Re: [PATCH] mm/slab: improve kmem_cache_alloc_bulk

On 27/05/2026 09.02, Christoph Hellwig wrote:
> The kmem_cache_alloc_bulk return value is weird.  It returns the number
> of allocated objects, but that must always be 0 or the requested number
> based on the implementations and the handling in the callers, but that
> assumption is not actually documented anywhere, which confuses automated
> review tools.
> 

I remember, this API behavior was requested by AKPM when I developed
kmem_cache_alloc_bulk.  I trusted AKPM's decision, but I cannot explain
why this choice was made.

I kept the netdev code usage below. The current napi_skb_cache_get_bulk
have a retry logic that assumes that a partial bulk number can be
returned (which it cannot as Hellwig explains).  Cc Alex/Olek please
review the changes below as you added this retry logic.


> Fix this by returning a bool if the allocation succeeded and adding a
> kerneldoc comment explaining the API.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Christoph Hellwig <[email protected]>
> ---
>   drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_iommu.c       |  6 +--
>   drivers/gpu/drm/panthor/panthor_mmu.c | 12 +++---
>   include/linux/slab.h                  |  6 ++-
>   io_uring/io_uring.c                   | 23 +++++------
>   lib/test_meminit.c                    | 19 +++++----
>   mm/kasan/kasan_test_c.c               |  5 +--
>   mm/kfence/kfence_test.c               |  9 +++--
>   mm/slub.c                             | 58 +++++++++++++++------------
>   net/bpf/test_run.c                    |  7 ++--
>   net/core/skbuff.c                     | 24 ++++++-----
>   tools/include/linux/slab.h            |  2 +-
>   tools/testing/shared/linux.c          | 19 ++++-----
>   12 files changed, 93 insertions(+), 97 deletions(-)
> 

[...]

> diff --git a/net/core/skbuff.c b/net/core/skbuff.c
> index 44ac121cfccb..73045b688385 100644
> --- a/net/core/skbuff.c
> +++ b/net/core/skbuff.c
> @@ -288,11 +288,11 @@ static inline struct sk_buff *napi_skb_cache_get(bool alloc)
>   
>   	local_lock_nested_bh(&napi_alloc_cache.bh_lock);
>   	if (unlikely(!nc->skb_count)) {
> -		if (alloc)
> -			nc->skb_count = kmem_cache_alloc_bulk(net_hotdata.skbuff_cache,
> -						GFP_ATOMIC | __GFP_NOWARN,
> -						NAPI_SKB_CACHE_BULK,
> -						nc->skb_cache);
> +		if (alloc && kmem_cache_alloc_bulk(net_hotdata.skbuff_cache,
> +						   GFP_ATOMIC | __GFP_NOWARN,
> +						   NAPI_SKB_CACHE_BULK,
> +						   nc->skb_cache))
> +			nc->skb_count = NAPI_SKB_CACHE_BULK;
>   		if (unlikely(!nc->skb_count)) {
>   			local_unlock_nested_bh(&napi_alloc_cache.bh_lock);
>   			return NULL;
> @@ -353,16 +353,18 @@ u32 napi_skb_cache_get_bulk(void **skbs, u32 n)
>   
>   	/* No enough cached skbs. Try refilling the cache first */
>   	bulk = min(NAPI_SKB_CACHE_SIZE - nc->skb_count, NAPI_SKB_CACHE_BULK);
> -	nc->skb_count += kmem_cache_alloc_bulk(net_hotdata.skbuff_cache,
> -					       GFP_ATOMIC | __GFP_NOWARN, bulk,
> -					       &nc->skb_cache[nc->skb_count]);
> +	if (kmem_cache_alloc_bulk(net_hotdata.skbuff_cache,
> +				  GFP_ATOMIC | __GFP_NOWARN, bulk,
> +				  &nc->skb_cache[nc->skb_count]))
> +		nc->skb_count += bulk;
>   	if (likely(nc->skb_count >= n))
>   		goto get;
>   
>   	/* Still not enough. Bulk-allocate the missing part directly, zeroed */
> -	n -= kmem_cache_alloc_bulk(net_hotdata.skbuff_cache,
> -				   GFP_ATOMIC | __GFP_ZERO | __GFP_NOWARN,
> -				   n - nc->skb_count, &skbs[nc->skb_count]);
> +	if (kmem_cache_alloc_bulk(net_hotdata.skbuff_cache,
> +				  GFP_ATOMIC | __GFP_ZERO | __GFP_NOWARN,
> +				  n - nc->skb_count, &skbs[nc->skb_count]))
> +		n = nc->skb_count;
>   	if (likely(nc->skb_count >= n))
>   		goto get;
>