 		__entry->mm = mm;
-		__entry->pfn = folio ? folio_pfn(folio) : -1;
+		__entry->pfn = pfn;
 		__assign_str(filename);
 		__entry->present = present;
 		__entry->swap = swap;

diff --git a/mm/khugepaged.c b/mm/khugepaged.c
index e6947fe142ee..6ee0ad13a31f 100644
--- a/mm/khugepaged.c
+++ b/mm/khugepaged.c

@@ -2690,6 +2690,7 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_scan_file(struct mm_struct *mm,
 	int present, swap;
 	int node = NUMA_NO_NODE;
 	enum scan_result result = SCAN_SUCCEED;
+	unsigned long failed_pfn = -1;
 
 	present = 0;
 	swap = 0;

@@ -2722,6 +2723,7 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_scan_file(struct mm_struct *mm,
 
 		if (is_pmd_order(folio_order(folio))) {
 			result = SCAN_PTE_MAPPED_HUGEPAGE;
+			failed_pfn = folio_pfn(folio);
 			/*
 			 * PMD-sized THP implies that we can only try
 			 * retracting the PTE table.

@@ -2733,6 +2735,7 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_scan_file(struct mm_struct *mm,
 		node = folio_nid(folio);
 		if (collapse_scan_abort(node, cc)) {
 			result = SCAN_SCAN_ABORT;
+			failed_pfn = folio_pfn(folio);
 			folio_put(folio);
 			break;
 		}

@@ -2740,12 +2743,14 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_scan_file(struct mm_struct *mm,
 
 		if (!folio_test_lru(folio)) {
 			result = SCAN_PAGE_LRU;
+			failed_pfn = folio_pfn(folio);
 			folio_put(folio);
 			break;
 		}
 
 		if (folio_expected_ref_count(folio) + 1 != folio_ref_count(folio)) {
 			result = SCAN_PAGE_COUNT;
+			failed_pfn = folio_pfn(folio);
 			folio_put(folio);
 			break;
 		}

@@ -2780,7 +2785,7 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_scan_file(struct mm_struct *mm,
 		}
 	}
 
-	trace_mm_khugepaged_scan_file(mm, folio, file, present, swap, result);
+	trace_mm_khugepaged_scan_file(mm, failed_pfn, file, present, swap, result);
 	return result;
 }

-- 
2.53.0

[PATCH v5 2/3] mm: khugepaged: fix folio is used after pte_unmap_unlock()

From: Vernon Yang <hidden>
Date: 2026-09-09 02:58:37

From: Vernon Yang <redacted>

After the page table lock has dropped, the folio can be freed
concurrently. The trace_mm_khugepaged_scan_pmd() is left with
a dangling folio pointer.

So using the folio_pfn() before dropping the page table lock, closing
use-after-free window.

And other pre-existing bug, When the `for (i = 0; i < HPAGE_PMD_NR; i++)`
iteration to terminate and the folio operation preceding is normal, but
pfn will be incorrect. so we really only trace the PFN if it really was
problematic.

Acked-by: David Hildenbrand (Arm) <david@kernel.org>
Acked-by: Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM) <ljs@kernel.org>
Fixes: 7d2eba0557c1 ("mm: add tracepoint for scanning pages")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Vernon Yang <redacted>
---
 include/trace/events/huge_memory.h |  6 +++---
 mm/khugepaged.c                    | 10 +++++++++-
 2 files changed, 12 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/trace/events/huge_memory.h b/include/trace/events/huge_memory.h
index 7b526528f85b..fa828967e1fb 100644
--- a/include/trace/events/huge_memory.h
+++ b/include/trace/events/huge_memory.h

@@ -55,10 +55,10 @@ SCAN_STATUS
 
 TRACE_EVENT(mm_khugepaged_scan_pmd,
 
-	TP_PROTO(struct mm_struct *mm, struct folio *folio,
+	TP_PROTO(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long pfn,
 		 int referenced, int none_or_zero, int status, int unmapped),
 
-	TP_ARGS(mm, folio, referenced, none_or_zero, status, unmapped),
+	TP_ARGS(mm, pfn, referenced, none_or_zero, status, unmapped),
 
 	TP_STRUCT__entry(
 		__field(struct mm_struct *, mm)

@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ TRACE_EVENT(mm_khugepaged_scan_pmd,
 
 	TP_fast_assign(
 		__entry->mm = mm;
-		__entry->pfn = folio ? folio_pfn(folio) : -1;
+		__entry->pfn = pfn;
 		__entry->referenced = referenced;
 		__entry->none_or_zero = none_or_zero;
 		__entry->status = status;

diff --git a/mm/khugepaged.c b/mm/khugepaged.c
index 6ee0ad13a31f..b352c1330f8e 100644
--- a/mm/khugepaged.c
+++ b/mm/khugepaged.c

@@ -1612,6 +1612,7 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_scan_pmd(struct mm_struct *mm,
 	enum scan_result result = SCAN_FAIL;
 	struct page *page = NULL;
 	struct folio *folio = NULL;
+	unsigned long failed_pfn = -1;
 	unsigned long addr;
 	unsigned long enabled_orders;
 	spinlock_t *ptl;

@@ -1706,11 +1707,13 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_scan_pmd(struct mm_struct *mm,
 		if (cc->is_khugepaged && !(vma->vm_flags & VM_DROPPABLE) &&
 		    folio_test_lazyfree(folio) && !pte_dirty(pteval)) {
 			result = SCAN_PAGE_LAZYFREE;
+			failed_pfn = folio_pfn(folio);
 			goto out_unmap;
 		}
 
 		if (!folio_test_anon(folio)) {
 			result = SCAN_PAGE_ANON;
+			failed_pfn = folio_pfn(folio);
 			goto out_unmap;
 		}

@@ -1721,6 +1724,7 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_scan_pmd(struct mm_struct *mm,
 		if (folio_maybe_mapped_shared(folio)) {
 			if (++shared > max_ptes_shared) {
 				result = SCAN_EXCEED_SHARED_PTE;
+				failed_pfn = folio_pfn(folio);
 				count_collapse_event(HPAGE_PMD_ORDER, THP_SCAN_EXCEED_SHARED_PTE,
 						     MTHP_STAT_COLLAPSE_EXCEED_SHARED);
 				goto out_unmap;

@@ -1738,15 +1742,18 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_scan_pmd(struct mm_struct *mm,
 		node = folio_nid(folio);
 		if (collapse_scan_abort(node, cc)) {
 			result = SCAN_SCAN_ABORT;
+			failed_pfn = folio_pfn(folio);
 			goto out_unmap;
 		}
 		cc->node_load[node]++;
 		if (!folio_test_lru(folio)) {
 			result = SCAN_PAGE_LRU;
+			failed_pfn = folio_pfn(folio);
 			goto out_unmap;
 		}
 		if (folio_test_locked(folio)) {
 			result = SCAN_PAGE_LOCK;
+			failed_pfn = folio_pfn(folio);
 			goto out_unmap;
 		}

@@ -1759,6 +1766,7 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_scan_pmd(struct mm_struct *mm,
 		 */
 		if (folio_expected_ref_count(folio) != folio_ref_count(folio)) {
 			result = SCAN_PAGE_COUNT;
+			failed_pfn = folio_pfn(folio);
 			goto out_unmap;
 		}

@@ -1784,7 +1792,7 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_scan_pmd(struct mm_struct *mm,
 		*lock_dropped = true;
 	}
 out:
-	trace_mm_khugepaged_scan_pmd(mm, folio, referenced,
+	trace_mm_khugepaged_scan_pmd(mm, failed_pfn, referenced,
 				     none_or_zero, result, unmapped);
 	return result;
 }

-- 
2.53.0

[PATCH v5 3/3] mm: khugepaged: fix folio is used after folio_put/unlock()

From: Vernon Yang <hidden>
Date: 2026-09-09 02:58:46

From: Vernon Yang <redacted>

On the rollback path, folio_put() has already dropped the last reference
of new_folio. On the success path, new_folio is already unlocked and can
be freed concurrently. The trace_mm_khugepaged_collapse_file() is left
with a dangling folio pointer.

So using the folio_pfn() before dropping the reference, closing
use-after-free window.

Acked-by: David Hildenbrand (Arm) <david@kernel.org>
Acked-by: Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM) <ljs@kernel.org>
Fixes: 4c9473e87e75 ("mm/khugepaged: add tracepoint to collapse_file()")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Vernon Yang <redacted>
---
 include/trace/events/huge_memory.h | 6 +++---
 mm/khugepaged.c                    | 4 +++-
 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/trace/events/huge_memory.h b/include/trace/events/huge_memory.h
index fa828967e1fb..5fb4d92cfd84 100644
--- a/include/trace/events/huge_memory.h
+++ b/include/trace/events/huge_memory.h

@@ -211,10 +211,10 @@ TRACE_EVENT(mm_khugepaged_scan_file,
 );
 
 TRACE_EVENT(mm_khugepaged_collapse_file,
-	TP_PROTO(struct mm_struct *mm, struct folio *new_folio, pgoff_t index,
+	TP_PROTO(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long new_pfn, pgoff_t index,
 			unsigned long addr, bool is_shmem, struct file *file,
 			int nr, int result),
-	TP_ARGS(mm, new_folio, index, addr, is_shmem, file, nr, result),
+	TP_ARGS(mm, new_pfn, index, addr, is_shmem, file, nr, result),
 	TP_STRUCT__entry(
 		__field(struct mm_struct *, mm)
 		__field(unsigned long, hpfn)

@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ TRACE_EVENT(mm_khugepaged_collapse_file,
 
 	TP_fast_assign(
 		__entry->mm = mm;
-		__entry->hpfn = new_folio ? folio_pfn(new_folio) : -1;
+		__entry->hpfn = new_pfn;
 		__entry->index = index;
 		__entry->addr = addr;
 		__entry->is_shmem = is_shmem;

diff --git a/mm/khugepaged.c b/mm/khugepaged.c
index b352c1330f8e..e13d233b9967 100644
--- a/mm/khugepaged.c
+++ b/mm/khugepaged.c

@@ -2260,6 +2260,7 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_file(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long addr,
 	struct address_space *mapping = file->f_mapping;
 	struct page *dst;
 	struct folio *folio, *tmp, *new_folio;
+	unsigned long new_pfn = -1;
 	pgoff_t index = 0, end = start + HPAGE_PMD_NR;
 	LIST_HEAD(pagelist);
 	XA_STATE_ORDER(xas, &mapping->i_pages, start, HPAGE_PMD_ORDER);

@@ -2279,6 +2280,7 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_file(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long addr,
 	result = alloc_charge_folio(&new_folio, mm, cc, HPAGE_PMD_ORDER);
 	if (result != SCAN_SUCCEED)
 		goto out;
+	new_pfn = folio_pfn(new_folio);
 
 	mapping_set_update(&xas, mapping);

@@ -2682,7 +2684,7 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_file(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long addr,
 	folio_put(new_folio);
 out:
 	VM_BUG_ON(!list_empty(&pagelist));
-	trace_mm_khugepaged_collapse_file(mm, new_folio, index, addr, is_shmem, file, HPAGE_PMD_NR, result);
+	trace_mm_khugepaged_collapse_file(mm, new_pfn, index, addr, is_shmem, file, HPAGE_PMD_NR, result);
 	return result;
 }

-- 
2.53.0

Re: [PATCH v5 0/3] mm: khugepaged: fix tracepoint UAF

From: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Date: 2026-09-09 06:58:42

On Wed,  9 Sep 2026 10:58:00 +0800 Vernon Yang [off-list ref] wrote:

From: Vernon Yang <redacted>

The khugepaged tracepoints take a folio pointer and call folio_pfn(),
but by then the folio may no longer be valid: freed after folio_put(),
folio_unlock() or pte_unmap_unlock(), or not a folio at all but an
xarray-encoded swap entry. On classic SPARSEMEM, dereferencing it oopses
khugepaged as soon as the trace event is enabled; on other memory models
it merely prints a bogus pfn.

Pass the pfn to the tracepoints directly, captured while the folio is
still pinned, closing the use-after-free windows in
mm_khugepaged_scan_file(), mm_khugepaged_scan_pmd() and
mm_khugepaged_collapse_file().

Thanks, I've updated mm.git to this version.

V4 -> V5:
- Use a single trace statement.
- Collect Acked-by.

Here's how v5 altered mm.git:


 mm/khugepaged.c |   15 ++++-----------
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

--- a/mm/khugepaged.c~b
+++ a/mm/khugepaged.c

@@ -1790,13 +1790,10 @@ out_unmap:
 				       unmapped, cc, enabled_orders);
 		/* mmap_lock was released above, set lock_dropped */
 		*lock_dropped = true;
-		trace_mm_khugepaged_scan_pmd(mm, -1, referenced, none_or_zero,
-					     SCAN_SUCCEED, unmapped);
-	} else {
-out:
-		trace_mm_khugepaged_scan_pmd(mm, failed_pfn, referenced,
-					     none_or_zero, result, unmapped);
 	}
+out:
+	trace_mm_khugepaged_scan_pmd(mm, failed_pfn, referenced,
+				     none_or_zero, result, unmapped);
 	return result;
 }

@@ -2789,13 +2786,9 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_scan_fi
 		} else {
 			result = collapse_file(mm, addr, file, start, cc);
 		}
-		trace_mm_khugepaged_scan_file(mm, -1, file, present, swap,
-					      SCAN_SUCCEED);
-	} else {
-		trace_mm_khugepaged_scan_file(mm, failed_pfn, file, present,
-					      swap, result);
 	}
 
+	trace_mm_khugepaged_scan_file(mm, failed_pfn, file, present, swap, result);
 	return result;
 }

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