]> git.ipfire.org Git - thirdparty/linux.git/commit
prctl: add arch-agnostic prctl()s for indirect branch tracking
authorDeepak Gupta <debug@rivosinc.com>
Mon, 26 Jan 2026 04:09:54 +0000 (21:09 -0700)
committerPaul Walmsley <pjw@kernel.org>
Thu, 29 Jan 2026 09:36:32 +0000 (02:36 -0700)
commit5ca243f6e3c30b979a54a96b96df355dda2b4d0f
tree62b5f7064712421905eb67d0aa65686182c9287d
parent61a0200211d31e20380c35d619960a40113da872
prctl: add arch-agnostic prctl()s for indirect branch tracking

Three architectures (x86, aarch64, riscv) have support for indirect
branch tracking feature in a very similar fashion. On a very high
level, indirect branch tracking is a CPU feature where CPU tracks
branches which use a memory operand to transfer control. As part of
this tracking, during an indirect branch, the CPU expects a landing
pad instruction on the target PC, and if not found, the CPU raises
some fault (architecture-dependent).

x86 landing pad instr - 'ENDBRANCH'
arch64 landing pad instr - 'BTI'
riscv landing instr - 'lpad'

Given that three major architectures have support for indirect branch
tracking, this patch creates architecture-agnostic 'prctls' to allow
userspace to control this feature.  They are:
 - PR_GET_INDIR_BR_LP_STATUS: Get the current configured status for indirect
   branch tracking.
 - PR_SET_INDIR_BR_LP_STATUS: Set the configuration for indirect branch
   tracking.
   The following status options are allowed:
       - PR_INDIR_BR_LP_ENABLE: Enables indirect branch tracking on user
         thread.
       - PR_INDIR_BR_LP_DISABLE: Disables indirect branch tracking on user
         thread.
 - PR_LOCK_INDIR_BR_LP_STATUS: Locks configured status for indirect branch
   tracking for user thread.

Reviewed-by: Mark Brown <broonie@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Zong Li <zong.li@sifive.com>
Signed-off-by: Deepak Gupta <debug@rivosinc.com>
Tested-by: Andreas Korb <andreas.korb@aisec.fraunhofer.de> # QEMU, custom CVA6
Tested-by: Valentin Haudiquet <valentin.haudiquet@canonical.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251112-v5_user_cfi_series-v23-13-b55691eacf4f@rivosinc.com
[pjw@kernel.org: cleaned up patch description, code comments]
Signed-off-by: Paul Walmsley <pjw@kernel.org>
include/linux/cpu.h
include/uapi/linux/prctl.h
kernel/sys.c