[PATCH] mm/swap_cgroup: fix kernel BUG in swap_cgroup_record

[PATCH] mm/swap_cgroup: fix kernel BUG in swap_cgroup_record

[Deepanshu Kartikey]

When using MADV_PAGEOUT, pages can remain in swapcache with their swap
entries assigned. If MADV_PAGEOUT is called again on these pages, they
reuse the same swap entries, causing memcg1_swapout() to call
swap_cgroup_record() with an already-recorded entry.

The existing code assumes swap entries are always being recorded for the
first time (oldid == 0), triggering VM_BUG_ON when it encounters an
already-recorded entry:

  ------------[ cut here ]------------
  kernel BUG at mm/swap_cgroup.c:78!
  Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN PTI
  CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 6176 Comm: syz.0.30 Not tainted
  RIP: 0010:swap_cgroup_record+0x19c/0x1c0 mm/swap_cgroup.c:78
  Call Trace:
   memcg1_swapout+0x2fa/0x830 mm/memcontrol-v1.c:623
   __remove_mapping+0xac5/0xe30 mm/vmscan.c:773
   shrink_folio_list+0x2786/0x4f40 mm/vmscan.c:1528
   reclaim_folio_list+0xeb/0x4e0 mm/vmscan.c:2208
   reclaim_pages+0x454/0x520 mm/vmscan.c:2245
   madvise_cold_or_pageout_pte_range+0x19a0/0x1ce0 mm/madvise.c:563
   ...
   do_madvise+0x1bc/0x270 mm/madvise.c:2030
   __do_sys_madvise mm/madvise.c:2039

This bug occurs because pages in swapcache can be targeted by
MADV_PAGEOUT multiple times without being swapped in between. Each time,
the same swap entry is reused, but swap_cgroup_record() expects to only
record new, unused entries.

Fix this by checking if the swap entry already has the correct cgroup ID
recorded before attempting to record it. Use the existing
lookup_swap_cgroup_id() to read the current cgroup ID, and return early
from memcg1_swapout() if the entry is already correctly recorded. Only
call swap_cgroup_record() when the entry needs to be set or updated.

This approach avoids unnecessary atomic operations, reference count
manipulations, and statistics updates when the entry is already correct.

Link: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=d97580a8cceb9b03c13e
Reported-by: syzbot+d97580a8cceb9b03c13e@syzkaller.appspotmail.com
Closes: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=d97580a8cceb9b03c13e
Tested-by: syzbot+d97580a8cceb9b03c13e@syzkaller.appspotmail.com
Signed-off-by: Deepanshu Kartikey <kartikey406@gmail.com>
---
 mm/memcontrol-v1.c | 11 +++++++++++
 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+)

diff --git a/mm/memcontrol-v1.c b/mm/memcontrol-v1.c
index 56d27baf93ab..982cfe5af225 100644
--- a/mm/memcontrol-v1.c
+++ b/mm/memcontrol-v1.c
@@ -614,6 +614,7 @@ void memcg1_swapout(struct folio *folio, swp_entry_t entry)
 {
 	struct mem_cgroup *memcg, *swap_memcg;
 	unsigned int nr_entries;
+	unsigned short oldid;
 
 	VM_BUG_ON_FOLIO(folio_test_lru(folio), folio);
 	VM_BUG_ON_FOLIO(folio_ref_count(folio), folio);
@@ -630,6 +631,16 @@ void memcg1_swapout(struct folio *folio, swp_entry_t entry)
 	if (!memcg)
 		return;
 
+	/*
+	 * Check if this swap entry is already recorded. This can happen
+	 * when MADV_PAGEOUT is called multiple times on pages that remain
+	 * in swapcache, reusing the same swap entries.
+	 */
+	oldid = lookup_swap_cgroup_id(entry);
+	if (oldid == mem_cgroup_id(memcg))
+		return;
+	VM_WARN_ON_ONCE(oldid != 0);
+
 	/*
 	 * In case the memcg owning these pages has been offlined and doesn't
 	 * have an ID allocated to it anymore, charge the closest online
-- 
2.43.0

Re: [PATCH] mm/swap_cgroup: fix kernel BUG in swap_cgroup_record

[Andrew Morton]

On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 12:16:13 +0530 Deepanshu Kartikey <kartikey406@gmail.com> wrote:

> When using MADV_PAGEOUT, pages can remain in swapcache with their swap
> entries assigned. If MADV_PAGEOUT is called again on these pages, they
> reuse the same swap entries, causing memcg1_swapout() to call
> swap_cgroup_record() with an already-recorded entry.
> 
> The existing code assumes swap entries are always being recorded for the
> first time (oldid == 0), triggering VM_BUG_ON when it encounters an
> already-recorded entry:
> 
>   ------------[ cut here ]------------
>   kernel BUG at mm/swap_cgroup.c:78!
>   Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN PTI
>   CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 6176 Comm: syz.0.30 Not tainted
>   RIP: 0010:swap_cgroup_record+0x19c/0x1c0 mm/swap_cgroup.c:78
>   Call Trace:
>    memcg1_swapout+0x2fa/0x830 mm/memcontrol-v1.c:623
>    __remove_mapping+0xac5/0xe30 mm/vmscan.c:773
>    shrink_folio_list+0x2786/0x4f40 mm/vmscan.c:1528
>    reclaim_folio_list+0xeb/0x4e0 mm/vmscan.c:2208
>    reclaim_pages+0x454/0x520 mm/vmscan.c:2245
>    madvise_cold_or_pageout_pte_range+0x19a0/0x1ce0 mm/madvise.c:563
>    ...
>    do_madvise+0x1bc/0x270 mm/madvise.c:2030
>    __do_sys_madvise mm/madvise.c:2039
> 
> This bug occurs because pages in swapcache can be targeted by
> MADV_PAGEOUT multiple times without being swapped in between. Each time,
> the same swap entry is reused, but swap_cgroup_record() expects to only
> record new, unused entries.
> 
> Fix this by checking if the swap entry already has the correct cgroup ID
> recorded before attempting to record it. Use the existing
> lookup_swap_cgroup_id() to read the current cgroup ID, and return early
> from memcg1_swapout() if the entry is already correctly recorded. Only
> call swap_cgroup_record() when the entry needs to be set or updated.
> 
> This approach avoids unnecessary atomic operations, reference count
> manipulations, and statistics updates when the entry is already correct.

Thanks.  This looks like a fairly old bug and it annoyingly predates a
lot of memcg code movement.

What do people think?  Should we backport this into -stable kernels? 
If so, can some intrepid soul please help figure out what it Fixes:?

Deepanshu, if we do decide to put a cc:stable on this then some -stable
maintainers will complain that the patch alters things in a file which
doesn't exist and they'll hope that you can help.  Which means
backporting the fix into kernels which predate 89ce924f0bd44.