On Mon, Oct 28, 2019 at 10:12:44AM -0700, Dave Hansen wrote: > Some other random thoughts: > > * The page flag is probably not a good idea. It would be probably > better to set _PAGE_SPECIAL on the PTE and force get_user_pages() > into the slow path. > * This really stops being "normal" memory. You can't do futexes on it, > cant splice it. Probably need a more fleshed-out list of > incompatible features. > * As Kirill noted, each 4k page ends up with a potential 1GB "blast > radius" of demoted pages in the direct map. Not cool. This is > probably a non-starter as it stands. > * The global TLB flushes are going to eat you alive. They probably > border on a DoS on larger systems. > * Do we really want this user interface to dictate the kernel > implementation? In other words, do we really want MAP_EXCLUSIVE, > or do we want MAP_SECRET? One tells the kernel what do *do*, the > other tells the kernel what the memory *IS*. > * There's a lot of other stuff going on in this area: XPFO, SEV, MKTME, > Persistent Memory, where the kernel direct map is a liability in some > way. We probably need some kind of overall, architected solution > rather than five or ten things all poking at the direct map. Another random set of thoughts: - Should devices be permitted to DMA to/from MAP_SECRET pages? - How about GUP? Can I ptrace my way into another process's secret pages? - What if I splice() the page into a pipe?