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David Hildenbrand (Arm) 6a288a4ddb mm/page_alloc: fix initialization of tags of the huge zero folio with init_on_free
__GFP_ZEROTAGS semantics are currently a bit weird, but effectively this
flag is only ever set alongside __GFP_ZERO and __GFP_SKIP_KASAN.

If we run with init_on_free, we will zero out pages during
__free_pages_prepare(), to skip zeroing on the allocation path.

However, when allocating with __GFP_ZEROTAG set, post_alloc_hook() will
consequently not only skip clearing page content, but also skip clearing
tag memory.

Not clearing tags through __GFP_ZEROTAGS is irrelevant for most pages that
will get mapped to user space through set_pte_at() later: set_pte_at() and
friends will detect that the tags have not been initialized yet
(PG_mte_tagged not set), and initialize them.

However, for the huge zero folio, which will be mapped through a PMD
marked as special, this initialization will not be performed, ending up
exposing whatever tags were still set for the pages.

The docs (Documentation/arch/arm64/memory-tagging-extension.rst) state
that allocation tags are set to 0 when a page is first mapped to user
space.  That no longer holds with the huge zero folio when init_on_free is
enabled.

Fix it by decoupling __GFP_ZEROTAGS from __GFP_ZERO, passing to
tag_clear_highpages() whether we want to also clear page content.

Invert the meaning of the tag_clear_highpages() return value to have
clearer semantics.

Reproduced with the huge zero folio by modifying the check_buffer_fill
arm64/mte selftest to use a 2 MiB area, after making sure that pages have
a non-0 tag set when freeing (note that, during boot, we will not actually
initialize tags, but only set KASAN_TAG_KERNEL in the page flags).

	$ ./check_buffer_fill
	1..20
	...
	not ok 17 Check initial tags with private mapping, sync error mode and mmap memory
	not ok 18 Check initial tags with private mapping, sync error mode and mmap/mprotect memory
	...

This code needs more cleanups; we'll tackle that next, like
decoupling __GFP_ZEROTAGS from __GFP_SKIP_KASAN.

[akpm@linux-foundation.org: s/__GPF_ZERO/__GFP_ZERO/, per David]
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/20260421-zerotags-v2-1-05cb1035482e@kernel.org
Fixes: adfb6609c6 ("mm/huge_memory: initialise the tags of the huge zero folio")
Signed-off-by: David Hildenbrand (Arm) <david@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Catalin Marinas <catalin.marinas@arm.com>
Tested-by: Lance Yang <lance.yang@linux.dev>
Cc: Brendan Jackman <jackmanb@google.com>
Cc: Dev Jain <dev.jain@arm.com>
Cc: Johannes Weiner <hannes@cmpxchg.org>
Cc: Liam Howlett <liam@infradead.org>
Cc: Lorenzo Stoakes (Oracle) <ljs@kernel.org>
Cc: Mark Brown <broonie@kernel.org>
Cc: Michal Hocko <mhocko@suse.com>
Cc: Mike Rapoport <rppt@kernel.org>
Cc: Ryan Roberts <ryan.roberts@arm.com>
Cc: Suren Baghdasaryan <surenb@google.com>
Cc: Will Deacon <will@kernel.org>
Cc: Zi Yan <ziy@nvidia.com>
Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
2026-05-13 17:40:02 -07:00
arch mm/page_alloc: fix initialization of tags of the huge zero folio with init_on_free 2026-05-13 17:40:02 -07:00
block block: only read from sqe on initial invocation of blkdev_uring_cmd() 2026-05-05 01:37:12 -06:00
certs Clang build fixes for 7.1 2026-04-24 09:29:51 -07:00
crypto This push contains the following changes: 2026-05-02 12:31:43 -07:00
Documentation hwmon fixes for v7.1-rc3 2026-05-09 08:32:50 -07:00
drivers - Fix a string leak in the versalnet driver 2026-05-10 12:21:57 -07:00
fs fsverity fix for v7.1-rc3 2026-05-09 11:47:39 -07:00
include mm/page_alloc: fix initialization of tags of the huge zero folio with init_on_free 2026-05-13 17:40:02 -07:00
init memblock: updates for 7.0-rc1 2026-04-18 11:29:14 -07:00
io_uring io_uring-7.1-20260508 2026-05-08 13:12:48 -07:00
ipc Convert 'alloc_obj' family to use the new default GFP_KERNEL argument 2026-02-21 17:09:51 -08:00
kernel bpf-fixes 2026-05-09 18:42:54 -07:00
lib fbdev fixes & cleanups for 7.1-rc3: 2026-05-05 14:25:44 -07:00
LICENSES LICENSES: Add modern form of the LGPL-2.1 tags to the usage guide section 2025-10-22 07:58:19 +02:00
mm mm/page_alloc: fix initialization of tags of the huge zero folio with init_on_free 2026-05-13 17:40:02 -07:00
net rxrpc: Also unshare DATA/RESPONSE packets when paged frags are present 2026-05-10 08:15:57 -07:00
rust Rust fixes for v7.1 2026-05-09 11:24:02 -07:00
samples soc: drivers for 7.1 2026-04-16 20:34:34 -07:00
scripts scripts/gdb: slab: update field names of struct kmem_cache 2026-05-13 17:40:01 -07:00
security selinux: shrink critical section in sel_write_load() 2026-05-05 16:02:28 -04:00
sound ASoC: Fixes for v7.1 2026-05-06 16:10:00 +02:00
tools selftests/mm: run_vmtests.sh: fix destructive tests invocation 2026-05-13 17:40:01 -07:00
usr kbuild: uapi: also test UAPI headers against C++ compilers 2026-03-25 13:24:42 +01:00
virt Arm: 2026-04-17 07:18:03 -07:00
.clang-format Devicetree updates for v7.0: 2026-02-11 18:27:08 -08:00
.clippy.toml rust: bump Clippy's MSRV and clean incompatible_msrv allows 2026-04-07 09:51:39 +02:00
.cocciconfig scripts: add Linux .cocciconfig for coccinelle 2016-07-22 12:13:39 +02:00
.editorconfig editorconfig: add rst extension 2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
.get_maintainer.ignore .get_maintainer.ignore: add myself 2026-04-02 16:48:25 +02:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: set diff driver for Rust source code files 2023-05-31 17:48:25 +02:00
.gitignore kbuild: rust: provide an option to inline C helpers into Rust 2026-03-30 02:03:52 +02:00
.mailmap MAINTAINERS: Update mail for Peter Rosin 2026-05-04 21:02:58 +02:00
.pylintrc docs: Move the python libraries to tools/lib/python 2025-11-18 09:22:40 -07:00
.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 Delete some obsolete networking code 2026-04-24 09:41:58 -07:00
Kbuild checksyscalls: move instance functionality into generic code 2026-04-05 09:21:32 +02:00
Kconfig io_uring: Rename KConfig to Kconfig 2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
MAINTAINERS MAINTAINERS: add kexec@ list to LIVE UPDATE ENTRY 2026-05-13 17:40:02 -07:00
Makefile Linux 7.1-rc3 2026-05-10 14:08:09 -07:00
README docs: add AI Coding Assistants documentation 2026-01-06 14:55:06 -07:00

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