Re: [PATCH 1/2] cpu: Re-enable CPU mitigations by default for !X86 architectures

From: Geert Uytterhoeven
Date: Fri Apr 19 2024 - 10:28:34 EST


On Wed, Apr 17, 2024 at 2:15 AM Sean Christopherson <seanjc@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Add a generic Kconfig, CPU_MITIGATIONS, to control whether or not CPU
> mitigations are enabled by default, and force it on for all architectures
> except x86. A recent commit to turn mitigations off by default if
> SPECULATION_MITIGATIONS=n kinda sorta missed that "cpu_mitigations" is
> completely generic, where as SPECULATION_MITIGATIONS is x86 specific.
>
> Alternatively, SPECULATION_MITIGATIONS could simply be defined in common
> code, but that creates weirdness for x86 because SPECULATION_MITIGATIONS
> ends up being defined twice, and the default behavior would likely depend
> on the arbitrary include order (if the two definitions diverged).
>
> Ideally, CPU_MITIGATIONS would be unconditionally on by default for all
> architectures, and manually turned off, but there is no way to unselect a
> Kconfig.
>
> Reported-by: Stephen Rothwell <sfr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Reported-by: Michael Ellerman <mpe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Reported-by: Geert Uytterhoeven <geert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Closes: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20240413115324.53303a68%40canb.auug.orgau
> Fixes: f337a6a21e2f ("x86/cpu: Actually turn off mitigations by default for SPECULATION_MITIGATIONS=n")
> Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Signed-off-by: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@xxxxxxxxxx>

Tested-by: Geert Uytterhoeven <geert+renesas@xxxxxxxxx>

Gr{oetje,eeting}s,

Geert

--
Geert Uytterhoeven -- There's lots of Linux beyond ia32 -- geert@linux-m68korg

In personal conversations with technical people, I call myself a hacker. But
when I'm talking to journalists I just say "programmer" or something like that.
-- Linus Torvalds