[PATCH v3 0/3] remove mmap_action success, error hooks

Lorenzo Stoakes posted 3 patches 1 week, 4 days ago
drivers/char/mem.c              | 25 ++++++-------------------
include/linux/mm.h              |  5 +++++
include/linux/mm_types.h        | 19 +++----------------
mm/util.c                       | 32 ++++++++++++++++++++++----------
mm/vma.c                        |  3 +++
tools/testing/vma/include/dup.h | 20 ++++----------------
6 files changed, 43 insertions(+), 61 deletions(-)
[PATCH v3 0/3] remove mmap_action success, error hooks
Posted by Lorenzo Stoakes 1 week, 4 days ago
The mmap_action->success_hook was a strange beast added to enable code
which appeared to absolutely require access to a VMA pointer to work
correctly.

Primarily this was for hugetlb, however a different approach will be taken
there, as clearly more work is required to figure out a sensible way of
converting hugetlb to use mmap_prepare.

The other user was the memory char driver, specifically /dev/zero which has
the unusual property of explicitly setting file-backed VMAs anonymous.

Providing the success hook was always foolish, as it allowed drivers a way
to workaround the restriction that they should not access a pointer to a
not-yet-correctly-initialised VMA - which defeats the purpose of the
mmap_prepare work.

We can achieve the same thing in memory char driver without needing the
success hook, so this series removes that, then removes the success hook
altogether.

The error hook is also unnecessary - the motivation for this was for
functions which need to override the error code when performing an mmap
action in order to avoid breaking userspace.

We can achieve this by just providing a field for the error code. Doing
this means we don't have to worry about the hook doing anything odd.

We also add a check to ensure the error code is in fact valid.

Again the memory char driver is the only current user of this, so this
series updates it to use that.

After this change mmap_action has no custom hooks at all, which seems
rather more cromulent than before.

v3:
* Rename error_filter -> errror_override + update commit message as per
  David.

v2:
* Fold fix-patch in, defaulting the vma descriptor vm_ops field to the
  dummy VMA operations.
* Update commit message in 1/3 to reflect this.
https://lore.kernel.org/all/cover.1779462249.git.ljs@kernel.org

v1:
https://lore.kernel.org/all/cover.1779379804.git.ljs@kernel.org

Lorenzo Stoakes (3):
  drivers/char/mem: eliminate unnecessary use of success_hook
  mm/vma: remove mmap_action->success_hook
  mm/vma: eliminate mmap_action->error_hook, introduce error_override

 drivers/char/mem.c              | 25 ++++++-------------------
 include/linux/mm.h              |  5 +++++
 include/linux/mm_types.h        | 19 +++----------------
 mm/util.c                       | 32 ++++++++++++++++++++++----------
 mm/vma.c                        |  3 +++
 tools/testing/vma/include/dup.h | 20 ++++----------------
 6 files changed, 43 insertions(+), 61 deletions(-)

--
2.54.0
Re: [PATCH v3 0/3] remove mmap_action success, error hooks
Posted by Andrew Morton 1 week, 3 days ago
On Tue,  2 Jun 2026 12:06:24 +0100 Lorenzo Stoakes <ljs@kernel.org> wrote:

> The mmap_action->success_hook was a strange beast added to enable code
> which appeared to absolutely require access to a VMA pointer to work
> correctly.
> 
> Primarily this was for hugetlb, however a different approach will be taken
> there, as clearly more work is required to figure out a sensible way of
> converting hugetlb to use mmap_prepare.
> 
> The other user was the memory char driver, specifically /dev/zero which has
> the unusual property of explicitly setting file-backed VMAs anonymous.
> 
> Providing the success hook was always foolish, as it allowed drivers a way
> to workaround the restriction that they should not access a pointer to a
> not-yet-correctly-initialised VMA - which defeats the purpose of the
> mmap_prepare work.
> 
> We can achieve the same thing in memory char driver without needing the
> success hook, so this series removes that, then removes the success hook
> altogether.
> 
> The error hook is also unnecessary - the motivation for this was for
> functions which need to override the error code when performing an mmap
> action in order to avoid breaking userspace.
> 
> We can achieve this by just providing a field for the error code. Doing
> this means we don't have to worry about the hook doing anything odd.
> 
> We also add a check to ensure the error code is in fact valid.
> 
> Again the memory char driver is the only current user of this, so this
> series updates it to use that.
> 
> After this change mmap_action has no custom hooks at all, which seems
> rather more cromulent than before.

Updated, thanks.

> v3:
> * Rename error_filter -> errror_override + update commit message as per
>  David.

Here's how v3 altered mm.git:

 drivers/char/mem.c              |    2 +-
 include/linux/mm_types.h        |    6 +++---
 mm/util.c                       |    6 +++---
 tools/testing/vma/include/dup.h |    6 +++---
 4 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

--- a/drivers/char/mem.c~b
+++ a/drivers/char/mem.c
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@ static int mmap_mem_prepare(struct vm_ar
 
 	/* Remap-pfn-range will mark the range with the I/O flag. */
 	mmap_action_remap_full(desc, desc->pgoff);
-	desc->action.error_filter = -EAGAIN;
+	desc->action.error_override = -EAGAIN;
 
 	return 0;
 }
--- a/include/linux/mm_types.h~b
+++ a/include/linux/mm_types.h
@@ -844,10 +844,10 @@ struct mmap_action {
 	enum mmap_action_type type;
 
 	/*
-	 * If non-zero, filter errors that arise from mmap actions such that we
-	 * return error_filter instead. Only valid error codes may be specified.
+	 * If non-zero, replace errors that arise from mmap actions with this
+	 * value instead. Only valid error codes may be specified.
 	 */
-	int error_filter;
+	int error_override;
 
 	/*
 	 * This should be set in rare instances where the operation required
--- a/mm/util.c~b
+++ a/mm/util.c
@@ -1415,16 +1415,16 @@ static int mmap_action_finish(struct vm_
 	len = vma_pages(vma) << PAGE_SHIFT;
 	do_munmap(current->mm, vma->vm_start, len, NULL);
 
-	return action->error_filter ?: err;
+	return action->error_override ?: err;
 }
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_MMU
 
 static int check_mmap_action(struct mmap_action *action)
 {
-	const unsigned long filter = action->error_filter;
+	const unsigned long override = action->error_override;
 
-	if (WARN_ON_ONCE(filter && !IS_ERR_VALUE(filter)))
+	if (WARN_ON_ONCE(override && !IS_ERR_VALUE(override)))
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	return 0;
--- a/tools/testing/vma/include/dup.h~b
+++ a/tools/testing/vma/include/dup.h
@@ -483,10 +483,10 @@ struct mmap_action {
 	enum mmap_action_type type;
 
 	/*
-	 * If non-zero, filter errors that arise from mmap actions such that we
-	 * return error_filter instead. Only valid error codes may be specified.
+	 * If non-zero, replace errors that arise from mmap actions with this
+	 * value instead. Only valid error codes may be specified.
 	 */
-	int error_filter;
+	int error_override;
 
 	/*
 	 * This should be set in rare instances where the operation required
_