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Runtime code patching must be done at a naturally aligned address, or we
may execute on a partial instruction.
We have encountered problems traced back to static jump functions during
the test. We switched the tracer randomly for every 1~5 seconds on a
dual-core QEMU setup and found the kernel sucking at a static branch
where it jumps to itself.
The reason is that the static branch was 2-byte but not 4-byte aligned.
Then, the kernel would patch the instruction, either J or NOP, with two
half-word stores if the machine does not have efficient unaligned
accesses. Thus, moments exist where half of the NOP mixes with the other
half of the J when transitioning the branch. In our particular case, on
a little-endian machine, the upper half of the NOP was mixed with the
lower part of the J when enabling the branch, resulting in a jump that
jumped to itself. Conversely, it would result in a HINT instruction when
disabling the branch, but it might not be observable.
ARM64 does not have this problem since all instructions must be 4-byte
aligned.
Fixes:
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|---|---|---|
| arch | ||
| block | ||
| certs | ||
| crypto | ||
| Documentation | ||
| drivers | ||
| fs | ||
| include | ||
| init | ||
| io_uring | ||
| ipc | ||
| kernel | ||
| lib | ||
| LICENSES | ||
| mm | ||
| net | ||
| rust | ||
| samples | ||
| scripts | ||
| security | ||
| sound | ||
| tools | ||
| usr | ||
| virt | ||
| .clang-format | ||
| .cocciconfig | ||
| .get_maintainer.ignore | ||
| .gitattributes | ||
| .gitignore | ||
| .mailmap | ||
| .rustfmt.toml | ||
| COPYING | ||
| CREDITS | ||
| Kbuild | ||
| Kconfig | ||
| MAINTAINERS | ||
| Makefile | ||
| README | ||
Linux kernel
============
There are several guides for kernel developers and users. These guides can
be rendered in a number of formats, like HTML and PDF. Please read
Documentation/admin-guide/README.rst first.
In order to build the documentation, use ``make htmldocs`` or
``make pdfdocs``. The formatted documentation can also be read online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/
There are various text files in the Documentation/ subdirectory,
several of them using the Restructured Text markup notation.
Please read the Documentation/process/changes.rst file, as it contains the
requirements for building and running the kernel, and information about
the problems which may result by upgrading your kernel.