Re: crash in entry.S restore_all, 2.6.12-rc2, x86, PAGEALLOC

Stas Sergeev
2005-04-07T18:10:27Z

Hi Linus.

Linus Torvalds wrote:
> The NMI code had better be really careful, and yeah, I suspect it needs
> fixing.
And since the NMI return will need a
ESP fixup too, it will require the
"branched" version of the restore_all
checks I suppose.

>> 2. How can one be sure there are no more
>> of the like places where the stack is left
>> empty?
> That's a good argument, and may be the strongest reason for _not_ doing
> the speculation.
I haven't said that explicitly, only
implied:) My another idea was to adjust
the tss.esp0 to always point 8 bytes below
the real top of the stack, so that even in
case of an NMI we are still safe. And in
case of another such instance - too.
This may look more like a hack than shifting
the "sti", but it is probably more reliable.
At least something to consider as soon as we
are at it.