From: Ritesh Harjani (IBM) <ritesh.list@gmail.com>
To: Sayali Patil <sayalip@linux.ibm.com>,
linuxppc-dev@lists.ozlabs.org, maddy@linux.ibm.com
Cc: aboorvad@linux.ibm.com, sshegde@linux.ibm.com,
chleroy@kernel.org, riteshh@linux.ibm.com,
hbathini@linux.ibm.com, ming.lei@redhat.com,
csander@purestorage.com, czhong@redhat.com,
venkat88@linux.ibm.com
Subject: Re: [PATCH v4 1/2] powerpc: fix KUAP warning in VMX usercopy path
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2026 10:30:31 +0530 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <ecltlhqo.ritesh.list@gmail.com> (raw)
Sayali Patil <sayalip@linux.ibm.com> writes:
> On powerpc with PREEMPT_FULL or PREEMPT_LAZY and function tracing enabled,
> KUAP warnings can be triggered from the VMX usercopy path under memory
> stress workloads.
>
> KUAP requires that no subfunctions are called once userspace access has
> been enabled. The existing VMX copy implementation violates this
> requirement by invoking enter_vmx_usercopy() from the assembly path after
> userspace access has already been enabled. If preemption occurs
> in this window, the AMR state may not be preserved correctly,
> leading to unexpected userspace access state and resulting in
> KUAP warnings.
>
> Fix this by restructuring the VMX usercopy flow so that VMX selection
> and VMX state management are centralized in raw_copy_tofrom_user(),
> which is invoked by the raw_copy_{to,from,in}_user() wrappers.
>
> The new flow is:
>
> - raw_copy_{to,from,in}_user() calls raw_copy_tofrom_user()
> - raw_copy_tofrom_user() decides whether to use the VMX path
> based on size and CPU capability
> - Call enter_vmx_usercopy() before enabling userspace access
> - Enable userspace access as per the copy direction
> and perform the VMX copy
> - Disable userspace access as per the copy direction
> - Call exit_vmx_usercopy()
> - Fall back to the base copy routine if the VMX copy faults
>
> With this change, the VMX assembly routines no longer perform VMX state
> management or call helper functions; they only implement the
> copy operations.
> The previous feature-section based VMX selection inside
> __copy_tofrom_user_power7() is removed, and a dedicated
> __copy_tofrom_user_power7_vmx() entry point is introduced.
>
> This ensures correct KUAP ordering, avoids subfunction calls
> while KUAP is unlocked, and eliminates the warnings while preserving
> the VMX fast path.
>
> Fixes: de78a9c42a79 ("powerpc: Add a framework for Kernel Userspace Access Protection")
> Reported-by: Shrikanth Hegde <sshegde@linux.ibm.com>
> Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260109064917.777587-2-sshegde@linux.ibm.com/
> Suggested-by: Christophe Leroy (CS GROUP) <chleroy@kernel.org>
> Reviewed-by: Christophe Leroy (CS GROUP) <chleroy@kernel.org>
> Co-developed-by: Aboorva Devarajan <aboorvad@linux.ibm.com>
> Signed-off-by: Aboorva Devarajan <aboorvad@linux.ibm.com>
> Signed-off-by: Sayali Patil <sayalip@linux.ibm.com>
> ---
Thanks Sayali & Christophe for the help on this. I liked the new
wrappers which removed the code duplication by calling into a common
function call raw_copy_tofrom_user().
The new changes looks good to me too. Please feel free to add:
Reviewed-by: Ritesh Harjani (IBM) <ritesh.list@gmail.com>
next reply other threads:[~2026-03-09 5:00 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 5+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-03-09 5:00 Ritesh Harjani [this message]
-- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
2026-03-04 12:22 [PATCH v4 1/2] powerpc: fix KUAP warning in VMX usercopy path Sayali Patil
2026-03-05 4:38 ` Venkat Rao Bagalkote
2026-03-09 5:27 ` Shrikanth Hegde
2026-03-15 4:01 ` Madhavan Srinivasan
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=ecltlhqo.ritesh.list@gmail.com \
--to=ritesh.list@gmail.com \
--cc=aboorvad@linux.ibm.com \
--cc=chleroy@kernel.org \
--cc=csander@purestorage.com \
--cc=czhong@redhat.com \
--cc=hbathini@linux.ibm.com \
--cc=linuxppc-dev@lists.ozlabs.org \
--cc=maddy@linux.ibm.com \
--cc=ming.lei@redhat.com \
--cc=riteshh@linux.ibm.com \
--cc=sayalip@linux.ibm.com \
--cc=sshegde@linux.ibm.com \
--cc=venkat88@linux.ibm.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