linux-kernel - RE: [RFC PATCH 5/5] GHES: Make NMI handler have a single reader

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]

Message-ID: <1AE640813FDE7649BE1B193DEA596E880270F55F@SHSMSX101.ccr.corp.intel.com>
Date:	Tue, 28 Apr 2015 00:44:12 +0000
From:	"Zheng, Lv" <lv.zheng@...el.com>
To:	Borislav Petkov <bp@...en8.de>
CC:	linux-edac <linux-edac@...r.kernel.org>,
	Jiri Kosina <jkosina@...e.cz>, Borislav Petkov <bp@...e.de>,
	"Rafael J. Wysocki" <rjw@...ysocki.net>,
	"Len Brown" <lenb@...nel.org>, "Luck, Tony" <tony.luck@...el.com>,
	Tomasz Nowicki <tomasz.nowicki@...aro.org>,
	"Chen, Gong" <gong.chen@...ux.intel.com>,
	Wolfram Sang <wsa@...-dreams.de>,
	Naoya Horiguchi <n-horiguchi@...jp.nec.com>,
	"linux-acpi@...r.kernel.org" <linux-acpi@...r.kernel.org>,
	"linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: RE: [RFC PATCH 5/5] GHES: Make NMI handler have a single reader

Hi,

> From: Borislav Petkov [mailto:bp@...en8.de]
> Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 4:47 PM
> 
> On Mon, Apr 27, 2015 at 03:16:00AM +0000, Zheng, Lv wrote:
> > > @@ -840,7 +840,9 @@ static int ghes_notify_nmi(unsigned int cmd, struct pt_regs *regs)
> > >  	struct ghes *ghes;
> > >  	int sev, ret = NMI_DONE;
> > >
> > > -	raw_spin_lock(&ghes_nmi_lock);
> > > +	if (!atomic_add_unless(&ghes_in_nmi, 1, 1))
> > > +		return ret;
> > > +
> >
> > Just a simple question.
> > Why not just using cmpxchg here instead of atomic_add_unless so that no atomic_dec will be needed.
> 
> What do you think atomic_add_unless ends up doing:
> 
> #APP
> # 177 "./arch/x86/include/asm/atomic.h" 1
> 	.pushsection .smp_locks,"a"
> .balign 4
> .long 671f - .
> .popsection
> 671:
> 	lock; cmpxchgl %edx,ghes_in_nmi(%rip)	# D.37056, MEM[(volatile u32 *)&ghes_in_nmi]
> # 0 "" 2
> #NO_APP
> 
> And you need to atomic_dec() so that another reader can enter, i.e. how
> the exclusion primitive works.
> 
> Or did you have something else in mind?

My mistake.
I mean cmpxchg() and xchg() (or atomic_cmpxchg() and atomic_xchg()) pair here, so nothing can be reduced.

But IMO, atomic_add_unless() is implemented via cmpxchg on many architectures.
And it might be better to use it directly here which is a bit faster as you actually only need one value switch here.

Thanks and best regards
-Lv


> 
> --
> Regards/Gruss,
>     Boris.
> 
> ECO tip #101: Trim your mails when you reply.
> --