[PATCH v3] x86/bugs: Only harden syscalls when needed

From: Josh Poimboeuf
Date: Tue Apr 16 2024 - 19:03:35 EST


Syscall hardening (i.e., converting the syscall indirect branch to a
series of direct branches) may cause performance regressions in certain
scenarios. Only use the syscall hardening when indirect branches are
considered unsafe.

Fixes: 1e3ad78334a6 ("x86/syscall: Don't force use of indirect calls for system calls")
Reviewed-by: Pawan Gupta <pawan.kumar.gupta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Josh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
v3:
- fix X86_FEATURE_INDIRECT_SAFE value

arch/x86/entry/common.c | 15 ++++++++++++---
arch/x86/entry/syscall_32.c | 11 +----------
arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c | 6 ------
arch/x86/entry/syscall_x32.c | 7 ++++++-
arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeatures.h | 1 +
arch/x86/include/asm/syscall.h | 8 +++++++-
arch/x86/kernel/cpu/bugs.c | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
7 files changed, 57 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/entry/common.c b/arch/x86/entry/common.c
index 6de50b80702e..c0f8116291e4 100644
--- a/arch/x86/entry/common.c
+++ b/arch/x86/entry/common.c
@@ -49,7 +49,10 @@ static __always_inline bool do_syscall_x64(struct pt_regs *regs, int nr)

if (likely(unr < NR_syscalls)) {
unr = array_index_nospec(unr, NR_syscalls);
- regs->ax = x64_sys_call(regs, unr);
+ if (likely(cpu_feature_enabled(X86_FEATURE_INDIRECT_SAFE)))
+ regs->ax = sys_call_table[unr](regs);
+ else
+ regs->ax = x64_sys_call(regs, unr);
return true;
}
return false;
@@ -66,7 +69,10 @@ static __always_inline bool do_syscall_x32(struct pt_regs *regs, int nr)

if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_X32_ABI) && likely(xnr < X32_NR_syscalls)) {
xnr = array_index_nospec(xnr, X32_NR_syscalls);
- regs->ax = x32_sys_call(regs, xnr);
+ if (likely(cpu_feature_enabled(X86_FEATURE_INDIRECT_SAFE)))
+ regs->ax = x32_sys_call_table[xnr](regs);
+ else
+ regs->ax = x32_sys_call(regs, xnr);
return true;
}
return false;
@@ -162,7 +168,10 @@ static __always_inline void do_syscall_32_irqs_on(struct pt_regs *regs, int nr)

if (likely(unr < IA32_NR_syscalls)) {
unr = array_index_nospec(unr, IA32_NR_syscalls);
- regs->ax = ia32_sys_call(regs, unr);
+ if (likely(cpu_feature_enabled(X86_FEATURE_INDIRECT_SAFE)))
+ regs->ax = ia32_sys_call_table[unr](regs);
+ else
+ regs->ax = ia32_sys_call(regs, unr);
} else if (nr != -1) {
regs->ax = __ia32_sys_ni_syscall(regs);
}
diff --git a/arch/x86/entry/syscall_32.c b/arch/x86/entry/syscall_32.c
index c2235bae17ef..aab31760b4e3 100644
--- a/arch/x86/entry/syscall_32.c
+++ b/arch/x86/entry/syscall_32.c
@@ -14,25 +14,16 @@
#endif

#define __SYSCALL(nr, sym) extern long __ia32_##sym(const struct pt_regs *);
-
#include <asm/syscalls_32.h>
#undef __SYSCALL

-/*
- * The sys_call_table[] is no longer used for system calls, but
- * kernel/trace/trace_syscalls.c still wants to know the system
- * call address.
- */
-#ifdef CONFIG_X86_32
#define __SYSCALL(nr, sym) __ia32_##sym,
-const sys_call_ptr_t sys_call_table[] = {
+const sys_call_ptr_t ia32_sys_call_table[] = {
#include <asm/syscalls_32.h>
};
#undef __SYSCALL
-#endif

#define __SYSCALL(nr, sym) case nr: return __ia32_##sym(regs);
-
long ia32_sys_call(const struct pt_regs *regs, unsigned int nr)
{
switch (nr) {
diff --git a/arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c b/arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c
index 33b3f09e6f15..96ea1f8a1d3f 100644
--- a/arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c
+++ b/arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c
@@ -11,11 +11,6 @@
#include <asm/syscalls_64.h>
#undef __SYSCALL

-/*
- * The sys_call_table[] is no longer used for system calls, but
- * kernel/trace/trace_syscalls.c still wants to know the system
- * call address.
- */
#define __SYSCALL(nr, sym) __x64_##sym,
const sys_call_ptr_t sys_call_table[] = {
#include <asm/syscalls_64.h>
@@ -23,7 +18,6 @@ const sys_call_ptr_t sys_call_table[] = {
#undef __SYSCALL

#define __SYSCALL(nr, sym) case nr: return __x64_##sym(regs);
-
long x64_sys_call(const struct pt_regs *regs, unsigned int nr)
{
switch (nr) {
diff --git a/arch/x86/entry/syscall_x32.c b/arch/x86/entry/syscall_x32.c
index 03de4a932131..5aef4230faca 100644
--- a/arch/x86/entry/syscall_x32.c
+++ b/arch/x86/entry/syscall_x32.c
@@ -11,8 +11,13 @@
#include <asm/syscalls_x32.h>
#undef __SYSCALL

-#define __SYSCALL(nr, sym) case nr: return __x64_##sym(regs);
+#define __SYSCALL(nr, sym) __x64_##sym,
+const sys_call_ptr_t x32_sys_call_table[] = {
+#include <asm/syscalls_x32.h>
+};
+#undef __SYSCALL

+#define __SYSCALL(nr, sym) case nr: return __x64_##sym(regs);
long x32_sys_call(const struct pt_regs *regs, unsigned int nr)
{
switch (nr) {
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeatures.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeatures.h
index 3c7434329661..f0ea66cbd5f1 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeatures.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeatures.h
@@ -470,6 +470,7 @@
#define X86_FEATURE_BHI_CTRL (21*32+ 2) /* "" BHI_DIS_S HW control available */
#define X86_FEATURE_CLEAR_BHB_HW (21*32+ 3) /* "" BHI_DIS_S HW control enabled */
#define X86_FEATURE_CLEAR_BHB_LOOP_ON_VMEXIT (21*32+ 4) /* "" Clear branch history at vmexit using SW loop */
+#define X86_FEATURE_INDIRECT_SAFE (21*32+ 5) /* "" Indirect branches aren't vulnerable to Spectre v2 */

/*
* BUG word(s)
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/syscall.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/syscall.h
index 2fc7bc3863ff..dfb59521244c 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/syscall.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/syscall.h
@@ -16,14 +16,20 @@
#include <asm/thread_info.h> /* for TS_COMPAT */
#include <asm/unistd.h>

-/* This is used purely for kernel/trace/trace_syscalls.c */
typedef long (*sys_call_ptr_t)(const struct pt_regs *);
extern const sys_call_ptr_t sys_call_table[];

+#if defined(CONFIG_X86_32)
+#define ia32_sys_call_table sys_call_table
+#else
/*
* These may not exist, but still put the prototypes in so we
* can use IS_ENABLED().
*/
+extern const sys_call_ptr_t ia32_sys_call_table[];
+extern const sys_call_ptr_t x32_sys_call_table[];
+#endif
+
extern long ia32_sys_call(const struct pt_regs *, unsigned int nr);
extern long x32_sys_call(const struct pt_regs *, unsigned int nr);
extern long x64_sys_call(const struct pt_regs *, unsigned int nr);
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/bugs.c b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/bugs.c
index ca295b0c1eee..dcb97cc2758f 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/bugs.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/bugs.c
@@ -1664,6 +1664,15 @@ static void __init bhi_select_mitigation(void)
if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_64))
return;

+ /*
+ * There's no hardware mitigation in place, so mark indirect branches
+ * as unsafe.
+ *
+ * One could argue the SW loop makes indirect branches safe again, but
+ * Linus prefers it this way.
+ */
+ setup_clear_cpu_cap(X86_FEATURE_INDIRECT_SAFE);
+
/* Mitigate KVM by default */
setup_force_cpu_cap(X86_FEATURE_CLEAR_BHB_LOOP_ON_VMEXIT);
pr_info("Spectre BHI mitigation: SW BHB clearing on vm exit\n");
@@ -1678,6 +1687,21 @@ static void __init spectre_v2_select_mitigation(void)
enum spectre_v2_mitigation_cmd cmd = spectre_v2_parse_cmdline();
enum spectre_v2_mitigation mode = SPECTRE_V2_NONE;

+ /*
+ * X86_FEATURE_INDIRECT_SAFE indicates whether indirect calls can be
+ * considered safe. That means either:
+ *
+ * - the CPU isn't vulnerable to Spectre v2 or its variants;
+ *
+ * - a hardware mitigation is in place (e.g., IBRS, BHI_DIS_S); or
+ *
+ * - the user turned off mitigations altogether.
+ *
+ * Assume innocence until proven guilty: set the cap bit now, then
+ * clear it later if/when needed.
+ */
+ setup_force_cpu_cap(X86_FEATURE_INDIRECT_SAFE);
+
/*
* If the CPU is not affected and the command line mode is NONE or AUTO
* then nothing to do.
@@ -1764,11 +1788,16 @@ static void __init spectre_v2_select_mitigation(void)
break;

case SPECTRE_V2_LFENCE:
+ setup_clear_cpu_cap(X86_FEATURE_INDIRECT_SAFE);
+ fallthrough;
case SPECTRE_V2_EIBRS_LFENCE:
setup_force_cpu_cap(X86_FEATURE_RETPOLINE_LFENCE);
- fallthrough;
+ setup_force_cpu_cap(X86_FEATURE_RETPOLINE);
+ break;

case SPECTRE_V2_RETPOLINE:
+ setup_clear_cpu_cap(X86_FEATURE_INDIRECT_SAFE);
+ fallthrough;
case SPECTRE_V2_EIBRS_RETPOLINE:
setup_force_cpu_cap(X86_FEATURE_RETPOLINE);
break;
--
2.44.0