The patch titled SLUB: return ZERO_SIZE_PTR for kmalloc(0) has been removed from the -mm tree. Its filename was slub-return-zero_size_ptr-for-kmalloc0.patch This patch was dropped because it was merged into mainline or a subsystem tree ------------------------------------------------------ Subject: SLUB: return ZERO_SIZE_PTR for kmalloc(0) From: Christoph Lameter <clameter@xxxxxxx> Instead of returning the smallest available object return ZERO_SIZE_PTR. A ZERO_SIZE_PTR can be legitimately used as an object pointer as long as it is not deferenced. The dereference of ZERO_SIZE_PTR causes a distinctive fault. kfree can handle a ZERO_SIZE_PTR in the same way as NULL. This enables functions to use zero sized object. e.g. n = number of objects. objects = kmalloc(n * sizeof(object)); for (i = 0; i < n; i++) objects[i].x = y; kfree(objects); Signed-off-by: Christoph Lameter <clameter@xxxxxxx> Acked-by: Pekka Enberg <penberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> --- include/linux/slub_def.h | 25 +++++++++++++++++-------- mm/slub.c | 26 ++++++++++++++++++-------- 2 files changed, 35 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-) diff -puN include/linux/slub_def.h~slub-return-zero_size_ptr-for-kmalloc0 include/linux/slub_def.h --- a/include/linux/slub_def.h~slub-return-zero_size_ptr-for-kmalloc0 +++ a/include/linux/slub_def.h @@ -70,11 +70,8 @@ extern struct kmem_cache kmalloc_caches[ */ static inline int kmalloc_index(size_t size) { - /* - * We should return 0 if size == 0 but we use the smallest object - * here for SLAB legacy reasons. - */ - WARN_ON_ONCE(size == 0); + if (!size) + return 0; if (size > KMALLOC_MAX_SIZE) return -1; @@ -153,13 +150,25 @@ static inline struct kmem_cache *kmalloc #define SLUB_DMA 0 #endif + +/* + * ZERO_SIZE_PTR will be returned for zero sized kmalloc requests. + * + * Dereferencing ZERO_SIZE_PTR will lead to a distinct access fault. + * + * ZERO_SIZE_PTR can be passed to kfree though in the same way that NULL can. + * Both make kfree a no-op. + */ +#define ZERO_SIZE_PTR ((void *)16) + + static inline void *kmalloc(size_t size, gfp_t flags) { if (__builtin_constant_p(size) && !(flags & SLUB_DMA)) { struct kmem_cache *s = kmalloc_slab(size); if (!s) - return NULL; + return ZERO_SIZE_PTR; return kmem_cache_alloc(s, flags); } else @@ -172,7 +181,7 @@ static inline void *kzalloc(size_t size, struct kmem_cache *s = kmalloc_slab(size); if (!s) - return NULL; + return ZERO_SIZE_PTR; return kmem_cache_zalloc(s, flags); } else @@ -188,7 +197,7 @@ static inline void *kmalloc_node(size_t struct kmem_cache *s = kmalloc_slab(size); if (!s) - return NULL; + return ZERO_SIZE_PTR; return kmem_cache_alloc_node(s, flags, node); } else diff -puN mm/slub.c~slub-return-zero_size_ptr-for-kmalloc0 mm/slub.c --- a/mm/slub.c~slub-return-zero_size_ptr-for-kmalloc0 +++ a/mm/slub.c @@ -2241,7 +2241,7 @@ void *__kmalloc(size_t size, gfp_t flags if (s) return slab_alloc(s, flags, -1, __builtin_return_address(0)); - return NULL; + return ZERO_SIZE_PTR; } EXPORT_SYMBOL(__kmalloc); @@ -2252,16 +2252,20 @@ void *__kmalloc_node(size_t size, gfp_t if (s) return slab_alloc(s, flags, node, __builtin_return_address(0)); - return NULL; + return ZERO_SIZE_PTR; } EXPORT_SYMBOL(__kmalloc_node); #endif size_t ksize(const void *object) { - struct page *page = get_object_page(object); + struct page *page; struct kmem_cache *s; + if (object == ZERO_SIZE_PTR) + return 0; + + page = get_object_page(object); BUG_ON(!page); s = page->slab; BUG_ON(!s); @@ -2293,7 +2297,13 @@ void kfree(const void *x) struct kmem_cache *s; struct page *page; - if (!x) + /* + * This has to be an unsigned comparison. According to Linus + * some gcc version treat a pointer as a signed entity. Then + * this comparison would be true for all "negative" pointers + * (which would cover the whole upper half of the address space). + */ + if ((unsigned long)x <= (unsigned long)ZERO_SIZE_PTR) return; page = virt_to_head_page(x); @@ -2398,12 +2408,12 @@ void *krealloc(const void *p, size_t new void *ret; size_t ks; - if (unlikely(!p)) + if (unlikely(!p || p == ZERO_SIZE_PTR)) return kmalloc(new_size, flags); if (unlikely(!new_size)) { kfree(p); - return NULL; + return ZERO_SIZE_PTR; } ks = ksize(p); @@ -2652,7 +2662,7 @@ void *__kmalloc_track_caller(size_t size struct kmem_cache *s = get_slab(size, gfpflags); if (!s) - return NULL; + return ZERO_SIZE_PTR; return slab_alloc(s, gfpflags, -1, caller); } @@ -2663,7 +2673,7 @@ void *__kmalloc_node_track_caller(size_t struct kmem_cache *s = get_slab(size, gfpflags); if (!s) - return NULL; + return ZERO_SIZE_PTR; return slab_alloc(s, gfpflags, node, caller); } _ Patches currently in -mm which might be from clameter@xxxxxxx are origin.patch group-short-lived-and-reclaimable-kernel-allocations-fix.patch cpuset-zero-malloc-fix-for-old-cpusets.patch fix-get_policy-for-stacked-shared-memory-files.patch git-ubi.patch quicklist-support-for-x86_64.patch change-zonelist-order-zonelist-order-selection-logic.patch change-zonelist-order-zonelist-order-selection-logic-add-check_highest_zone-to-build_zonelists_in_zone_order.patch change-zonelist-order-v6-zonelist-fix.patch change-zonelist-order-auto-configuration.patch change-zonelist-order-documentaion.patch make-proc-slabinfo-use-seq_list_xxx-helpers.patch make-proc-slabinfo-use-seq_list_xxx-helpers-fix.patch remove-the-deprecated-kmem_cache_t-typedef-from-slabh.patch slub-support-slub_debug-on-by-default.patch slub-support-slub_debug-on-by-default-tidy.patch numa-mempolicy-dynamic-interleave-map-for-system-init.patch gfph-gfp_thisnode-can-go-to-other-nodes-if-some-are-unpopulated.patch numa-mempolicy-trivial-debug-fixes.patch add-populated_map-to-account-for-memoryless-nodes.patch add-populated_map-to-account-for-memoryless-nodes-fix.patch add-__gfp_movable-for-callers-to-flag-allocations-from-high-memory-that-may-be-migrated.patch group-short-lived-and-reclaimable-kernel-allocations.patch fix-calculation-in-move_freepages_block-for-counting-pages.patch breakout-page_order-to-internalh-to-avoid-special-knowledge-of-the-buddy-allocator.patch do-not-depend-on-max_order-when-grouping-pages-by-mobility.patch print-out-statistics-in-relation-to-fragmentation-avoidance-to-proc-pagetypeinfo.patch have-kswapd-keep-a-minimum-order-free-other-than-order-0.patch have-kswapd-keep-a-minimum-order-free-other-than-order-0-fix.patch only-check-absolute-watermarks-for-alloc_high-and-alloc_harder-allocations.patch slub-mm-only-make-slub-the-default-slab-allocator.patch slub-exploit-page-mobility-to-increase-allocation-order.patch slub-reduce-antifrag-max-order.patch slub-reduce-antifrag-max-order-use-antifrag-constant-instead-of-hardcoding-page-order.patch slub-change-error-reporting-format-to-follow-lockdep-loosely.patch slub-change-error-reporting-format-to-follow-lockdep-loosely-fix.patch slub-remove-useless-export_symbol.patch slub-use-list_for_each_entry-for-loops-over-all-slabs.patch slub-slab-validation-move-tracking-information-alloc-outside-of.patch define-config_bounce-to-avoid-useless-inclusion-of-bounce-buffer.patch revoke-core-code.patch mm-implement-swap-prefetching.patch rename-gfp_high_movable-to-gfp_highuser_movable-prefetch.patch cpuset-zero-malloc-revert-the-old-cpuset-fix.patch containersv10-share-css_group-arrays-between-tasks-with-same-container-memberships-cpuset-zero-malloc-fix-for-new-containers.patch print-out-page_owner-statistics-in-relation-to-fragmentation-avoidance.patch - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe mm-commits" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html