[Xen-changelog] [xen stable-4.6] x86/mm: Make PV linear pagetables optional

[patchbot@xxxxxxx]

commit be63d665b848a58c540ee6a75effeaf678e4ccf5
Author:     George Dunlap <george.dunlap@xxxxxxxxxx>
AuthorDate: Thu Nov 16 12:13:11 2017 +0100
Commit:     Jan Beulich <jbeulich@xxxxxxxx>
CommitDate: Thu Nov 16 12:13:11 2017 +0100

    x86/mm: Make PV linear pagetables optional
    
    Allowing pagetables to point to other pagetables of the same level
    (often called 'linear pagetables') has been included in Xen since its
    inception; but recently it has been the source of a number of subtle
    reference-counting bugs.
    
    It is not used by Linux or MiniOS; but it is used by NetBSD and Novell
    Netware.  There are significant numbers of people who are never going
    to use the feature, along with significant numbers who need the
    feature.
    
    Reported-by: Jann Horn <jannh@xxxxxxxxxx>
    Signed-off-by: George Dunlap <george.dunlap@xxxxxxxxxx>
    Reviewed-by: Jan Beulich <jbeulich@xxxxxxxx>
---
 docs/misc/xen-command-line.markdown | 19 +++++++++++++++++++
 xen/arch/x86/mm.c                   |  9 +++++++++
 2 files changed, 28 insertions(+)

diff --git a/docs/misc/xen-command-line.markdown 
b/docs/misc/xen-command-line.markdown
index d99a20a..500c124 100644
--- a/docs/misc/xen-command-line.markdown
+++ b/docs/misc/xen-command-line.markdown
@@ -1231,6 +1231,25 @@ The following resources are available:
   the cache allocation.
   * `cat` instructs Xen to enable/disable Cache Allocation Technology.
   * `cos_max` indicates the max value for COS ID.
+       
+### pv-linear-pt
+> `= <boolean>`
+
+> Default: `true`
+
+Only available if Xen is compiled with CONFIG\_PV\_LINEAR\_PT support
+enabled.
+
+Allow PV guests to have pagetable entries pointing to other pagetables
+of the same level (i.e., allowing L2 PTEs to point to other L2 pages).
+This technique is often called "linear pagetables", and is sometimes
+used to allow operating systems a simple way to consistently map the
+current process's pagetables into its own virtual address space.
+
+Linux and MiniOS don't use this technique.  NetBSD and Novell Netware
+do; there may be other custom operating systems which do.  If you're
+certain you don't plan on having PV guests which use this feature,
+turning it off can reduce the attack surface.
 
 ### reboot
 > `= t[riple] | k[bd] | a[cpi] | p[ci] | P[ower] | e[fi] | n[o] [, [w]arm | 
 > [c]old]`
diff --git a/xen/arch/x86/mm.c b/xen/arch/x86/mm.c
index 7ae3c33..f897eb6 100644
--- a/xen/arch/x86/mm.c
+++ b/xen/arch/x86/mm.c
@@ -727,6 +727,9 @@ static void dec_linear_uses(struct page_info *pg)
  *     frame if it is mapped by a different root table. This is sufficient and
  *     also necessary to allow validation of a root table mapping itself.
  */
+static bool_t __read_mostly opt_pv_linear_pt = 1;
+boolean_param("pv-linear-pt", opt_pv_linear_pt);
+
 #define define_get_linear_pagetable(level)                                  \
 static int                                                                  \
 get_##level##_linear_pagetable(                                             \
@@ -736,6 +739,12 @@ get_##level##_linear_pagetable(                            
                 \
     struct page_info *page;                                                 \
     unsigned long pfn;                                                      \
                                                                             \
+    if ( !opt_pv_linear_pt )                                                \
+    {                                                                       \
+        MEM_LOG("Attempt to create linear p.t. (feature disabled)\n");      \
+        return 0;                                                           \
+    }                                                                       \
+                                                                            \
     if ( (level##e_get_flags(pde) & _PAGE_RW) )                             \
     {                                                                       \
         MEM_LOG("Attempt to create linear p.t. with write perms");          \
--
generated by git-patchbot for /home/xen/git/xen.git#stable-4.6

_______________________________________________
Xen-changelog mailing list
Xen-changelog@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
https://lists.xenproject.org/xen-changelog