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Leno Hou
a6a8c087dc
When the Multi-Gen LRU (MGLRU) state is toggled dynamically, a race condition exists between the state switching and the memory reclaim path. This can lead to unexpected cgroup OOM kills, even when plenty of reclaimable memory is available. Problem Description ================== The issue arises from a "reclaim vacuum" during the transition. 1. When disabling MGLRU, lru_gen_change_state() sets lrugen->enabled to false before the pages are drained from MGLRU lists back to traditional LRU lists. 2. Concurrent reclaimers in shrink_lruvec() see lrugen->enabled as false and skip the MGLRU path. 3. However, these pages might not have reached the traditional LRU lists yet, or the changes are not yet visible to all CPUs due to a lack of synchronization. 4. get_scan_count() subsequently finds traditional LRU lists empty, concludes there is no reclaimable memory, and triggers an OOM kill. A similar race can occur during enablement, where the reclaimer sees the new state but the MGLRU lists haven't been populated via fill_evictable() yet. Solution ======== Introduce a 'switching' state (`lru_switch`) to bridge the transition. When transitioning, the system enters this intermediate state where the reclaimer is forced to attempt both MGLRU and traditional reclaim paths sequentially. This ensures that folios remain visible to at least one reclaim mechanism until the transition is fully materialized across all CPUs. Race & Mitigation ================ A race window exists between checking the 'draining' state and performing the actual list operations. For instance, a reclaimer might observe the draining state as false just before it changes, leading to a suboptimal reclaim path decision. However, this impact is effectively mitigated by the kernel's reclaim retry mechanism (e.g., in do_try_to_free_pages). If a reclaimer pass fails to find eligible folios due to a state transition race, subsequent retries in the loop will observe the updated state and correctly direct the scan to the appropriate LRU lists. This ensures the transient inconsistency does not escalate into a terminal OOM kill. This effectively reduce the race window that previously triggered OOMs under high memory pressure. This fix has been verified on v7.0.0-rc1; dynamic toggling of MGLRU functions correctly without triggering unexpected OOM kills. Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20260319-b4-switch-mglru-v2-v5-1-8898491e5f17@gmail.com Signed-off-by: Leno Hou <lenohou@gmail.com> Acked-by: Yafang Shao <laoar.shao@gmail.com> Reviewed-by: Barry Song <baohua@kernel.org> Reviewed-by: Axel Rasmussen <axelrasmussen@google.com> Cc: Yuanchu Xie <yuanchu@google.com> Cc: Wei Xu <weixugc@google.com> Cc: Jialing Wang <wjl.linux@gmail.com> Cc: Yu Zhao <yuzhao@google.com> Cc: Kairui Song <ryncsn@gmail.com> Cc: Bingfang Guo <bfguo@icloud.com> Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Linux kernel ============ The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware, system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software. Quick Start ----------- * Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst * Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org * Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst * Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/ Essential Documentation ----------------------- All users should be familiar with: * Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst * Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst * License: See COPYING Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/ Who Are You? ============ Find your role below: * New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development * Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture * Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis * Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels * System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting * Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches * Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware * Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros * AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools For Specific Users ================== New Kernel Developer -------------------- Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here: * Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst * Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst * Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst * Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst * Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst * Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst * Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst Academic Researcher ------------------- Explore the kernel's architecture and internals: * Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst * Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst * Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst * Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst * Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst * RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst * Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst * Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst Security Expert --------------- Security documentation and hardening guides: * Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst * LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst * Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst * Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst * CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst * Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst * Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst Backport/Maintenance Engineer ----------------------------- Maintain and stabilize kernel versions: * Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst * Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst * Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst * Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst * Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst System Administrator -------------------- Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems: * Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst * Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst * Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst * Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst * Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst * Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst Maintainer ---------- Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions: * Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst * Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst * Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst * Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst * Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst * Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst * Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst Hardware Vendor --------------- Write drivers and support new hardware: * Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst * Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst * Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst * Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst * Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/ * Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst * DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst Distribution Maintainer ----------------------- Package and distribute the kernel: * Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst * ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README * Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst * Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst * Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst * Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst AI Coding Assistant ------------------- CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux kernel: * Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution, and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with. Communication and Support ========================= * Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/ * IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net * Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/ * MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists * Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst