[PATCH v2] userfaultfd: allow registration of ranges below mmap_min_addr

Denis M. Karpov
2026-04-09T10:33:53Z

The current implementation of validate_range() in fs/userfaultfd.c
performs a hard check against mmap_min_addr. This is redundant because
UFFDIO_REGISTER operates on memory ranges that must already be backed
by a VMA.

Enforcing mmap_min_addr or capability checks again in userfaultfd is
unnecessary and prevents applications like binary compilers from
using UFFD for valid memory regions mapped by application.

Remove the redundant check for mmap_min_addr.

Fixes: 86039bd3b4e6 ("userfaultfd: add new syscall to provide memory externalization")
Signed-off-by: Denis M. Karpov <komlomal@gmail.com>
---
v2:
- Remove the check entirely rather than replacing it, as suggested by
Harry Yoo and Lorenzo Stoakes.
- Added Fixes tag.
- Link to v1: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260407081442.6256-1-komlomal@gmail.com
---
fs/userfaultfd.c | 2 --
1 file changed, 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/fs/userfaultfd.c b/fs/userfaultfd.c
index bdc84e521..4b53dc4a3 100644
--- a/fs/userfaultfd.c
+++ b/fs/userfaultfd.c
@@ -1238,8 +1238,6 @@ static __always_inline int validate_unaligned_range(
return -EINVAL;
if (!len)
return -EINVAL;
- if (start < mmap_min_addr)
- return -EINVAL;
if (start >= task_size)
return -EINVAL;
if (len > task_size - start)
--
2.43.0