CyberRota Analysis
AI-GeneratedThe vulnerability affects the Linux kernel's memory migration process, specifically in the `migrate_pages_batch()` function, where the failure to report RCU-tasks quiescent states can lead to prolonged CPU stalls during large memory migrations. This can significantly impact system performance, particularly on KVM hosts, as it stalls the Tasks-RCU grace period, potentially causing delays in memory management operations. Organizations utilizing Linux in virtualized environments, especially those with high memory migration workloads, should prioritize addressing this issue to maintain system efficiency and stability.
Original NVD Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/migrate: report RCU-tasks quiescent states in migrate_pages_batch() migrate_pages_batch() unmaps each folio before moving it, and every unmap runs the mmu_notifier invalidate callbacks. On KVM hosts try_to_migrate() ends up in kvm_mmu_notifier_invalidate_range_start() -> tdp_mmu_zap_leafs(), which is expensive, so unmapping a large batch keeps the CPU busy for a long time. The loop already calls cond_resched(), but on PREEMPTION kernels that is a no-op, and involuntary preemption is not a Tasks-RCU quiescent state. A long batch therefore never reports a quiescent state, and the migrating task (e.g. kcompactd) becomes a Tasks-RCU holdout, stalling the Tasks-RCU grace period for minutes, which is common at Meta fleet: INFO: rcu_tasks detected stalls on tasks: 0000000055349ecc: .. nvcsw: 1157401/1157401 holdout: 1 idle_cpu: -1/56 task:kcompactd0 state:R running task Call Trace: tdp_mmu_zap_leafs tdp_mmu_next_root gfn_to_pfn_cache_invalidate_start kvm_mmu_notifier_invalidate_range_start __mmu_notifier_invalidate_range_start try_to_migrate_one try_to_migrate migrate_pages_batch migrate_pages compact_zone compact_node kcompactd kthread Use cond_resched_tasks_rcu_qs() so a quiescent state is reported even when cond_resched() does nothing. This has also been discussed at [1]