__list_lru_init() only collapses a memcg-aware list_lru into plain per-node lists when kmem accounting is disabled (cgroup.memory=nokmem). When the memory controller is disabled entirely (cgroup_disable=memory), mem_cgroup_kmem_disabled() is false, so the lru stays memcg aware even though no object will ever be charged to a memcg. This is more than a semantic inconsistency. folio_memcg_list_lru_alloc() trusts list_lru_memcg_aware() and dereferences the folio's memcg, which is always NULL with the controller disabled. The only mainline caller, folio_memcg_alloc_deferred(), papers over this with an explicit mem_cgroup_disabled() check. The shmem unused-huge shrinker conversion ("mm: shmem: make unused huge shrinker memcg aware") adds a second caller without such a guard, so booting with cgroup_disable=memory and writing to a huge=always tmpfs oopses: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 0000000000000488 RIP: 0010:folio_memcg_list_lru_alloc+0x41/0xf0 Call Trace: shmem_get_folio_gfp+0x1cd/0x7c0 shmem_write_begin+0x5d/0x100 generic_perform_write+0x89/0x2a0 shmem_file_write_iter+0x82/0x90 vfs_write+0x256/0x410 ksys_write+0x61/0xe0 do_syscall_64+0x8d/0x460 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e The faulting address is the offset of mem_cgroup->kmemcg_id, dereferenced on a NULL memcg in memcg_list_lru_allocated(): folio_memcg_list_lru_alloc() list_lru_memcg_aware() <- true, only nokmem checked memcg = folio_memcg(folio) <- NULL memcg_list_lru_allocated(memcg, lru) memcg->kmemcg_id <- NULL pointer dereference Check mem_cgroup_disabled() in __list_lru_init() so that all list_lrus fall back to plain per-node lists when the controller is disabled, matching what the shrinker side already does (shrinker_memcg_alloc() bails out on mem_cgroup_disabled()). This makes the mem_cgroup_disabled() check in callers unnecessary rather than mandatory. Signed-off-by: Qinyun Tan Reviewed-by: Baolin Wang --- v2: - Drop the comment above the check; the code explains itself (Baolin) - Collect Baolin's Reviewed-by v1: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/20260902032840.30250-1-qinyuntan@linux.alibaba.com/ Applies on top of mm-new. No Fixes: tag since the commit that makes the crash reachable ("mm: shmem: make unused huge shrinker memcg aware") is only in mm-new; no stable backport is needed either. Reproducer, on mm-new booted with cgroup_disable=memory (CONFIG_MEMCG=y, CONFIG_TRANSPARENT_HUGEPAGE=y): # mount -t tmpfs -o huge=always tmpfs /mnt # echo x > /mnt/f Discussion: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/20260901115104.2944996-1-qinyuntan@linux.alibaba.com/ mm/list_lru.c | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/mm/list_lru.c b/mm/list_lru.c index 36662d02ff963..a4522ca93ebcb 100644 --- a/mm/list_lru.c +++ b/mm/list_lru.c @@ -671,7 +671,7 @@ int __list_lru_init(struct list_lru *lru, bool memcg_aware, struct shrinker *shr else lru->shrinker_id = -1; - if (mem_cgroup_kmem_disabled()) + if (mem_cgroup_disabled() || mem_cgroup_kmem_disabled()) memcg_aware = false; #endif -- 2.43.7