Explain no_user_shstk/no_user_ibt kernel parameters, and introduce a new
document on Control-flow Enforcement Technology (CET).
Signed-off-by: Yu-cheng Yu <yu-cheng.yu@xxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Kees Cook <keescook@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
v10:
- Change no_cet_shstk and no_cet_ibt to no_user_shstk and no_user_ibt.
- Remove the opcode section, as it is already in the Intel SDM.
- Remove sections related to GLIBC implementation.
- Remove shadow stack memory management section, as it is already in the
code comments.
- Remove legacy bitmap related information, as it is not supported now.
- Fix arch_ioctl() related text.
- Change SHSTK, IBT to plain English.
.../admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt | 6 +
Documentation/x86/index.rst | 1 +
Documentation/x86/intel_cet.rst | 129 ++++++++++++++++++
3 files changed, 136 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 Documentation/x86/intel_cet.rst
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
index 7bc83f3d9bdf..be715675df6d 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
@@ -3093,6 +3093,12 @@
noexec=on: enable non-executable mappings (default)
noexec=off: disable non-executable mappings
+ no_user_shstk [X86-64] Disable Shadow Stack for user-mode
+ applications
+
+ no_user_ibt [X86-64] Disable Indirect Branch Tracking for user-mode
+ applications
+
nosmap [X86,PPC]
Disable SMAP (Supervisor Mode Access Prevention)
even if it is supported by processor.
diff --git a/Documentation/x86/index.rst b/Documentation/x86/index.rst
index 265d9e9a093b..2aef972a868d 100644
--- a/Documentation/x86/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/x86/index.rst
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ x86-specific Documentation
tlb
mtrr
pat
+ intel_cet
intel-iommu
intel_txt
amd-memory-encryption
diff --git a/Documentation/x86/intel_cet.rst b/Documentation/x86/intel_cet.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..746eda8c82f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/x86/intel_cet.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+=========================================
+Control-flow Enforcement Technology (CET)
+=========================================
+
+[1] Overview
+============
+
+Control-flow Enforcement Technology (CET) is an Intel processor feature
+that provides protection against return/jump-oriented programming (ROP)
+attacks. It can be set up to protect both applications and the kernel.
+Only user-mode protection is implemented in the 64-bit kernel, including
+support for running legacy 32-bit applications.
+
+CET introduces Shadow Stack and Indirect Branch Tracking. Shadow stack is
+a secondary stack allocated from memory and cannot be directly modified by
+applications. When executing a CALL, the processor pushes the return
+address to both the normal stack and the shadow stack. Upon function
+return, the processor pops the shadow stack copy and compares it to the
+normal stack copy. If the two differ, the processor raises a control-
+protection fault. Indirect branch tracking verifies indirect CALL/JMP
+targets are intended as marked by the compiler with 'ENDBR' opcodes.
+
+There are two kernel configuration options:
+
+ X86_INTEL_SHADOW_STACK_USER, and
+ X86_INTEL_BRANCH_TRACKING_USER.
+
+These need to be enabled to build a CET-enabled kernel, and Binutils v2.31
+and GCC v8.1 or later are required to build a CET kernel. To build a CET-
+enabled application, GLIBC v2.28 or later is also required.
+
+There are two command-line options for disabling CET features::
+
+ no_user_shstk - disables user shadow stack, and
+ no_user_ibt - disables user indirect branch tracking.
+
+At run time, /proc/cpuinfo shows CET features if the processor supports
+CET.
+
+[2] Application Enabling
+========================
+
+An application's CET capability is marked in its ELF header and can be
+verified from the following command output, in the NT_GNU_PROPERTY_TYPE_0
+field:
+
+ readelf -n <application>
+
+If an application supports CET and is statically linked, it will run with
+CET protection. If the application needs any shared libraries, the loader
+checks all dependencies and enables CET when all requirements are met.
+
+[3] CET arch_prctl()'s
+======================
+
+Several arch_prctl()'s have been added for CET:
+
+arch_prctl(ARCH_X86_CET_STATUS, u64 *addr)
+ Return CET feature status.
+
+ The parameter 'addr' is a pointer to a user buffer.
+ On returning to the caller, the kernel fills the following
+ information::
+
+ *addr = shadow stack/indirect branch tracking status
+ *(addr + 1) = shadow stack base address
+ *(addr + 2) = shadow stack size
+
+arch_prctl(ARCH_X86_CET_DISABLE, u64 features)
+ Disable shadow stack and/or indirect branch tracking as specified in
+ 'features'. Return -EPERM if CET is locked.
+
+arch_prctl(ARCH_X86_CET_LOCK)
+ Lock in all CET features. They cannot be turned off afterwards.
+
+arch_prctl(ARCH_X86_CET_ALLOC_SHSTK, u64 *addr)
+ Allocate a new shadow stack and put a restore token at top.
+
+ The parameter 'addr' is a pointer to a user buffer and indicates the
+ shadow stack size to allocate. On returning to the caller, the kernel
+ fills '*addr' with the base address of the new shadow stack.
+
+ User-level threads that need a new stack are expected to allocate a
+ new shadow stack.
+
+Note:
+ There is no CET-enabling arch_prctl function. By design, CET is enabled
+ automatically if the binary and the system can support it.
+
+[4] The implementation of the Shadow Stack
+==========================================
+
+Shadow Stack size
+-----------------
+
+A task's shadow stack is allocated from memory to a fixed size of
+MIN(RLIMIT_STACK, 4 GB). In other words, the shadow stack is allocated to
+the maximum size of the normal stack, but capped to 4 GB. However,
+a compat-mode application's address space is smaller, each of its thread's
+shadow stack size is MIN(1/4 RLIMIT_STACK, 4 GB).
+
+Signal
+------
+
+The main program and its signal handlers use the same shadow stack.
+Because the shadow stack stores only return addresses, a large shadow
+stack covers the condition that both the program stack and the signal
+alternate stack run out.
+
+The kernel creates a restore token for the shadow stack restoring address
+and verifies that token when restoring from the signal handler.
+
+Fork
+----
+
+The shadow stack's vma has VM_SHSTK flag set; its PTEs are required to be
+read-only and dirty. When a shadow stack PTE is not RO and dirty, a
+shadow access triggers a page fault with the shadow stack access bit set
+in the page fault error code.
+
+When a task forks a child, its shadow stack PTEs are copied and both the
+parent's and the child's shadow stack PTEs are cleared of the dirty bit.
+Upon the next shadow stack access, the resulting shadow stack page fault
+is handled by page copy/re-use.
+
+When a pthread child is created, the kernel allocates a new shadow stack
+for the new thread.
--
2.21.0
