Re: [PATCH v9 02/42] mm: Move pte/pmd_mkwrite() callers with no VMA to _novma()

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On 13.06.23 02:10, Rick Edgecombe wrote:
The x86 Shadow stack feature includes a new type of memory called shadow
stack. This shadow stack memory has some unusual properties, which requires
some core mm changes to function properly.

One of these unusual properties is that shadow stack memory is writable,
but only in limited ways. These limits are applied via a specific PTE
bit combination. Nevertheless, the memory is writable, and core mm code
will need to apply the writable permissions in the typical paths that
call pte_mkwrite(). Future patches will make pte_mkwrite() take a VMA, so
that the x86 implementation of it can know whether to create regular
writable memory or shadow stack memory.

But there are a couple of challenges to this. Modifying the signatures of
each arch pte_mkwrite() implementation would be error prone because some
are generated with macros and would need to be re-implemented. Also, some
pte_mkwrite() callers operate on kernel memory without a VMA.

So this can be done in a three step process. First pte_mkwrite() can be
renamed to pte_mkwrite_novma() in each arch, with a generic pte_mkwrite()
added that just calls pte_mkwrite_novma(). Next callers without a VMA can
be moved to pte_mkwrite_novma(). And lastly, pte_mkwrite() and all callers
can be changed to take/pass a VMA.

Previous patches have done the first step, so next move the callers that
don't have a VMA to pte_mkwrite_novma(). Also do the same for
pmd_mkwrite(). This will be ok for the shadow stack feature, as these
callers are on kernel memory which will not need to be made shadow stack,
and the other architectures only currently support one type of memory
in pte_mkwrite()

Cc: linux-doc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: linux-arm-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: linux-s390@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: linux-arch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: linux-mm@xxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Rick Edgecombe <rick.p.edgecombe@xxxxxxxxx>
---

Acked-by: David Hildenbrand <david@xxxxxxxxxx>

--
Cheers,

David / dhildenb




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