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Seiji Nishikawa 58d0d02dbc mm: vmscan: account for free pages to prevent infinite Loop in throttle_direct_reclaim()
commit 6aaced5abd upstream.

The task sometimes continues looping in throttle_direct_reclaim() because
allow_direct_reclaim(pgdat) keeps returning false.

 #0 [ffff80002cb6f8d0] __switch_to at ffff8000080095ac
 #1 [ffff80002cb6f900] __schedule at ffff800008abbd1c
 #2 [ffff80002cb6f990] schedule at ffff800008abc50c
 #3 [ffff80002cb6f9b0] throttle_direct_reclaim at ffff800008273550
 #4 [ffff80002cb6fa20] try_to_free_pages at ffff800008277b68
 #5 [ffff80002cb6fae0] __alloc_pages_nodemask at ffff8000082c4660
 #6 [ffff80002cb6fc50] alloc_pages_vma at ffff8000082e4a98
 #7 [ffff80002cb6fca0] do_anonymous_page at ffff80000829f5a8
 #8 [ffff80002cb6fce0] __handle_mm_fault at ffff8000082a5974
 #9 [ffff80002cb6fd90] handle_mm_fault at ffff8000082a5bd4

At this point, the pgdat contains the following two zones:

        NODE: 4  ZONE: 0  ADDR: ffff00817fffe540  NAME: "DMA32"
          SIZE: 20480  MIN/LOW/HIGH: 11/28/45
          VM_STAT:
                NR_FREE_PAGES: 359
        NR_ZONE_INACTIVE_ANON: 18813
          NR_ZONE_ACTIVE_ANON: 0
        NR_ZONE_INACTIVE_FILE: 50
          NR_ZONE_ACTIVE_FILE: 0
          NR_ZONE_UNEVICTABLE: 0
        NR_ZONE_WRITE_PENDING: 0
                     NR_MLOCK: 0
                    NR_BOUNCE: 0
                   NR_ZSPAGES: 0
            NR_FREE_CMA_PAGES: 0

        NODE: 4  ZONE: 1  ADDR: ffff00817fffec00  NAME: "Normal"
          SIZE: 8454144  PRESENT: 98304  MIN/LOW/HIGH: 68/166/264
          VM_STAT:
                NR_FREE_PAGES: 146
        NR_ZONE_INACTIVE_ANON: 94668
          NR_ZONE_ACTIVE_ANON: 3
        NR_ZONE_INACTIVE_FILE: 735
          NR_ZONE_ACTIVE_FILE: 78
          NR_ZONE_UNEVICTABLE: 0
        NR_ZONE_WRITE_PENDING: 0
                     NR_MLOCK: 0
                    NR_BOUNCE: 0
                   NR_ZSPAGES: 0
            NR_FREE_CMA_PAGES: 0

In allow_direct_reclaim(), while processing ZONE_DMA32, the sum of
inactive/active file-backed pages calculated in zone_reclaimable_pages()
based on the result of zone_page_state_snapshot() is zero.

Additionally, since this system lacks swap, the calculation of inactive/
active anonymous pages is skipped.

        crash> p nr_swap_pages
        nr_swap_pages = $1937 = {
          counter = 0
        }

As a result, ZONE_DMA32 is deemed unreclaimable and skipped, moving on to
the processing of the next zone, ZONE_NORMAL, despite ZONE_DMA32 having
free pages significantly exceeding the high watermark.

The problem is that the pgdat->kswapd_failures hasn't been incremented.

        crash> px ((struct pglist_data *) 0xffff00817fffe540)->kswapd_failures
        $1935 = 0x0

This is because the node deemed balanced.  The node balancing logic in
balance_pgdat() evaluates all zones collectively.  If one or more zones
(e.g., ZONE_DMA32) have enough free pages to meet their watermarks, the
entire node is deemed balanced.  This causes balance_pgdat() to exit early
before incrementing the kswapd_failures, as it considers the overall
memory state acceptable, even though some zones (like ZONE_NORMAL) remain
under significant pressure.


The patch ensures that zone_reclaimable_pages() includes free pages
(NR_FREE_PAGES) in its calculation when no other reclaimable pages are
available (e.g., file-backed or anonymous pages).  This change prevents
zones like ZONE_DMA32, which have sufficient free pages, from being
mistakenly deemed unreclaimable.  By doing so, the patch ensures proper
node balancing, avoids masking pressure on other zones like ZONE_NORMAL,
and prevents infinite loops in throttle_direct_reclaim() caused by
allow_direct_reclaim(pgdat) repeatedly returning false.


The kernel hangs due to a task stuck in throttle_direct_reclaim(), caused
by a node being incorrectly deemed balanced despite pressure in certain
zones, such as ZONE_NORMAL.  This issue arises from
zone_reclaimable_pages() returning 0 for zones without reclaimable file-
backed or anonymous pages, causing zones like ZONE_DMA32 with sufficient
free pages to be skipped.

The lack of swap or reclaimable pages results in ZONE_DMA32 being ignored
during reclaim, masking pressure in other zones.  Consequently,
pgdat->kswapd_failures remains 0 in balance_pgdat(), preventing fallback
mechanisms in allow_direct_reclaim() from being triggered, leading to an
infinite loop in throttle_direct_reclaim().

This patch modifies zone_reclaimable_pages() to account for free pages
(NR_FREE_PAGES) when no other reclaimable pages exist.  This ensures zones
with sufficient free pages are not skipped, enabling proper balancing and
reclaim behavior.

[akpm@linux-foundation.org: coding-style cleanups]
Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20241130164346.436469-1-snishika@redhat.com
Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20241130161236.433747-2-snishika@redhat.com
Fixes: 5a1c84b404 ("mm: remove reclaim and compaction retry approximations")
Signed-off-by: Seiji Nishikawa <snishika@redhat.com>
Cc: Mel Gorman <mgorman@techsingularity.net>
Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
History 2025-01-09 13:33:54 +01:00
arch ARC: build: Try to guess GCC variant of cross compiler 2025-01-09 13:33:47 +01:00
block block: lift bio_is_zone_append to bio.h 2025-01-09 13:33:32 +01:00
certs sign-file,extract-cert: use pkcs11 provider for OPENSSL MAJOR >= 3 2024-09-20 19:52:48 +03:00
crypto crypto: ecdsa - Avoid signed integer overflow on signature decoding 2024-12-14 20:03:36 +01:00
Documentation dt-bindings: display: adi,adv7533: Drop single lane support 2025-01-09 13:33:51 +01:00
drivers gve: trigger RX NAPI instead of TX NAPI in gve_xsk_wakeup 2025-01-09 13:33:54 +01:00
fs fs/proc/task_mmu: fix pagemap flags with PMD THP entries on 32bit 2025-01-09 13:33:53 +01:00
include RDMA/mlx5: Enable multiplane mode only when it is supported 2025-01-09 13:33:48 +01:00
init Compiler Attributes: disable __counted_by for clang < 19.1.3 2024-12-05 14:02:45 +01:00
io_uring io_uring/rw: fix downgraded mshot read 2025-01-09 13:33:51 +01:00
ipc ipc: fix memleak if msg_init_ns failed in create_ipc_ns 2024-12-05 14:03:02 +01:00
kernel fgraph: Add READ_ONCE() when accessing fgraph_array[] 2025-01-09 13:33:52 +01:00
lib maple_tree: reload mas before the second call for mas_empty_area 2025-01-09 13:33:50 +01:00
LICENSES LICENSES: add 0BSD license text 2024-09-01 20:43:24 -07:00
mm mm: vmscan: account for free pages to prevent infinite Loop in throttle_direct_reclaim() 2025-01-09 13:33:54 +01:00
net net/sctp: Prevent autoclose integer overflow in sctp_association_init() 2025-01-09 13:33:51 +01:00
rust rust: kbuild: set bindgen's Rust target version 2024-12-19 18:13:22 +01:00
samples samples/bpf: Fix a resource leak 2024-12-14 20:03:46 +01:00
scripts scripts/sorttable: fix orc_sort_cmp() to maintain symmetry and transitivity 2025-01-09 13:33:50 +01:00
security selinux: ignore unknown extended permissions 2025-01-09 13:33:32 +01:00
sound ALSA: seq: oss: Fix races at processing SysEx messages 2025-01-09 13:33:49 +01:00
tools bpf: consider that tail calls invalidate packet pointers 2025-01-09 13:33:47 +01:00
usr initramfs: shorten cmd_initfs in usr/Makefile 2024-07-16 01:07:52 +09:00
virt KVM: x86: switch hugepage recovery thread to vhost_task 2024-12-05 14:02:43 +01:00
.clang-format clang-format: Update with v6.11-rc1's for_each macro list 2024-08-02 13:20:31 +02:00
.cocciconfig scripts: add Linux .cocciconfig for coccinelle 2016-07-22 12:13:39 +02:00
.editorconfig .editorconfig: remove trim_trailing_whitespace option 2024-06-13 16:47:52 +02:00
.get_maintainer.ignore Add Jeff Kirsher to .get_maintainer.ignore 2024-03-08 11:36:54 +00:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: set diff driver for Rust source code files 2023-05-31 17:48:25 +02:00
.gitignore Kbuild updates for v6.12 2024-09-24 13:02:06 -07:00
.mailmap mailmap: add entry for Thorsten Blum 2024-11-07 14:14:59 -08:00
.rustfmt.toml rust: add .rustfmt.toml 2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
COPYING COPYING: state that all contributions really are covered by this file 2020-02-10 13:32:20 -08:00
CREDITS MAINTAINERS: Remove self from DSA entry 2024-11-03 12:52:38 -08:00
Kbuild Kbuild updates for v6.1 2022-10-10 12:00:45 -07:00
Kconfig kbuild: ensure full rebuild when the compiler is updated 2020-05-12 13:28:33 +09:00
MAINTAINERS MAINTAINERS: update location of media main tree 2024-12-05 14:02:42 +01:00
Makefile Linux 6.12.8 2025-01-02 10:34:26 +01:00
README README: Fix spelling 2024-03-18 03:36:32 -06:00

Linux kernel
============

There are several guides for kernel developers and users. These guides can
be rendered in a number of formats, like HTML and PDF. Please read
Documentation/admin-guide/README.rst first.

In order to build the documentation, use ``make htmldocs`` or
``make pdfdocs``.  The formatted documentation can also be read online at:

    https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

There are various text files in the Documentation/ subdirectory,
several of them using the reStructuredText markup notation.

Please read the Documentation/process/changes.rst file, as it contains the
requirements for building and running the kernel, and information about
the problems which may result by upgrading your kernel.