[PATCH] x86/extable: Add a comment about early exception handlers

[PATCH] x86/extable: Add a comment about early exception handlers

[Andy Lutomirski]

Borislav asked for a comment explaining why all exception handlers are
allowed early.

Signed-off-by: Andy Lutomirski <luto@kernel.org>
---
 arch/x86/mm/extable.c | 14 ++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+)

diff --git a/arch/x86/mm/extable.c b/arch/x86/mm/extable.c
index 98b5f45d9d79..36fe03bc81ee 100644
--- a/arch/x86/mm/extable.c
+++ b/arch/x86/mm/extable.c
@@ -132,6 +132,20 @@ void __init early_fixup_exception(struct pt_regs *regs, int trapnr)
 	if (regs->cs != __KERNEL_CS)
 		goto fail;
 
+	/*
+	 * The full exception fixup machinery is available as soon as
+	 * the early IDT is loaded.  This means that it is the
+	 * responsibility of extable users to either function correctly
+	 * when handlers are invoked early or to simply avoid causing
+	 * exceptions before they're ready to handle them.
+	 *
+	 * This is better than filtering which handlers can be used,
+	 * because refusing to call a handler here is guaranteed to
+	 * result in a hard-to-debug panic.
+	 *
+	 * Keep in mind that not all vectors actually get here.  Early
+	 * fage faults, for example, are special.
+	 */
 	if (fixup_exception(regs, trapnr))
 		return;
 
-- 
2.5.5


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Re: [PATCH] x86/extable: Add a comment about early exception handlers

[Borislav Petkov]

On Mon, Apr 04, 2016 at 08:46:22AM -0700, Andy Lutomirski wrote:
> Borislav asked for a comment explaining why all exception handlers are
> allowed early.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Andy Lutomirski <luto@kernel.org>
> ---
>  arch/x86/mm/extable.c | 14 ++++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 14 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/arch/x86/mm/extable.c b/arch/x86/mm/extable.c
> index 98b5f45d9d79..36fe03bc81ee 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/mm/extable.c
> +++ b/arch/x86/mm/extable.c
> @@ -132,6 +132,20 @@ void __init early_fixup_exception(struct pt_regs *regs, int trapnr)
>  	if (regs->cs != __KERNEL_CS)
>  		goto fail;
>  
> +	/*
> +	 * The full exception fixup machinery is available as soon as
> +	 * the early IDT is loaded.  This means that it is the
> +	 * responsibility of extable users to either function correctly
> +	 * when handlers are invoked early or to simply avoid causing
> +	 * exceptions before they're ready to handle them.
> +	 *
> +	 * This is better than filtering which handlers can be used,
> +	 * because refusing to call a handler here is guaranteed to
> +	 * result in a hard-to-debug panic.
> +	 *
> +	 * Keep in mind that not all vectors actually get here.  Early
> +	 * fage faults, for example, are special.
> +	 */
>  	if (fixup_exception(regs, trapnr))
>  		return;
>  
> -- 

Thanks!

Reviewed-by: Borislav Petkov <bp@suse.de>

-- 
Regards/Gruss,
    Boris.

ECO tip #101: Trim your mails when you reply.

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