Re: [PATCH v1 1/1] x86/entry/64: Skip SYSRET validation tests when FRED is enabled

From: H. Peter Anvin
Date: Tue Apr 09 2024 - 19:36:46 EST


Now, for a FRED system the return value is ignored anyway, so the only benefit of this is skipping the test, correct?

I do observe than what is left of do_fast_syscall_32 is a single assignment followed by __do_fast_syscall_32(), which could be turned into a tailcall.

Another thing that has been added lately is a bunch of tests on the int $0x80 path. This is a slow path *on legacy hardware*, but on FRED systems it is the *fast* path for IA32 emulation. These tests are also totally unnecessary *AND IN FACT, WRONG* on a FRED system, as FRED distinguishes external interrupts from software interrupts.

Furthermore, under FRED interrupt 0x80 is available as a hardware interrupt (since there is no reason to block it out.) Therefore, going and poking the APIC as in int80_is_external() is INCORRECT and possibly fatal.

Again, the easiest way to fix that is to follow what XenPV does in int80_is_external(), but there is more unnecessary stuff: !user_mode(regs) cannot happen on FRED, and the stuff in the int80_emulation assembly function should, if it is needed at all on any FRED-compatible hardware (I don't believe so) should be done in the FRED user mode assembly entry stub.

Thus, it might be better to strip down do_int80_emulation() to a lean fred_int80_emulation().

-hpa

On 4/2/24 23:24, Xin Li (Intel) wrote:
Don't do SYSRET validation tests when FRED is enabled, since ERETU is
the only legit instruction to return to user level.

Signed-off-by: Xin Li (Intel) <xin@xxxxxxxxx>
---
arch/x86/entry/common.c | 12 ++++++++++--
1 file changed, 10 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/entry/common.c b/arch/x86/entry/common.c
index 6356060caaf3..1c3944eb9901 100644
--- a/arch/x86/entry/common.c
+++ b/arch/x86/entry/common.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ static __always_inline bool do_syscall_x32(struct pt_regs *regs, int nr)
return false;
}
-/* Returns true to return using SYSRET, or false to use IRET */
+/* Returns true to return using SYSRET, or false to use IRET/ERETU */
__visible noinstr bool do_syscall_64(struct pt_regs *regs, int nr)
{
add_random_kstack_offset();
@@ -88,6 +88,10 @@ __visible noinstr bool do_syscall_64(struct pt_regs *regs, int nr)
instrumentation_end();
syscall_exit_to_user_mode(regs);
+ /* No test for FRED, which returns to user level with ERETU only */
+ if (cpu_feature_enabled(X86_FEATURE_FRED))
+ return false;
+
/*
* Check that the register state is valid for using SYSRET to exit
* to userspace. Otherwise use the slower but fully capable IRET
@@ -325,7 +329,7 @@ static noinstr bool __do_fast_syscall_32(struct pt_regs *regs)
return true;
}
-/* Returns true to return using SYSEXIT/SYSRETL, or false to use IRET */
+/* Returns true to return using SYSEXIT/SYSRETL, or false to use IRET/ERETU */
__visible noinstr bool do_fast_syscall_32(struct pt_regs *regs)
{
/*
@@ -346,6 +350,10 @@ __visible noinstr bool do_fast_syscall_32(struct pt_regs *regs)
if (!__do_fast_syscall_32(regs))
return false;
+ /* No test for FRED, which returns to user level with ERETU only */
+ if (cpu_feature_enabled(X86_FEATURE_FRED))
+ return false;
+
/*
* Check that the register state is valid for using SYSRETL/SYSEXIT
* to exit to userspace. Otherwise use the slower but fully capable

base-commit: 65d1240b6728b38e4d2068d6738a17e4ee4351f5