MM Folio Lifecycle and Page Cache

MM Folio Lifecycle and Page Cache

Lazyfree Folio Reclaim State Transitions

Lazyfree folios (!folio_test_swapbacked()) may be discarded without writeback if clean. The reclaim path must check dirty status before refcount, and only call folio_set_swapbacked() when the folio is genuinely dirty:

1. Dirty (not VM_DROPPABLE): folio_set_swapbacked() and remap
2. Extra references (ref_count != 1 + map_count): remap and abort, but do NOT folio_set_swapbacked() -- elevated refcount (e.g., speculative folio_try_get()) does not mean dirty
3. Clean, no extra refs: discard

Both PTE (try_to_unmap_one() in mm/rmap.c) and PMD (__discard_anon_folio_pmd_locked() in mm/huge_memory.c) paths must follow this order. Barrier protocol matches __remove_mapping(): smp_mb() between PTE clear and refcount read; smp_rmb() between refcount and dirty flag read.

REPORT as bugs: folio_set_swapbacked() in lazyfree reclaim without first confirming dirty, or unconditionally on any abort including elevated refcount.

Folio Tail Page Overlay Layout

struct folio overlays metadata onto tail page struct page slots. Tail pages have ->mapping = TAIL_MAPPING; metadata-carrying tail pages overwrite it. Three consumers must stay in sync when fields are rearranged across tail page boundaries:

• free_tail_page_prepare() in mm/page_alloc.c -- skips TAIL_MAPPING check per metadata-carrying tail page
• NR_RESET_STRUCT_PAGE in mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c -- HVO vmemmap restore count
• __dump_folio() in mm/debug.c -- debug printing

Common failure: updating one consumer but missing the others (no compile-time coupling between them).

Folio Mapcount vs Refcount Relationship

Invariant: folio_ref_count(folio) >= folio_mapcount(folio). Extra refcount comes from swapcache, page cache, GUP pins, LRU isolation, etc. (see folio_expected_ref_count() in include/linux/mm.h).

• Exclusivity check: mapcount == refcount means no external users
• Sanity assertion: mapcount > refcount is the corrupted/impossible state to warn on, NOT mapcount < refcount (which is normal)

Non-Folio Compound Pages

page_folio() blindly casts the compound head to struct folio * with no runtime validity check. Driver-allocated compound pages (via vm_insert_page() with alloc_pages(GFP_*, order > 0)) have PG_head set so folio_test_large() returns true, but folio->mapping and LRU state are uninitialized. Calling folio operations (folio_lock(), split_huge_page(), mapping_min_folio_order()) on these produces crashes or corruption.

Validation gates (HWPoisonHandlable(), PageLRU(), null-mapping checks) reject non-folio pages. When a code path calls page_folio() on pages from driver mappings, verify a gate has filtered non-folio compound pages. folio_test_large() alone is insufficient -- it checks PageHead, set for any compound page.

Folio Reference Count Expectations

folio_expected_ref_count() in include/linux/mm.h calculates expected refcount from pagecache, swapcache, PG_private, and mappings. Compare against folio_ref_count() to detect unexpected references from any source. Per-CPU batching (LRU pagevecs in mm/swap.c, mlock/munlock batches in mm/mlock.c) holds transient folio_get() references invisible to flag checks. lru_add_drain_all() drains all CPUs' batches; code detecting unexpected references should drain and recheck before concluding the folio is not migratable (see collect_longterm_unpinnable_folios() in mm/gup.c).

REPORT as bugs: using folio_test_lru() as proxy for "has extra refs" instead of comparing folio_ref_count() against folio_expected_ref_count().

Folio Order vs Page Count

round_up(), round_down(), ALIGN() require the actual page count (1 << order), not the order exponent. Hard to catch: order 0 and 1 coincide.

// CORRECT                     // WRONG
round_up(index, 1 << order)    round_up(index, order)
ALIGN(addr, PAGE_SIZE << order)

REPORT as bugs: alignment argument is a raw order variable instead of 1 << order or PAGE_SIZE << order.

Folio Lock Strategy After GUP

After GUP pins a specific folio, use folio_lock() or folio_lock_killable(), not folio_trylock(). Transient lock contention from concurrent migration/compaction is expected, not a permanent error. folio_trylock() is correct only in scan/iteration paths that can skip locked folios (e.g., shrink_folio_list(), folio_referenced()).

When page table re-validation fails after GUP (e.g., folio_walk_start() returns a different folio), retry GUP from scratch rather than returning an error -- the page table change is a transient race.

Speculative Folio Access in PFN-Scanning Code

page_folio() in PFN-scanning loops is speculative -- compound page structure may change concurrently. Accessing folio flags or size before stabilizing causes VM_BUG_ON in const_folio_flags() or garbage reads.

Required pattern (see split_huge_pages_all() in mm/huge_memory.c):

folio = page_folio(page);                        // speculative
if (!folio_try_get(folio))                       // stabilize
    continue;
if (unlikely(page_folio(page) != folio))         // re-validate
    goto put_folio;
// NOW safe to access folio flags and state

REPORT as bugs: folio flag accessors or size reads on an unreferenced folio from page_folio() in PFN-scanning loops.

PFN Range Iteration and Large Folios

PAGE_SIZE-stepping PFN loops that call page_folio() break with large folios: either tail pages are rejected (folio missed if head PFN is outside range) or the same folio is processed folio_nr_pages() times (double accounting, duplicate list insertion).

Correct patterns: For non-idempotent per-folio actions (reclaim, migration), step by folio_size(folio) when found, PAGE_SIZE otherwise (see damon_pa_pageout() in mm/damon/paddr.c). For per-PFN bitmaps (page_idle), keep PAGE_SIZE stepping but skip tail pages.

REPORT as bugs: PFN iteration with page_folio() + non-idempotent operations + unconditional PAGE_SIZE stepping.

Lockless Page Cache Folio Access

Compound-state-dependent folio properties (folio_mapcount(), folio_nr_pages(), folio_order()) and head-page flag tests (folio_test_lru()) under RCU without a reference race with concurrent split/free. The stabilization protocol (see filemap_get_entry() in mm/filemap.c): folio_try_get(folio) then xas_reload() to verify the folio is still at the same slot; retry on failure.

No reference needed for: xarray metadata only (xas_get_mark(), xas_get_order()), opaque pointer use, or simple flag tests (folio_test_dirty(), folio_test_writeback()) that access folio->flags directly without compound branching.

REPORT as bugs: folio_mapcount(), folio_nr_pages(), etc. in xas_for_each() loops under rcu_read_lock() without prior folio_try_get() + xas_reload().

Page Cache Batch Iteration: find_get_entries vs find_lock_entries

indices[i] from both find_get_entries() and find_lock_entries() may not be the canonical base of a multi-order entry. xas_descend() in lib/xarray.c follows sibling entries to the canonical slot but does NOT update xas->xa_index, which retains the original search position. Callers must compute the base: base = xas.xa_index & ~((1 << xas_get_order(&xas)) - 1).

find_lock_entries() filters entries whose base is outside [*start, end]; find_get_entries() does not. Callers of find_get_entries() that assume indices[i] is the canonical base will infinite-loop in truncation paths when the entry spans beyond the iteration range.

XArray Multi-Index Iteration with xas_next()

xas_next() visits every slot including siblings of multi-order entries, causing duplicate folio processing. xas_find() / xas_find_marked() skip siblings internally. When using xas_next(), call xas_advance(&xas, folio_next_index(folio) - 1) after processing to skip remaining slots. See filemap_get_read_batch() in mm/filemap.c. The bug is invisible for order-0 folios.

Page Cache Information Disclosure

Any interface revealing per-file page cache state (resident, dirty, writeback, evicted) must gate access behind a write-permission check to prevent side-channel attacks. Required: f->f_mode & FMODE_WRITE, or inode_owner_or_capable(), or file_permission(f, MAY_WRITE) (see can_do_mincore() in mm/mincore.c, can_do_cachestat() in mm/filemap.c). This applies to new syscalls, ioctls, and procfs/sysfs interfaces even when using file descriptors rather than virtual address ranges.

Page Cache XArray Setup (mapping_set_update)

Any XA_STATE on mapping->i_pages that performs mutating xarray operations must call mapping_set_update(&xas, mapping) first (defined in mm/internal.h). This sets callbacks for workingset shadow node tracking (workingset_update_node() in mm/workingset.c). Without it, xa_nodes are not added to their memcg's list_lru, leaking nodes under memory pressure.

Main filemap.c paths do this correctly. Code outside filemap.c operating on page cache xarray (collapse_file() in mm/khugepaged.c, shmem paths) is more likely to omit it.

Per-CPU LRU Cache Batching

Large folios are never in per-CPU LRU caches (immediately drained on add; see __folio_batch_add_and_move() in mm/swap.c). Guard per-folio lru_add_drain() / lru_add_drain_all() calls with folio_may_be_lru_cached(folio) (returns !folio_test_large(), defined in include/linux/swap.h). See collect_longterm_unpinnable_folios() in mm/gup.c.

Folio Eviction and Invalidation Guards

Removing a folio from page cache without checking dirty/writeback under the folio lock causes data loss or in-flight IO corruption. Both flags change asynchronously; checks must be after folio_lock(), not before.

Required pattern (see mapping_evict_folio() in mm/truncate.c):

folio_lock(folio);
if (folio_test_dirty(folio) || folio_test_writeback(folio))
	goto skip;
/* safe to remove from page cache */

For forceful invalidation, folio_unmap_invalidate() in mm/truncate.c has a late dirty check but does not guard against writeback, and the folio is already unmapped by that point.

Quick Checks

• Folio reference before flag tests or mapping: folio_test_*() on unreferenced folios crashes if memory was reused as a tail page (const_folio_flags() asserts not-tail). folio_try_get() must precede flag tests in speculative lookups; folio_get() must precede set_pte_at()
• Compound page tail pages: page-cache fields (mapping, index, private) share a union with compound_head in tail pages — accessing them on a tail page returns garbage silently. Call compound_head() or page_folio() first. The folio API avoids this entirely
• folio_page() vs PTE-mapped subpage: folio_page(folio, 0) returns the head page, not the subpage a specific PTE maps. In PTE batch loops within a large folio, use vm_normal_page() for the actual subpage unless the batch starts at folio offset 0. Per-page state checks (e.g., PageAnonExclusive) on the wrong subpage yield wrong results
• folio_page() index bounds: folio_page(folio, n) does unchecked arithmetic; n >= folio_nr_pages(folio) accesses past the struct page array. When n is computed from byte-offset arithmetic in truncation/split paths, verify boundary cases don't produce a one-past-the-end index
• Compound page metadata after potential refcount drop: reading compound_order()/folio_nr_pages() after a call that may drop the last reference returns garbage (page may be freed). Snapshot metadata before the refcount-dropping call. See isolate_migratepages_block() in mm/compaction.c
• PFN advancement after page-to-folio conversion: folio_nr_pages() is wrong for advancing PFN when starting from a tail page. Use pfn += folio_nr_pages(folio) - folio_page_idx(folio, page) - 1. See isolate_migratepages_block() in mm/compaction.c
• page_size() / compound_order() on non-compound high-order pages: compound_order() returns 0 for non-compound pages (no PG_head). Use PAGE_SIZE << order (not page_size(page)) when the page was allocated without __GFP_COMP. The folio API is safe (folios are always compound or order-0)
• _mapcount +1 bias convention: _mapcount is initialized to -1 (zero mappings); logical mapcount = _mapcount + 1. All accessors (folio_mapcount(), etc.) add 1. When code reads _mapcount directly, verify the consumer expects raw (-1 based) or logical (0 based) — a mismatch is an off-by-one masked by range checks
• Refcount as semantic state: page_count()/folio_ref_count() are lifetime counters, not semantic indicators. Speculative references (GUP, memory-failure, page_idle) transiently inflate them. Use dedicated counters/flags for semantic state (PageAnonExclusive, pt_share_count). Flag code branching on refcount == specific value for non-lifetime logic
• folio_end_read() on already-uptodate folios: uses XOR for PG_uptodate, so calling with success=true on an already-uptodate folio toggles the flag off. Paths that may encounter uptodate folios must use folio_unlock() instead
• Page/folio access after failed refcount drop: when put_page_testzero()/folio_put_testzero() returns false, the caller has no reference — another CPU may free the page immediately. Any access after the failed testzero is use-after-free. Save needed metadata (flags, order, tags) before the refcount drop. See ___free_pages() for the pattern
• folio->mapping NULL for non-anonymous folios: folio->mapping is NULL for shmem folios in swap cache and for truncated folios. Code that branches on !folio_test_anon() then dereferences folio->mapping will NULL-deref on these. NULL-check before accessing mapping members
• XArray multi-order entry atomicity: xa_get_order() under rcu_read_lock() then acting on the order under xa_lock is a TOCTOU race (entry order can change between operations). Combine xas_load(), xas_get_order(), and xas_store() in one xas_lock_irq() section. REPORT as bugs: xa_get_order() result used across a lock boundary
• Folio lock state at error labels: when a function acquires folio_lock() early and jumps to an error label, the cleanup must call folio_unlock(). Many MM functions have multiple error labels with different lock states; verify the folio is actually locked at each label that calls folio_unlock(), and not unlocked at labels that skip it
• Folio state recheck after lock acquisition: folio_lock() may sleep (for non-trylock variants). Folio state checked before locking (mapping, flags, refcount, truncation) may have changed. Always re-validate folio state after acquiring the lock, particularly folio->mapping != NULL (folio was not truncated)
• Zone device page metadata reinitialization: zone device pages (ZONE_DEVICE) bypass prep_new_page(), so stale compound metadata (compound_head, _nr_pages, flags) persists across reuse at different orders. page_pgmap() dereferences a stale compound_head pointer as pgmap due to union overlap. Zone device init paths must clear all per-page compound metadata before prep_compound_page()
• page_folio() / compound_head() require vmemmap-resident pages: page_fixed_fake_head() accesses page[1].compound_head under CONFIG_HUGETLB_PAGE_OPTIMIZE_VMEMMAP. Calling on a stack-local or single-element copy is an OOB read. For page snapshots, open-code the compound_head bit-test instead. See snapshot_page() in mm/util.c
• Per-section metadata iteration across large folios: under CONFIG_SPARSEMEM, page_ext arrays are per-section, not contiguous. Pointer arithmetic across section boundaries crashes. Use for_each_page_ext() / page_ext_iter_next() which re-derive via page_ext_lookup() at crossings
• Page-count accounting in folio conversions: when converting single-page code to large-folio, every counter++ and hardcoded 1 for "pages processed" must become folio_nr_pages(folio). Common mistake: updating most sites but missing one, causing undercounting for large folios
• Folio order vs mapping entry order: swapin paths must verify folio_order() matches the mapping entry order. Readahead can insert order-0 folios for slots covered by a large mapping entry; inserting without splitting the large entry silently loses data. See shmem_split_large_entry() in mm/shmem.c
• kmap_local_page() maps only a single page: on CONFIG_HIGHMEM, accessing beyond PAGE_SIZE from the returned address faults — adjacent pages in a high-order allocation are not mapped. Silent on 64-bit (direct map is contiguous). For multi-page access, iterate with kmap_local_page(page + i). kmap_local_folio() also maps one page only
• pfn_valid() vs pfn_to_online_page(): pfn_valid() only confirms a struct page exists for the PFN; the page may be offline (memory hotplug removed). pfn_to_online_page() additionally verifies the page is in an online memory section. Use pfn_to_online_page() in hwpoison, migration, and any path that will access page metadata. See pfn_to_online_page() in mm/memory_hotplug.c
• pfn_to_page() on boundary PFNs: only safe on PFNs with valid struct page. Under CONFIG_SPARSEMEM without VMEMMAP, dereferences section metadata that may be invalid for non-existent sections, causing a crash. PFN-range loops must check termination before pfn_to_page(), not after. Latent on VMEMMAP/FLATMEM where it's simple pointer arithmetic