Re: (sashiko review) [PATCH v4 1/2] mm/damon/lru_sort: validate min_region_size to be power of 2

Liew Rui Yan
2026-04-10T09:40:06Z

Sashiko found some issues.

Forwarding full sashiko review in a reply format with my
inline comments below, for sharing details of my view and
doing followup discussions via mails if needed.

> # review url: https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260410044259.95877-2-aethernet65535@gmail.com
> # start of sashiko.dev inline review
> commit bc048f9325d07815d621e80f3c40408c0210af75
> Author: Liew Rui Yan <aethernet65535@gmail.com>
>
> mm/damon/lru_sort: validate min_region_size to be power of 2
>
> This commit adds early validation for min_region_sz in
> damon_lru_sort_apply_parameters(). If the user configures an addr_unit that
> produces a non-power-of-2 min_region_sz, it immediately returns -EINVAL to
> avoid setting maybe_corrupted and unexpectedly terminating kdamond.
>
> > diff --git a/mm/damon/lru_sort.c b/mm/damon/lru_sort.c
> > index 554559d729760..3fd176ef9d9c1 100644
> > --- a/mm/damon/lru_sort.c
> > +++ b/mm/damon/lru_sort.c
> > @@ -294,6 +294,11 @@ static int damon_lru_sort_apply_parameters(void)
> > param_ctx->addr_unit = addr_unit;
> > param_ctx->min_region_sz = max(DAMON_MIN_REGION_SZ / addr_unit, 1);
> >
> > + if (!is_power_of_2(param_ctx->min_region_sz)) {
> > + err = -EINVAL;
> > + goto out;
> > + }
> > +
>
> Is the DAMON sysfs interface also susceptible to this regression?
>
> When a user configures addr_unit via sysfs and writes 'on' to the state file,
> damon_sysfs_turn_damon_on() builds the context. The min_region_sz is
> calculated directly from addr_unit without a power-of-two check, and then
> damon_start() is called, bypassing the damon_commit_ctx() safeguard.
>
> Since the DAMON core uses min_region_sz as an alignment mask in macros like
> ALIGN() and ALIGN_DOWN(), can this cause memory corruption or infinite loops
> in functions like damon_fill_regions_holes() if a non-power-of-2 value is
> provided via sysfs?

This issue has been discussed before [1]. While it's a valid concern,
it's outside the scope of this backport patch. SeongJae Park has
indicated he will work on this.

>
> This patch works around damon_commit_ctx() failing due to !is_power_of_2()
> by performing the check early, but does damon_commit_ctx() still have a
> regression leading to unexpected termination if other allocations fail?

Yes, unexpected termination still exists.

This patch provides a minimal workaround for the specific case of
non-power-of-2 'min_region_sz', which is suitable for backport.

>
> If damon_commit_ctx() fails midway, for example returning -ENOMEM from
> damon_commit_schemes(), it leaves dst->maybe_corrupted = true and bails
> out without rolling back the partial updates.
>
> Even the DAMON sysfs interface, which attempts to mitigate this using a
> test_ctx dry-run, could experience a time-of-check to time-of-use race
> where the test allocation succeeds but the final commit allocation fails.
>
> Since these modules operate under memory pressure, if an -ENOMEM occurs
> during parameter updates, will the running reclaim daemon permanently
> observe maybe_corrupted = true and unexpectedly terminate itself?

You're correct. If damon_commit_ctx() fails midway, it leaves
'maybe_corrupted=true', causing kdamond to terminate permanently. This
is a core error handling issue that needs to be fixed, but it's outside
the scope of this backport patch.

>
> > if (!damon_lru_sort_mon_attrs.sample_interval) {
> > err = -EINVAL;
> > goto out;
>
>
> # end of sashiko.dev inline review
> # review url: https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260410044259.95877-2-aethernet65535@gmail.com

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Best regards,
Rui Yan