linux-kernel - Re: [RFC PATCH v2 11/27] x86/mm: Modify ptep_set_wrprotect and pmdp_set_wrprotect for _PAGE_DIRTY

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: <DDFF4AF4-51D2-44F5-8B63-E8454F712EC6@gmail.com>
Date:   Tue, 10 Jul 2018 19:23:04 -0400
From:   Nadav Amit <nadav.amit@...il.com>
To:     Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@...ux.intel.com>,
        Yu-cheng Yu <yu-cheng.yu@...el.com>, x86@...nel.org,
        "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@...or.com>,
        Thomas Gleixner <tglx@...utronix.de>,
        Ingo Molnar <mingo@...hat.com>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
        linux-doc@...r.kernel.org, linux-mm@...ck.org,
        linux-arch@...r.kernel.org, linux-api@...r.kernel.org,
        Arnd Bergmann <arnd@...db.de>,
        Andy Lutomirski <luto@...capital.net>,
        Balbir Singh <bsingharora@...il.com>,
        Cyrill Gorcunov <gorcunov@...il.com>,
        Florian Weimer <fweimer@...hat.com>,
        "H.J. Lu" <hjl.tools@...il.com>, Jann Horn <jannh@...gle.com>,
        Jonathan Corbet <corbet@....net>,
        Kees Cook <keescook@...omiun.org>,
        Mike Kravetz <mike.kravetz@...cle.com>,
        Oleg Nesterov <oleg@...hat.com>, Pavel Machek <pavel@....cz>,
        Peter Zijlstra <peterz@...radead.org>,
        "Ravi V. Shankar" <ravi.v.shankar@...el.com>,
        Vedvyas Shanbhogue <vedvyas.shanbhogue@...el.com>
Cc:     X86 ML <x86@...nel.org>,
        Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [RFC PATCH v2 11/27] x86/mm: Modify ptep_set_wrprotect and
 pmdp_set_wrprotect for _PAGE_DIRTY_SW

at 6:44 PM, Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@...ux.intel.com> wrote:

> On 07/10/2018 03:26 PM, Yu-cheng Yu wrote:
>> +	/*
>> +	 * On platforms before CET, other threads could race to
>> +	 * create a RO and _PAGE_DIRTY_HW PMD again.  However,
>> +	 * on CET platforms, this is safe without a TLB flush.
>> +	 */
> 
> If I didn't work for Intel, I'd wonder what the heck CET is and what the
> heck it has to do with _PAGE_DIRTY_HW.  I think we need a better comment
> than this.  How about:
> 
> 	Some processors can _start_ a write, but end up seeing
> 	a read-only PTE by the time they get to getting the
> 	Dirty bit.  In this case, they will set the Dirty bit,
> 	leaving a read-only, Dirty PTE which looks like a Shadow
> 	Stack PTE.
> 
> 	However, this behavior has been improved and will *not* occur on
> 	processors supporting Shadow Stacks.  Without this guarantee, a
> 	transition to a non-present PTE and flush the TLB would be
> 	needed.

Interesting. Does that regard the knights landing bug or something more
general?

Will the write succeed or trigger a page-fault in this case?

[ I know it is not related to the patch, but I would appreciate if you share
your knowledge ]

Regards,
Nadav