On Fri, Dec 19 2025, Pasha Tatashin wrote:
> If the previous kernel enabled KHO but did not call kho_finalize()
> (e.g., CONFIG_LIVEUPDATE=n or userspace skipped the finalization step),
> the 'preserved-memory-map' property in the FDT remains empty/zero.
>
> Previously, kho_populate() would succeed regardless of the memory map's
> state, reserving the incoming scratch regions in memblock. However,
> kho_memory_init() would later fail to deserialize the empty map. By that
> time, the scratch regions were already registered, leading to partial
> initialization and subsequent list corruption (double-free) during
> kho_init().
Nit: I am guessing the double-free is the scratch regions being freed
twice? Can you please write that out explicitly?
>
> Move the validation of the preserved memory map earlier into
> kho_populate(). If the memory map is empty/NULL:
> 1. Abort kho_populate() immediately with -ENOENT.
> 2. Do not register or reserve the incoming scratch memory, allowing the new
> kernel to reclaim those pages as standard free memory.
> 3. Leave the global 'kho_in' state uninitialized.
>
> Consequently, kho_memory_init() sees no active KHO context
> (kho_in.mem_chunks_phys is 0) and falls back to kho_reserve_scratch(),
> allocating fresh scratch memory as if it were a standard cold boot.
>
> Fixes: de51999e687c ("kho: allow memory preservation state updates after
> finalization")
> Reported-by: Ricardo Neri <[email protected]>
> Closes:
> https://lore.kernel.org/all/[email protected]
> Signed-off-by: Pasha Tatashin <[email protected]>
> Reviewed-by: Mike Rapoport (Microsoft) <[email protected]>
> ---
> Changes v3:
> - Addressed review comments, and added review-by from Mike
>
> kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c | 39 ++++++++++++++++--------------
> 1 file changed, 21 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
> b/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
> index 9dc51fab604f..2d9ce33c63dc 100644
> --- a/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
> +++ b/kernel/liveupdate/kexec_handover.c
> @@ -460,27 +460,23 @@ static void __init deserialize_bitmap(unsigned int
> order,
> }
> }
>
> -/* Return true if memory was deserizlied */
> -static bool __init kho_mem_deserialize(const void *fdt)
> +/* Returns physical address of the preserved memory map from FDT */
> +static phys_addr_t __init kho_get_mem_map_phys(const void *fdt)
> {
> - struct khoser_mem_chunk *chunk;
> const void *mem_ptr;
> - u64 mem;
> int len;
>
> mem_ptr = fdt_getprop(fdt, 0, PROP_PRESERVED_MEMORY_MAP, &len);
> if (!mem_ptr || len != sizeof(u64)) {
> pr_err("failed to get preserved memory bitmaps\n");
> - return false;
> + return 0;
> }
>
> - mem = get_unaligned((const u64 *)mem_ptr);
> - chunk = mem ? phys_to_virt(mem) : NULL;
> -
> - /* No preserved physical pages were passed, no deserialization */
> - if (!chunk)
> - return false;
> + return get_unaligned((const u64 *)mem_ptr);
> +}
>
> +static void __init kho_mem_deserialize(struct khoser_mem_chunk *chunk)
> +{
> while (chunk) {
> unsigned int i;
>
> @@ -489,8 +485,6 @@ static bool __init kho_mem_deserialize(const void *fdt)
> &chunk->bitmaps[i]);
> chunk = KHOSER_LOAD_PTR(chunk->hdr.next);
> }
> -
> - return true;
> }
>
> /*
> @@ -1253,6 +1247,7 @@ bool kho_finalized(void)
> struct kho_in {
> phys_addr_t fdt_phys;
> phys_addr_t scratch_phys;
> + phys_addr_t mem_map_phys;
> struct kho_debugfs dbg;
> };
>
> @@ -1434,12 +1429,10 @@ static void __init kho_release_scratch(void)
>
> void __init kho_memory_init(void)
> {
> - if (kho_in.scratch_phys) {
> + if (kho_in.mem_map_phys) {
> kho_scratch = phys_to_virt(kho_in.scratch_phys);
> kho_release_scratch();
> -
> - if (!kho_mem_deserialize(kho_get_fdt()))
> - kho_in.fdt_phys = 0;
> + kho_mem_deserialize(phys_to_virt(kho_in.mem_map_phys));
> } else {
> kho_reserve_scratch();
> }
> @@ -1448,8 +1441,9 @@ void __init kho_memory_init(void)
> void __init kho_populate(phys_addr_t fdt_phys, u64 fdt_len,
> phys_addr_t scratch_phys, u64 scratch_len)
> {
> - void *fdt = NULL;
> struct kho_scratch *scratch = NULL;
> + phys_addr_t mem_map_phys;
> + void *fdt = NULL;
> int err = 0;
> unsigned int scratch_cnt = scratch_len / sizeof(*kho_scratch);
>
> @@ -1475,6 +1469,14 @@ void __init kho_populate(phys_addr_t fdt_phys, u64
> fdt_len,
> goto out;
> }
>
> + mem_map_phys = kho_get_mem_map_phys(fdt);
> + if (!mem_map_phys) {
> + pr_warn("setup: handover FDT (0x%llx) present but no preserved
> memory found\n",
> + fdt_phys);
Enabling KHO but not using it is a perfectly normal use case. This
should not be a warning. I don't think we should print anything here
TBH.
> + err = -ENOENT;
> + goto out;
> + }
> +
> scratch = early_memremap(scratch_phys, scratch_len);
> if (!scratch) {
> pr_warn("setup: failed to memremap scratch (phys=0x%llx,
> len=%lld)\n",
> @@ -1515,6 +1517,7 @@ void __init kho_populate(phys_addr_t fdt_phys, u64
> fdt_len,
>
> kho_in.fdt_phys = fdt_phys;
> kho_in.scratch_phys = scratch_phys;
> + kho_in.mem_map_phys = mem_map_phys;
Nit: not a fan of duplicating information. This is already contained in
the FDT. Perhaps make kho_memory_init() also call
kho_get_mem_map_phys()? And while at it, perhaps make it
kho_get_mem_map() and the return type struct khoser_mem_chunk * ?
No strong opinion, so fine either way, but I do think it is cleaner.
> kho_scratch_cnt = scratch_cnt;
> pr_info("found kexec handover data.\n");
>
>
> base-commit: ea1013c1539270e372fc99854bc6e4d94eaeff66
--
Regards,
Pratyush Yadav
