linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] mark read_crX() asm code as volatile

lists.openwall.net		lists / announce owl-users owl-dev john-users john-dev passwdqc-users yescrypt popa3d-users / oss-security kernel-hardening musl sabotage tlsify passwords / crypt-dev xvendor / Bugtraq Full-Disclosure linux-kernel linux-netdev linux-ext4 linux-hardening linux-cve-announce PHC
Open Source and information security mailing list archives

Hash Suite: Windows password security audit tool. GUI, reports in PDF.

[<prev] [next>] [<thread-prev] [thread-next>] [day] [month] [year] [list]

Date:	Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:27:37 -0400
From:	Chuck Ebbert <cebbert@...hat.com>
To:	Arjan van de Ven <arjan@...radead.org>
CC:	Kirill Korotaev <dev@...nvz.org>, Andrew Morton <akpm@...l.org>,
	Andi Kleen <ak@...e.de>,
	Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	devel@...nvz.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] mark read_crX() asm code as volatile

On 10/02/2007 11:28 AM, Arjan van de Ven wrote:
> On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:08:32 +0400
> Kirill Korotaev <dev@...nvz.org> wrote:
> 
>> Some gcc versions (I checked at least 4.1.1 from RHEL5 & 4.1.2 from
>> gentoo) can generate incorrect code with read_crX()/write_crX()
>> functions mix up, due to cached results of read_crX().
>>
> 
> I'm not so sure volatile is the right answer, as compared to giving the
> asm more strict contraints....
> 
> asm volatile tends to mean something else than "the result has
> changed"....

It means "don't eliminate this code if it's reachable" which should be
just enough for this case. But it could still be reordered in some cases
that could break, I think.

This should work because the result gets used before reading again:

read_cr3(a);
write_cr3(a | 1);
read_cr3(a);

But this might be reordered so that b gets read before the write:

read_cr3(a);
write_cr3(a | 1);
read_cr3(b);

?
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@...r.kernel.org
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at  http://www.tux.org/lkml/