Re: [Xen-devel] [PATCH 1/2] x86/xen: Make the boot CPU idle task reliable

From: Andrew Cooper
Date: Thu Mar 12 2020 - 11:11:50 EST


On 12/03/2020 14:20, Miroslav Benes wrote:
> The unwinder reports the boot CPU idle task's stack on XEN PV as
> unreliable, which affects at least live patching. There are two reasons
> for this. First, the task does not follow the x86 convention that its
> stack starts at the offset right below saved pt_regs. It allows the
> unwinder to easily detect the end of the stack and verify it. Second,
> startup_xen() function does not store the return address before jumping
> to xen_start_kernel() which confuses the unwinder.
>
> Amend both issues by moving the starting point of initial stack in
> startup_xen() and storing the return address before the jump.
>
> Signed-off-by: Miroslav Benes <mbenes@xxxxxxx>
> ---
> arch/x86/xen/xen-head.S | 4 +++-
> 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/arch/x86/xen/xen-head.S b/arch/x86/xen/xen-head.S
> index 1d0cee3163e4..642f346bfe02 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/xen/xen-head.S
> +++ b/arch/x86/xen/xen-head.S
> @@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ SYM_CODE_START(startup_xen)
> rep __ASM_SIZE(stos)
>
> mov %_ASM_SI, xen_start_info
> - mov $init_thread_union+THREAD_SIZE, %_ASM_SP
> + mov $init_thread_union+THREAD_SIZE-SIZEOF_PTREGS, %_ASM_SP
>
> #ifdef CONFIG_X86_64
> /* Set up %gs.
> @@ -51,7 +51,9 @@ SYM_CODE_START(startup_xen)
> wrmsr
> #endif
>
> + push $1f
> jmp xen_start_kernel
> +1:

Hang on. Isn't this just a `call` instruction written in longhand?

~Andrew