linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH v4 1/6] x86/cpu: Use a new feature flag for 5 level paging

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Message-ID: <CAMj1kXE=-408evLMwPkH5SqK-=QPpONGSXCi4_YeZAgLt06Aqg@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 17 May 2025 16:28:52 +0200
From: Ard Biesheuvel <ardb@...nel.org>
To: Ard Biesheuvel <ardb+git@...gle.com>
Cc: linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, x86@...nel.org, 
	Ingo Molnar <mingo@...nel.org>, Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>, 
	Brian Gerst <brgerst@...il.com>, "Kirill A. Shutemov" <kirill@...temov.name>
Subject: Re: [PATCH v4 1/6] x86/cpu: Use a new feature flag for 5 level paging

On Sat, 17 May 2025 at 11:16, Ard Biesheuvel <ardb+git@...gle.com> wrote:
>
> From: Ard Biesheuvel <ardb@...nel.org>
>
> Currently, the LA57 CPU feature flag is taken to mean two different
> things at once:
> - whether the CPU implements the LA57 extension, and is therefore
>   capable of supporting 5 level paging;
> - whether 5 level paging is currently in use.
>
> This means the LA57 capability of the hardware is hidden when a LA57
> capable CPU is forced to run with 4 levels of paging. It also means the
> the ordinary CPU capability detection code will happily set the LA57
> capability and it needs to be cleared explicitly afterwards to avoid
> inconsistencies.
>
> Separate the two so that the CPU hardware capability can be identified
> unambigously in all cases.
>
> To avoid breaking existing users that might assume that 5 level paging
> is being used when the "la57" string is visible in /proc/cpuinfo,
> repurpose that string to mean that 5-level paging is in use.


>, and add a
> new string la57_capable to indicate that the CPU feature is implemented
> by the hardware.
>

^^^ forgot to drop this