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| author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-09-13 12:27:00 -0700 |
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| committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-09-13 12:27:00 -0700 |
| commit | 22098763a10d9c1340827fcf6edab66f153b27f0 (patch) | |
| tree | 3962f95a34df034652ff93686cdd156c7197f2d9 /Documentation/arch/x86/microcode.rst | |
| download | linux-stable-22098763a10d9c1340827fcf6edab66f153b27f0.tar.gz linux-stable-22098763a10d9c1340827fcf6edab66f153b27f0.zip | |
Merge tag 'trace-v7.3-rc2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-tracegrafted
Pull tracing fixes from Steven Rostedt:
- Don't destroy user event fields when removal fails
User event fields are destroyed before the event is removed from
visibility. But that can fail leaving the still visible event with no
fields. Move the destroying of the fields to after the event is
successfully removed from visibility.
- Initialize function graph state is fork before calling
copy_exec_state()
For non-CLONE_VM forks, copy_exec_state() allocates a new
task_exec_state. If that allocation fails, ftrace_graph_exit_task()
will free the tasks ret_stack pointer. Since that pointer is still
using the parent's ret_stack, it mistakenly frees the parent's
pointer too.
Call ftrace_graph_init() on the task first which will NULL out the
new tasks's ret_stack and if the copy fails, it will not free
anything.
- Remove FGRAPH_MAX_INDEX
The macro FGRAPH_MAX_INDEX was added but never used. Remove it.
- Save ent_size in function graph printing of nested functions
The function graph tracer needs to look at the next event to see if
the next event is the return of the current function entry. If it is,
it prints a single line:
ktime_get();
Otherwise it prints it like a nested function:
tick_nohz_irq_exit() {
ktime_get();
kcpustat_irq_exit();
}
In order to look at the next event, it must save the current event so
that it has the information to print from it. It saves the event in
the iterator descriptor called "ent". What it doesn't save is the
ent_size of the event which is now used to know if the function graph
arguments are to be printed. The peek doesn't save the size so the
size used happens to be that of the size of the last event that was
seen.
Save the entry event size in the iterator descriptor so that the
correct size is used.
- Fix several errors with freeing data in the histogram code
The histogram code had a lot of leaked or or incorrect accounting
when failures happen. Correct them.
- Fix histogram regression of .percent and .graph modifiers
Up until 6.3 histogram values could have "percent" or "graph"
modifiers that changed how they were printed. But a change that added
restricting histograms values from being strings, stack traces and
other modifiers inadvertently prevented them from using the percent
and graph modifiers, which were legal use cases for values.
Put back the percent and graph modifiers.
- Fix various typos in the comments
- Set the trace_clock before initializing a histogram with clock
argument
The histogram API allows the user to specific which trace clock to
use via a "clock=" string. The histogram is set up first before the
clock is checked. If the passed in clock is not valid, it exits
without fully fixing up the histogram leaving it on the list and a
use-after-free can trigger.
Update the clock argument first and if it fails then exit gracefully
before the histogram trigger is placed on any lists.
- Restore :mod: trailer after parsing in ftrace_set_clr_event
The function ftrace_set_clr_event() modifies the parse string and
needs to put it back to what was passed in. It searches for ":mod:"
via a strsep() but fails to put back the first ':' in the string.
Add back the ':' in the passed in string.
- Take trace_array reference when opening a tracer options file
The options files are dynamically created and some tracers add their
own options. When a tracer adds their own list of options, the
trace_array holding them has an array to hold the list of options for
each tracer. This array increases in size via a krealloc(), and the
new entry gets a newly allocated array to hold the options of the new
tracer being added.
The element in each entry of the tracer's option array holds a
pointer back to the trace_array, a pointer to the tracer it is
associated to, a pointer to the flags of the option.
The issue is that these arrays are freed when the trace_array is
freed when its instance it represents is removed from the instances
directory. There's a race that an open of one of these options files
can happen when the instance is being removed.
Add a new helper function to be called by the open function of the
options file to iterate all existing trace_arrays under a lock and
find the one that has the given option element in one of it's tracer
arrays. If found, then update the associated trace_array's reference
counter to keep it from being freed. If not found, have the open call
return -ENODEV.
- Disable interrupts when acquiring the lock in rb_wake_up_waiters()
The function rb_wake_up_waiters() assumes it will be called in
interrupt context and does not disable irqs when taking
cpu_buffer->reader_lock, which can be called in hard interrupt
context. The issue is in PREEMPT_RT, this function is called in
thread context leaving this lock open to a deadlock.
Take the lock with interrupts disabled.
- Use rcu_assign_pointer() for tmp_ops filter hash
The tmp_ops used in update_ftrace_direct_mod() assigns its
filter_hash field directly, but that field is annotated as __rcu and
sparse complains. Assign it with rcu_assign_pointer()
- Fix use-after-free in enable_trigger_private_data_free()
The trace_event_call is accessed through the event_trigger_data's
trace_event_file pointer to put the trace_event_call on freeing. The
issue is that the trace_event_file data may have been freed already
causing a use-after-free. Add a field to the event_trigger_data that
points directly to the trace_event_call so that it can decrement its
reference directly without needing to go through the
trace_event_file.
- Fix accounting of buffer data remote headers
trace_buffer_desc_size() and trace_remote_alloc_buffer() undercount
the number of pages is needed for the asked for size as it doesn't
take into account the meta data on each page. Add a helper function
to do the calculation properly and use that in these functions.
- Catch nr_page_va overflow in ring_buffer_desc sizing
The number of pages per remote ring buffer is capped by
ring_buffer_desc::nr_page_va (32 bits). A buffer_size large enough to
overflow that field would silently allocate a descriptor smaller than
what was asked for.
- Do not resize the subbuf order if any per_cpu buffer is disabled
The mmapping of ring buffers disables resizing the subbuffers, but it
is done per-cpu whereas the subbuf size change is done for all the
per_cpu buffers under the buffer->mutex. It could change the size of
some while the mapping is happening on others. Have the resize of the
subbuf order check all the per_cpu buffers under the lock to see if
any of them is disabled before starting and causing an inconsistency
between buffers that are being mapped.
* tag 'trace-v7.3-rc2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-trace: (25 commits)
ring-buffer: Check resize_disabled before publishing the new subbuf order
tracing/remotes: Catch nr_page_va overflow in ring_buffer_desc sizing
tracing/remotes: Account for ring buffer page header in size calculation
tracing: Don't dereference trace_event_file in deferred trigger free
ftrace: Use rcu_assign_pointer() for tmp_ops filter hash
ring-buffer: Acquire the lock with irqsave in rb_wake_up_waiters()
tracing: Take trace_array reference when opening a tracer options file
tracing: Fix ring_buffer_read_page_size() kernel-doc
tracing: Restore :mod: trailer after parsing in ftrace_set_clr_event()
tracing: Fix memory corruption from a "STACKTRACE" histogram key
tracing: Fix memory corruption from the histogram stacktrace modifier
tracing: Undo the registration when enabling the histogram trigger fails
tracing: Take the reference before publishing the named histogram trigger
tracing: Set the trace clock before registering the histogram trigger
tracing: Fix typo "preceeded" in comment
tracing: Fix typo "availabe" in comment
tracing: Let histogram values keep the percent and graph modifiers
tracing: Keep the entry count when the histogram stats allocation fails
tracing: Free histogram the field rejected for a bad modifier
tracing: Free histogram the var ref when its initialization fails
...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/arch/x86/microcode.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/arch/x86/microcode.rst | 240 |
1 files changed, 240 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/arch/x86/microcode.rst b/Documentation/arch/x86/microcode.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b627c6f36 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/arch/x86/microcode.rst @@ -0,0 +1,240 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +========================== +The Linux Microcode Loader +========================== + +:Authors: - Fenghua Yu <fenghua.yu@intel.com> + - Borislav Petkov <bp@suse.de> + - Ashok Raj <ashok.raj@intel.com> + +The kernel has a x86 microcode loading facility which is supposed to +provide microcode loading methods in the OS. Potential use cases are +updating the microcode on platforms beyond the OEM End-Of-Life support, +and updating the microcode on long-running systems without rebooting. + +The loader supports three loading methods: + +Early load microcode +==================== + +The kernel can update microcode very early during boot. Loading +microcode early can fix CPU issues before they are observed during +kernel boot time. + +The microcode is stored in an initrd file. During boot, it is read from +it and loaded into the CPU cores. + +The format of the combined initrd image is microcode in (uncompressed) +cpio format followed by the (possibly compressed) initrd image. The +loader parses the combined initrd image during boot. + +The microcode files in cpio name space are: + +on Intel: + kernel/x86/microcode/GenuineIntel.bin +on AMD : + kernel/x86/microcode/AuthenticAMD.bin + +During BSP (BootStrapping Processor) boot (pre-SMP), the kernel +scans the microcode file in the initrd. If microcode matching the +CPU is found, it will be applied in the BSP and later on in all APs +(Application Processors). + +The loader also saves the matching microcode for the CPU in memory. +Thus, the cached microcode patch is applied when CPUs resume from a +sleep state. + +Here's a crude example how to prepare an initrd with microcode (this is +normally done automatically by the distribution, when recreating the +initrd, so you don't really have to do it yourself. It is documented +here for future reference only). +:: + + #!/bin/bash + + if [ -z "$1" ]; then + echo "You need to supply an initrd file" + exit 1 + fi + + INITRD="$1" + + DSTDIR=kernel/x86/microcode + TMPDIR=/tmp/initrd + + rm -rf $TMPDIR + + mkdir $TMPDIR + cd $TMPDIR + mkdir -p $DSTDIR + + if [ -d /lib/firmware/amd-ucode ]; then + cat /lib/firmware/amd-ucode/microcode_amd*.bin > $DSTDIR/AuthenticAMD.bin + fi + + if [ -d /lib/firmware/intel-ucode ]; then + cat /lib/firmware/intel-ucode/* > $DSTDIR/GenuineIntel.bin + fi + + find . | cpio -o -H newc >../ucode.cpio + cd .. + mv $INITRD $INITRD.orig + cat ucode.cpio $INITRD.orig > $INITRD + + rm -rf $TMPDIR + + +The system needs to have the microcode packages installed into +/lib/firmware or you need to fixup the paths above if yours are +somewhere else and/or you've downloaded them directly from the processor +vendor's site. + +Late loading +============ + +You simply install the microcode packages your distro supplies and +run:: + + # echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/microcode/reload + +as root. + +The loading mechanism looks for microcode blobs in +/lib/firmware/{intel-ucode,amd-ucode}. The default distro installation +packages already put them there. + +Since kernel 5.19, late loading is not enabled by default. + +The /dev/cpu/microcode method has been removed in 5.19. + +Why is late loading dangerous? +============================== + +Synchronizing all CPUs +---------------------- + +The microcode engine which receives the microcode update is shared +between the two logical threads in a SMT system. Therefore, when +the update is executed on one SMT thread of the core, the sibling +"automatically" gets the update. + +Since the microcode can "simulate" MSRs too, while the microcode update +is in progress, those simulated MSRs transiently cease to exist. This +can result in unpredictable results if the SMT sibling thread happens to +be in the middle of an access to such an MSR. The usual observation is +that such MSR accesses cause #GPs to be raised to signal that former are +not present. + +The disappearing MSRs are just one common issue which is being observed. +Any other instruction that's being patched and gets concurrently +executed by the other SMT sibling, can also result in similar, +unpredictable behavior. + +To eliminate this case, a stop_machine()-based CPU synchronization was +introduced as a way to guarantee that all logical CPUs will not execute +any code but just wait in a spin loop, polling an atomic variable. + +While this took care of device or external interrupts, IPIs including +LVT ones, such as CMCI etc, it cannot address other special interrupts +that can't be shut off. Those are Machine Check (#MC), System Management +(#SMI) and Non-Maskable interrupts (#NMI). + +Machine Checks +-------------- + +Machine Checks (#MC) are non-maskable. There are two kinds of MCEs. +Fatal un-recoverable MCEs and recoverable MCEs. While un-recoverable +errors are fatal, recoverable errors can also happen in kernel context +are also treated as fatal by the kernel. + +On certain Intel machines, MCEs are also broadcast to all threads in a +system. If one thread is in the middle of executing WRMSR, a MCE will be +taken at the end of the flow. Either way, they will wait for the thread +performing the wrmsr(0x79) to rendezvous in the MCE handler and shutdown +eventually if any of the threads in the system fail to check in to the +MCE rendezvous. + +To be paranoid and get predictable behavior, the OS can choose to set +MCG_STATUS.MCIP. Since MCEs can be at most one in a system, if an +MCE was signaled, the above condition will promote to a system reset +automatically. OS can turn off MCIP at the end of the update for that +core. + +System Management Interrupt +--------------------------- + +SMIs are also broadcast to all CPUs in the platform. Microcode update +requests exclusive access to the core before writing to MSR 0x79. So if +it does happen such that, one thread is in WRMSR flow, and the 2nd got +an SMI, that thread will be stopped in the first instruction in the SMI +handler. + +Since the secondary thread is stopped in the first instruction in SMI, +there is very little chance that it would be in the middle of executing +an instruction being patched. Plus OS has no way to stop SMIs from +happening. + +Non-Maskable Interrupts +----------------------- + +When thread0 of a core is doing the microcode update, if thread1 is +pulled into NMI, that can cause unpredictable behavior due to the +reasons above. + +OS can choose a variety of methods to avoid running into this situation. + + +Is the microcode suitable for late loading? +------------------------------------------- + +Late loading is done when the system is fully operational and running +real workloads. Late loading behavior depends on what the base patch on +the CPU is before upgrading to the new patch. + +This is true for Intel CPUs. + +Consider, for example, a CPU has patch level 1 and the update is to +patch level 3. + +Between patch1 and patch3, patch2 might have deprecated a software-visible +feature. + +This is unacceptable if software is even potentially using that feature. +For instance, say MSR_X is no longer available after an update, +accessing that MSR will cause a #GP fault. + +Basically there is no way to declare a new microcode update suitable +for late-loading. This is another one of the problems that caused late +loading to be not enabled by default. + +Builtin microcode +================= + +The loader supports also loading of a builtin microcode supplied through +the regular builtin firmware method CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE. Only 64-bit is +currently supported. + +Here's an example:: + + CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE="intel-ucode/06-3a-09 amd-ucode/microcode_amd_fam15h.bin" + CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE_DIR="/lib/firmware" + +This basically means, you have the following tree structure locally:: + + /lib/firmware/ + |-- amd-ucode + ... + | |-- microcode_amd_fam15h.bin + ... + |-- intel-ucode + ... + | |-- 06-3a-09 + ... + +so that the build system can find those files and integrate them into +the final kernel image. The early loader finds them and applies them. + +Needless to say, this method is not the most flexible one because it +requires rebuilding the kernel each time updated microcode from the CPU +vendor is available. |
