From: Kevin Brodsky <kevin.brodsky@arm.com>
To: linux-hardening@vger.kernel.org
Cc: "Kevin Brodsky" <kevin.brodsky@arm.com>,
"Andrew Morton" <akpm@linux-foundation.org>,
"Andy Lutomirski" <luto@kernel.org>,
"Catalin Marinas" <catalin.marinas@arm.com>,
"Dave Hansen" <dave.hansen@linux.intel.com>,
"David Hildenbrand (Arm)" <david@kernel.org>,
"Jann Horn" <jannh@google.com>, "Jeff Xu" <jeffxu@chromium.org>,
"Joey Gouly" <joey.gouly@arm.com>, "Kees Cook" <kees@kernel.org>,
"Linu Cherian" <linu.cherian@arm.com>,
"Linus Walleij" <linusw@kernel.org>,
"Marc Zyngier" <maz@kernel.org>,
"Mark Brown" <broonie@kernel.org>,
"Matthew Wilcox" <willy@infradead.org>,
"Maxwell Bland" <mbland@motorola.com>,
"Mike Rapoport (IBM)" <rppt@kernel.org>,
"Peter Zijlstra" <peterz@infradead.org>,
"Pierre Langlois" <pierre.langlois@arm.com>,
"Pierre-Clément Tosi" <ptosi@google.com>,
"Quentin Perret" <qperret@google.com>,
"Rick Edgecombe" <rick.p.edgecombe@intel.com>,
"Ryan Roberts" <ryan.roberts@arm.com>,
"Vlastimil Babka" <vbabka@kernel.org>,
"Will Deacon" <will@kernel.org>,
"Yang Shi" <yang@os.amperecomputing.com>,
"Yeoreum Yun" <yeoreum.yun@arm.com>,
linux-arm-kernel@lists.infradead.org, linux-mm@kvack.org,
x86@kernel.org, "Ira Weiny" <iweiny@kernel.org>,
"Lorenzo Stoakes" <ljs@kernel.org>,
"Thomas Gleixner" <tglx@kernel.org>
Subject: [PATCH RFC v9 23/25] arm64: kpkeys: Batch KPKEYS_CTX_PGTABLES switches
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:09:05 +0100 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260818-kpkeys-v9-23-743ad31b2c8f@arm.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260818-kpkeys-v9-0-743ad31b2c8f@arm.com>
The kpkeys_hardened_pgtables feature currently switches kpkeys
context in every helper that writes to page tables, such as
set_pte(). With kpkeys implemented using POE, this entails a pair of
ISBs whenever such helper is called.
A simple way to reduce this overhead is to make use of the lazy MMU
mode. We amend the kpkeys_hardened_pgtables guard so that no kpkeys
context switch (i.e. POR_EL1 update) is issued while the lazy MMU
mode is active. Instead, we switch to KPKEYS_CTX_PGTABLES when
entering the lazy MMU mode, and restore the previous context when
exiting it.
Restoring the previous kpkeys context requires storing struct
kpkeys_state somewhere. POR_EL1 is a full 64-bit value so we cannot
simply use a TIF flag. There is no straightforward way to reuse
current->thread.por_el1 for that purpose - this is where the current
value of POR_EL1 is stored on a context switch, i.e. the value
corresponding to KPKEYS_CTX_PGTABLES inside a lazy_mmu section.
Instead, we add a new member to thread_struct to hold that state
temporarily. This isn't optimal as that member is unused outside of
lazy MMU sections, but it is the simplest option. Nesting of
sections is not a concern as arch_{enter,leave}_lazy_mmu_mode() are
not called in inner lazy MMU sections (nor do we need to do anything
there).
A further optimisation this patch makes is to merge the ISBs when
exiting lazy_mmu mode. That is, if an ISB is going to be issued by
emit_pte_barriers() because kernel pgtables were modified in the
lazy MMU section, we skip the ISB after restoring POR_EL1. This is
done by checking TIF_LAZY_MMU_PENDING and ensuring that POR_EL1 is
restored before emit_pte_barriers() is called.
Signed-off-by: Kevin Brodsky <kevin.brodsky@arm.com>
---
arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h | 50 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
arch/arm64/include/asm/processor.h | 4 +++
2 files changed, 50 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h b/arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h
index b4e52d6bb6ba..6e5d14c7e8b8 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h
+++ b/arch/arm64/include/asm/pgtable.h
@@ -43,10 +43,44 @@
#ifdef CONFIG_KPKEYS_HARDENED_PGTABLES
KPKEYS_GUARD_COND(kpkeys_hardened_pgtables, KPKEYS_CTX_PGTABLES,
- kpkeys_hardened_pgtables_enabled())
-#else
+ kpkeys_hardened_pgtables_enabled() &&
+ !is_lazy_mmu_mode_active())
+
+static inline void kpkeys_lazy_mmu_enter(void)
+{
+ if (!kpkeys_hardened_pgtables_enabled())
+ return;
+
+ current->thread.kpkeys_state_lazy_mmu =
+ kpkeys_enter_context(KPKEYS_CTX_PGTABLES);
+}
+
+static inline void kpkeys_lazy_mmu_exit(void)
+{
+ const struct kpkeys_state *state =
+ ¤t->thread.kpkeys_state_lazy_mmu;
+
+ if (!kpkeys_hardened_pgtables_enabled())
+ return;
+
+ /*
+ * We skip any barrier if TIF_LAZY_MMU_PENDING is set:
+ * emit_pte_barriers() will issue an ISB just after this function
+ * returns.
+ */
+ if (test_thread_flag(TIF_LAZY_MMU_PENDING) && state->entered_context)
+ __kpkeys_set_pkey_reg_nosync(state->arch_state.por);
+ else
+ kpkeys_leave_context(state);
+}
+#else /* CONFIG_KPKEYS_HARDENED_PGTABLES */
KPKEYS_GUARD_NOOP(kpkeys_hardened_pgtables)
-#endif
+
+static inline void kpkeys_lazy_mmu_enter(void) {}
+static inline void kpkeys_lazy_mmu_exit(void) {}
+#endif /* CONFIG_KPKEYS_HARDENED_PGTABLES */
+
+
static inline void emit_pte_barriers(void)
{
@@ -79,7 +113,10 @@ static inline void queue_pte_barriers(void)
}
}
-static inline void arch_enter_lazy_mmu_mode(void) {}
+static inline void arch_enter_lazy_mmu_mode(void)
+{
+ kpkeys_lazy_mmu_enter();
+}
static inline void arch_flush_lazy_mmu_mode(void)
{
@@ -89,6 +126,11 @@ static inline void arch_flush_lazy_mmu_mode(void)
static inline void arch_leave_lazy_mmu_mode(void)
{
+ /*
+ * The ordering should be preserved to allow kpkeys_lazy_mmu_exit()
+ * to skip any barrier when TIF_LAZY_MMU_PENDING is set.
+ */
+ kpkeys_lazy_mmu_exit();
arch_flush_lazy_mmu_mode();
}
diff --git a/arch/arm64/include/asm/processor.h b/arch/arm64/include/asm/processor.h
index 8d7fa479cd36..23660a233da2 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/include/asm/processor.h
+++ b/arch/arm64/include/asm/processor.h
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
#include <linux/build_bug.h>
#include <linux/cache.h>
#include <linux/init.h>
+#include <linux/kpkeys_types.h>
#include <linux/stddef.h>
#include <linux/string.h>
#include <linux/thread_info.h>
@@ -196,6 +197,9 @@ struct thread_struct {
u64 tpidr2_el0;
u64 por_el0;
u64 por_el1;
+#ifdef CONFIG_KPKEYS_HARDENED_PGTABLES
+ struct kpkeys_state kpkeys_state_lazy_mmu;
+#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_ARM64_GCS
unsigned int gcs_el0_mode;
unsigned int gcs_el0_locked;
--
2.51.2
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-08-18 14:13 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 26+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-08-18 14:08 [PATCH RFC v9 00/25] pkeys-based page table hardening Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 01/25] mm: Introduce kpkeys Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 02/25] set_memory: Introduce set_memory_pkey() stub Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 03/25] arm64: mm: Enable overlays for all EL1 indirect permissions Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 04/25] arm64: Introduce por_elx_set_pkey_perms() helper Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 05/25] arm64: Implement asm/kpkeys.h using POE Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 06/25] arm64: set_memory: Implement set_memory_pkey() Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 07/25] arm64: Context-switch POR_EL1 Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 08/25] arm64: Initialize POR_EL1 register on cpu_resume() Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 09/25] arm64: Enable kpkeys Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 10/25] memblock: Move INIT_MEMBLOCK_* macros to header Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 11/25] mm: kpkeys: Introduce kpkeys_hardened_pgtables feature Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 12/25] mm: kpkeys: Protect regular page tables Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 13/25] mm: kpkeys: Introduce early page table allocator Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 14/25] mm: kpkeys: Protect vmemmap page tables Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 15/25] mm: kpkeys: Introduce hook for protecting static " Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 16/25] arm64: kpkeys: Implement arch_supports_kpkeys_early() Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:08 ` [PATCH RFC v9 17/25] arm64: kpkeys: Support KPKEYS_CTX_PGTABLES Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:09 ` [PATCH RFC v9 18/25] arm64: kpkeys: Ensure the linear map can be modified Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:09 ` [PATCH RFC v9 19/25] arm64: kpkeys: Protect early page tables Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:09 ` [PATCH RFC v9 20/25] arm64: mm: Map kernel image alias of init_pg_dir read-only Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:09 ` [PATCH RFC v9 21/25] arm64: kpkeys: Protect init_pg_dir Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:09 ` [PATCH RFC v9 22/25] arm64: kpkeys: Guard page table writes Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:09 ` Kevin Brodsky [this message]
2026-08-18 14:09 ` [PATCH RFC v9 24/25] arm64: kpkeys: Enable kpkeys_hardened_pgtables support Kevin Brodsky
2026-08-18 14:09 ` [PATCH RFC v9 25/25] mm: Add basic tests for kpkeys_hardened_pgtables Kevin Brodsky
Reply instructions:
You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:
* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
and reply-to-all from there: mbox
Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style
* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
switches of git-send-email(1):
git send-email \
--in-reply-to=20260818-kpkeys-v9-23-743ad31b2c8f@arm.com \
--to=kevin.brodsky@arm.com \
--cc=akpm@linux-foundation.org \
--cc=broonie@kernel.org \
--cc=catalin.marinas@arm.com \
--cc=dave.hansen@linux.intel.com \
--cc=david@kernel.org \
--cc=iweiny@kernel.org \
--cc=jannh@google.com \
--cc=jeffxu@chromium.org \
--cc=joey.gouly@arm.com \
--cc=kees@kernel.org \
--cc=linu.cherian@arm.com \
--cc=linusw@kernel.org \
--cc=linux-arm-kernel@lists.infradead.org \
--cc=linux-hardening@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=linux-mm@kvack.org \
--cc=ljs@kernel.org \
--cc=luto@kernel.org \
--cc=maz@kernel.org \
--cc=mbland@motorola.com \
--cc=peterz@infradead.org \
--cc=pierre.langlois@arm.com \
--cc=ptosi@google.com \
--cc=qperret@google.com \
--cc=rick.p.edgecombe@intel.com \
--cc=rppt@kernel.org \
--cc=ryan.roberts@arm.com \
--cc=tglx@kernel.org \
--cc=vbabka@kernel.org \
--cc=will@kernel.org \
--cc=willy@infradead.org \
--cc=x86@kernel.org \
--cc=yang@os.amperecomputing.com \
--cc=yeoreum.yun@arm.com \
/path/to/YOUR_REPLY
https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html
* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line
before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox