diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/arm64/tagged-pointers.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/arm64/tagged-pointers.txt | 62 |
1 files changed, 47 insertions, 15 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/arm64/tagged-pointers.txt b/Documentation/arm64/tagged-pointers.txt index d9995f1f51b3..a25a99e82bb1 100644 --- a/Documentation/arm64/tagged-pointers.txt +++ b/Documentation/arm64/tagged-pointers.txt @@ -11,24 +11,56 @@ in AArch64 Linux. The kernel configures the translation tables so that translations made via TTBR0 (i.e. userspace mappings) have the top byte (bits 63:56) of the virtual address ignored by the translation hardware. This frees up -this byte for application use, with the following caveats: +this byte for application use. - (1) The kernel requires that all user addresses passed to EL1 - are tagged with tag 0x00. This means that any syscall - parameters containing user virtual addresses *must* have - their top byte cleared before trapping to the kernel. - (2) Non-zero tags are not preserved when delivering signals. - This means that signal handlers in applications making use - of tags cannot rely on the tag information for user virtual - addresses being maintained for fields inside siginfo_t. - One exception to this rule is for signals raised in response - to watchpoint debug exceptions, where the tag information - will be preserved. +Passing tagged addresses to the kernel +-------------------------------------- - (3) Special care should be taken when using tagged pointers, - since it is likely that C compilers will not hazard two - virtual addresses differing only in the upper byte. +All interpretation of userspace memory addresses by the kernel assumes +an address tag of 0x00. + +This includes, but is not limited to, addresses found in: + + - pointer arguments to system calls, including pointers in structures + passed to system calls, + + - the stack pointer (sp), e.g. when interpreting it to deliver a + signal, + + - the frame pointer (x29) and frame records, e.g. when interpreting + them to generate a backtrace or call graph. + +Using non-zero address tags in any of these locations may result in an +error code being returned, a (fatal) signal being raised, or other modes +of failure. + +For these reasons, passing non-zero address tags to the kernel via +system calls is forbidden, and using a non-zero address tag for sp is +strongly discouraged. + +Programs maintaining a frame pointer and frame records that use non-zero +address tags may suffer impaired or inaccurate debug and profiling +visibility. + + +Preserving tags +--------------- + +Non-zero tags are not preserved when delivering signals. This means that +signal handlers in applications making use of tags cannot rely on the +tag information for user virtual addresses being maintained for fields +inside siginfo_t. One exception to this rule is for signals raised in +response to watchpoint debug exceptions, where the tag information will +be preserved. The architecture prevents the use of a tagged PC, so the upper byte will be set to a sign-extension of bit 55 on exception return. + + +Other considerations +-------------------- + +Special care should be taken when using tagged pointers, since it is +likely that C compilers will not hazard two virtual addresses differing +only in the upper byte. |