From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from bombadil.infradead.org (bombadil.infradead.org [198.137.202.133]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits) key-exchange X25519 server-signature ECDSA (prime256v1) server-digest SHA256) (No client certificate requested) by smtp.subspace.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 3F750606A8A6 for ; Fri, 13 Nov 2026 09:38:48 +0000 (UTC) Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=lists.infradead.org header.i=@lists.infradead.org header.a=rsa-sha256 header.s=bombadil.20210309 header.b=z5LbulCs; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=debian.org header.i=@debian.org header.a=rsa-sha256 header.s=smtpauto.stravinsky header.b=UpCRHb2K DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; q=dns/txt; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=lists.infradead.org; s=bombadil.20210309; h=Sender:List-Subscribe:List-Help :List-Post:List-Archive:List-Unsubscribe:List-Id:In-Reply-To:Content-Type: MIME-Version:References:Message-ID:Subject:Cc:To:From:Date:Reply-To: Content-Transfer-Encoding:Content-ID:Content-Description:Resent-Date: Resent-From:Resent-Sender:Resent-To:Resent-Cc:Resent-Message-ID: List-Unsubscribe-Post:List-Owner; bh=8Pc1VZfIDVGJzZNtwuo8QG46Hbc/13m3DgBGkiUdd+o=; b=z5LbulCszNvKlVttYghw5AZe46 EwQ5jXKNkkCFZL1Ik0C10bDKgxeWU9qn4PJTNrFEUou5y9HBizC9WeSwSRoLcnYZCxRm9BAejkCKY WYAM97zwqnsplGDyt28n6juNpCGpvDP2Y47/xvtJvoifBuXtfzqGmYxchIBy0XWdQx405HXvanJOM M1BE4OFwS3XDNKIAuLdJSjG56/aZs2RDWgAly2xEqWpi3/ZDdZ5AVOMiP1YWo72oTg60AMgjVEWTM yL2I7EvZYcFKuRyXGfpCr7UkwSq0PRutxk1yacUeBKwF1x5Gjq31Q15Ow0B84XnWB+Phr37xpLdbm g4jKIiEA==; Received: from localhost ([::1] helo=bombadil.infradead.org) by bombadil.infradead.org with esmtp (Exim 4.100.1 #2 (Red Hat Linux)) id 1xRnk2-0000000CEps-0H44; Fri, 13 Nov 2026 09:38:42 +0000 Received: from stravinsky.debian.org ([2001:41b8:202:deb::311:108]) by bombadil.infradead.org with esmtps (Exim 4.100.1 #2 (Red Hat Linux)) id 1xRnjz-0000000CEnk-1CE1; Fri, 13 Nov 2026 09:38:41 +0000 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; q=dns/txt; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=debian.org; s=smtpauto.stravinsky; h=X-Debian-User:In-Reply-To:Content-Type:MIME-Version: References:Message-ID:Subject:Cc:To:From:Date:Reply-To: Content-Transfer-Encoding:Content-ID:Content-Description; bh=8Pc1VZfIDVGJzZNtwuo8QG46Hbc/13m3DgBGkiUdd+o=; b=UpCRHb2KbmBJPwtI+DbP0LaL8d sOk0q8WFr88S3iAMSHj2p/NnbWVzQGiNdZN3nNdO1zLyJsTHzDT2AYpDsszvlBsPXovwNFHmP0hr1 SY9lV829yFxFIN3zvj63ln8CFFNj2wJUNMYIHBmKmY/JsW4XoVGlDKbDaDwxxN5mWJ+s4cUXlOuR/ 42UfaRA1qiSu2ICNxybe2yLc35tfTycNpZWbHnjQ/jcxlqy6tYUcS/Bi6fkLYSwXtlLGPpV1jMI8t xnhOZeXq4yQ0FVHQXpu6b4xvxJ6oAklL5bw8J+RqC+cFo9eyWVg+5AE204arB4mOGXs0IEiF0Nobe Yc0NfHCw==; Received: from authenticated-user by stravinsky.debian.org with esmtpsa (TLS1.3:ECDHE_X25519__RSA_PSS_RSAE_SHA256__AES_256_GCM:256) (Exim 4.96) (envelope-from ) id 1xRnjp-00Eeb5-2V; Fri, 13 Nov 2026 09:38:30 +0000 Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2026 01:38:22 -0800 From: Breno Leitao To: Christian Brauner Cc: linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org, Linus Torvalds , Chris Mason , Thomas Gleixner , x86@kernel.org, kexec@lists.infradead.org, linuxppc-dev@lists.ozlabs.org, linux-arm-kernel@lists.infradead.org, linux-riscv@lists.infradead.org, loongarch@lists.linux.dev, linux-mips@vger.kernel.org, linux-sh@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, David Hildenbrand , stable@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: [PATCH RFC 3/4] crash_dump: recover from a machine check in copy_oldmem_page() Message-ID: References: <20261112-work-procfs-oldmem-v1-0-ecdcafd99265@kernel.org> <20261112-work-procfs-oldmem-v1-3-ecdcafd99265@kernel.org> X-Archived-By: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20261112-work-procfs-oldmem-v1-3-ecdcafd99265@kernel.org> X-Debian-User: leitao X-CRM114-Version: 20100106-BlameMichelson ( TRE 0.9.0 (BSD) ) MR-646709E3 X-CRM114-CacheID: sfid-20261113_013839_356303_688AC177 X-CRM114-Status: GOOD ( 23.83 ) X-Spam-Score: -4.4 (----) X-BeenThere: linux-arm-kernel@lists.infradead.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.34 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: "linux-arm-kernel" X-Spam-Status: No, score=-10.9 required=3.0 tests=BAYES_00,DKIMWL_WL_HIGH, DKIM_SIGNED,DKIM_VALID,DKIM_VALID_AU,DKIM_VALID_EF, HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,INCLUDES_CR_TRAILER,MAILING_LIST_MULTI, SPF_HELO_NONE,SPF_PASS autolearn=unavailable autolearn_force=no version=4.0.1 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 4.0.1 (2024-03-26) on aws-us-west-2-korg-listserv-alma10-1 On Thu, Nov 12, 2026 at 05:37:09PM +0100, Christian Brauner wrote: > A capture kernel reads the memory of the crashed kernel, and that memory > may well have uncorrectable errors. That is after all what the first > kernel often died of. Every architecture that maps a page of the old > kernel and copies it out does so with copy_to_iter(), and a machine > check in that copy takes the capture kernel down. > > On x86 a machine check in the kernel is only recovered from if the > instruction that took it has a machine check safe exception table entry > or copies from userspace (cf. error_context()). The copy of an old page > is neither. Its source is kernel memory, whether it goes to the buffer > of a read() or, since commit 4a22fd20379c ("vmcore: convert > __read_vmcore to use an iov_iter"), into a kernel page for splice(), > sendfile() and copy_file_range(). So a read of /proc/vmcore that runs > into a poisoned page panics the capture kernel, and so do vmcore's own > reads of the ELF headers and notes. Breno sees the result on a fleet: > the first kernel dies of a machine check and the capture kernel produces > no usable vmcore at all (cf. [1]). > > On book3s64 a machine check in the kernel is recovered from if the > instruction that took it has an exception table entry (cf. > mce_common_process_ue()). The user copy has them, so a read() comes up > short there and read_from_oldmem() returns -EFAULT. The copies into > kernel pages have none and panic the same way. Other powerpc platforms > don't recover from a machine check in such a copy at all. > > Copy with _copy_mc_to_iter() instead. x86_64 and PPC64 select > ARCH_HAS_COPY_MC, and on x86_64 and book3s64 the machine check safe copy > turns the machine check into a short copy, which read_from_oldmem() > turns into -EFAULT like any other short copy. On x86 that holds for the > fragile and the enhanced fast string variant, a CPU with neither gets > the plain copy it has today. Everywhere else _copy_mc_to_iter() is > _copy_to_iter(). Put the call into a helper, copy_oldmem_to_iter(), so > that the copy of a page of the old kernel lives in one place and an > architecture that gains a machine check safe copy later gets this for > free. The helper does the same check_copy_size() as copy_to_iter(), so > hardened usercopy keeps checking the copy. > > With a v7.4-rc1 capture kernel reading /proc/vmcore and a machine check > injected into the copy of an old page the capture kernel is gone. A > machine check panic prints no trace of its own, this one comes from > panic_sys_info=all_bt: > > [ 0.580568] mce: [Hardware Error]: CPU 0: Machine Check Exception: 7 Bank 1: bd80000000000134 > [ 0.580574] mce: [Hardware Error]: RIP 10: {_copy_to_iter+0x81/0x850} > [ 0.580584] mce: [Hardware Error]: TSC 202f2117f ADDR 10000000 MISC 8c > [ 0.580587] mce: [Hardware Error]: PROCESSOR 2:aa0f02 TIME 1794493617 SOCKET 0 APIC 0 microcode aa0021c > [ 0.580589] mce: [Hardware Error]: Machine check: Uncorrected unrecoverable error in kernel context > [ 0.580591] Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal local machine check > [ 0.582587] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1 Comm: init Not tainted 7.4.0-rc1-g6628e7d4c6b2 #1 PREEMPT(lazy) > [ 0.583101] Call Trace: > [ 0.583198] <#MC> > [ 0.583279] dump_stack_lvl+0x4d/0x70 > [ 0.583419] nmi_cpu_backtrace.cold+0x18/0x6e > [ 0.583584] ? __pfx_nmi_raise_cpu_backtrace+0x10/0x10 > [ 0.583772] nmi_trigger_cpumask_backtrace+0xba/0xf0 > [ 0.583955] sys_info+0x83/0xb0 > [ 0.584075] vpanic+0x1b4/0x303 > [ 0.584197] panic+0x66/0x70 > [ 0.584488] mce_panic+0x19e/0x290 > [ 0.584799] do_machine_check+0x627/0x9a0 > [ 0.584953] ? _copy_to_iter+0x81/0x850 > [ 0.585099] exc_machine_check+0x68/0xb0 > [ 0.585246] asm_exc_machine_check+0x1e/0x40 > [ 0.587747] > [ 0.587831] > [ 0.588092] ? iomem_map_sanity_check+0x98/0xb0 > [ 0.588430] ? __ioremap_caller.isra.0+0x1a9/0x300 > [ 0.588604] ? __copy_oldmem_page+0x3d/0xb0 > [ 0.588928] __copy_oldmem_page+0x5e/0xb0 > [ 0.589079] read_from_oldmem.part.0+0xe3/0x140 > [ 0.589247] read_vmcore+0x137/0x280 > [ 0.589381] proc_reg_read_iter+0x49/0x90 > [ 0.589533] vfs_read+0x348/0x490 > [ 0.589666] ksys_read+0x76/0x100 > [ 0.589792] do_syscall_64+0xde/0x4b0 > [ 0.590103] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f > > With this patch the same injection ends the read() with -EFAULT, the > capture kernel logs the machine check and keeps running. > > [1]: https://lore.kernel.org/all/avRXzzCSzT9Qj2FC@gmail.com/ > > Reported-by: Chris Mason > Suggested-by: Breno Leitao > Fixes: 4ae362be5093 ("[PATCH] kdump: read previous kernel's memory") > Fixes: 54c32021eb6f ("[PATCH] powerpc: Add arch-dependent copy_oldmem_page") > Fixes: 4a22fd20379c ("vmcore: convert __read_vmcore to use an iov_iter") > Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org > Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner (Amutable) Reviewed-by: Breno Leitao