linux-kernel - [tip:x86/asm] x86/cpu: Probe the behavior of nulling out a segment at boot time

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Date:	Wed, 13 Apr 2016 04:29:26 -0700
From:	tip-bot for Andy Lutomirski <tipbot@...or.com>
To:	linux-tip-commits@...r.kernel.org
Cc:	luto@...nel.org, peterz@...radead.org,
	torvalds@...ux-foundation.org, r.marek@...embler.cz,
	dvlasenk@...hat.com, brgerst@...il.com, bp@...e.de, hpa@...or.com,
	bp@...en8.de, luto@...capital.net, mingo@...nel.org,
	tglx@...utronix.de, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: [tip:x86/asm] x86/cpu: Probe the behavior of nulling out a segment
 at boot time

Commit-ID:  7a5d67048745e3eab62779c6d043a2e3d95dc848
Gitweb:     http://git.kernel.org/tip/7a5d67048745e3eab62779c6d043a2e3d95dc848
Author:     Andy Lutomirski <luto@...nel.org>
AuthorDate: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 17:31:46 -0700
Committer:  Ingo Molnar <mingo@...nel.org>
CommitDate: Wed, 13 Apr 2016 10:20:41 +0200

x86/cpu: Probe the behavior of nulling out a segment at boot time

AMD and Intel do different things when writing zero to a segment
selector.  Since neither vendor documents the behavior well and it's
easy to test the behavior, try nulling fs to see what happens.

Signed-off-by: Andy Lutomirski <luto@...nel.org>
Reviewed-by: Borislav Petkov <bp@...e.de>
Cc: Andy Lutomirski <luto@...capital.net>
Cc: Borislav Petkov <bp@...en8.de>
Cc: Brian Gerst <brgerst@...il.com>
Cc: Denys Vlasenko <dvlasenk@...hat.com>
Cc: H. Peter Anvin <hpa@...or.com>
Cc: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@...radead.org>
Cc: Rudolf Marek <r.marek@...embler.cz>
Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@...utronix.de>
Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/r/61588ba0e0df35beafd363dc8b68a4c5878ef095.1460075211.git.luto@kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@...nel.org>
---
 arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeatures.h |  1 +
 arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c       | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 32 insertions(+)

diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeatures.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeatures.h
index 8f9afef..2a05230 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeatures.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeatures.h
@@ -294,6 +294,7 @@
 #define X86_BUG_FXSAVE_LEAK	X86_BUG(6) /* FXSAVE leaks FOP/FIP/FOP */
 #define X86_BUG_CLFLUSH_MONITOR	X86_BUG(7) /* AAI65, CLFLUSH required before MONITOR */
 #define X86_BUG_SYSRET_SS_ATTRS	X86_BUG(8) /* SYSRET doesn't fix up SS attrs */
+#define X86_BUG_NULL_SEG	X86_BUG(9) /* Nulling a selector preserves the base */
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_X86_32
 /*
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c
index 7fea407..8e40eee 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c
@@ -889,6 +889,35 @@ static void detect_nopl(struct cpuinfo_x86 *c)
 #endif
 }
 
+static void detect_null_seg_behavior(struct cpuinfo_x86 *c)
+{
+#ifdef CONFIG_X86_64
+	/*
+	 * Empirically, writing zero to a segment selector on AMD does
+	 * not clear the base, whereas writing zero to a segment
+	 * selector on Intel does clear the base.  Intel's behavior
+	 * allows slightly faster context switches in the common case
+	 * where GS is unused by the prev and next threads.
+	 *
+	 * Since neither vendor documents this anywhere that I can see,
+	 * detect it directly instead of hardcoding the choice by
+	 * vendor.
+	 *
+	 * I've designated AMD's behavior as the "bug" because it's
+	 * counterintuitive and less friendly.
+	 */
+
+	unsigned long old_base, tmp;
+	rdmsrl(MSR_FS_BASE, old_base);
+	wrmsrl(MSR_FS_BASE, 1);
+	loadsegment(fs, 0);
+	rdmsrl(MSR_FS_BASE, tmp);
+	if (tmp != 0)
+		set_cpu_bug(c, X86_BUG_NULL_SEG);
+	wrmsrl(MSR_FS_BASE, old_base);
+#endif
+}
+
 static void generic_identify(struct cpuinfo_x86 *c)
 {
 	c->extended_cpuid_level = 0;
@@ -921,6 +950,8 @@ static void generic_identify(struct cpuinfo_x86 *c)
 	get_model_name(c); /* Default name */
 
 	detect_nopl(c);
+
+	detect_null_seg_behavior(c);
 }
 
 static void x86_init_cache_qos(struct cpuinfo_x86 *c)