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Sean Christopherson 3d679b7cb3 KVM: x86/mmu: Use CMPXCHG when clearing Accessed bit in TDP MMU
Use LOCK CMPXCHG instead of LOCK AND to clear the Accessed bit when aging
SPTEs in the TDP MMU, as doing a LOCK AND can corrupt a FROZEN SPTE and
allow a third CPU to effectively overwrite the FROZEN SPTE.  As pointed
out by AI of some kind, because the magic FROZEN_SPTE value is a "full"
SPTE, not a single bit, and includes the Accessed bit, clearing the
Accessed bit in a FROZEN SPTE will result in is_frozen_spte() getting a
false negative.

E.g. if CPU0 freezes an SPTE, and CPU1 clears the Accessed bit in the
frozen SPTE, then CPU2 could come along and overwrite the frozen SPTE with
a shadow-present SPTE.

Thankfully, the false negative is largely benign, because outside of TDX,
which doesn't support aging, KVM only freezes leaf SPTEs when removing an
upper level shadow page.  So while KVM could clobber a frozen SPTE back to
a shadow-present SPTE, and could even use the new SPTE, the subsequent TLB
flush will make the orphaned, shadow-present SPTE unreachable.  Failure to
ever zap the orphaned leaf SPTE would show up in KVM's stats, but otherwise
is benign (because KVM no longer keeps an elevated refcount for leaf SPTEs).

Opportunistically add a comment to warn future developers away from using
kvm_tdp_mmu_write_spte_atomic() and tdp_mmu_clear_spte_bits_atomic(), as
they are generally unsafe.  Keep the helpers, e.g. instead of open-coding
the atomic64_fetch_and() in tdp_mmu_clear_spte_bits(), as scary warnings
usually are more effective deterrent against recidivism than removal of the
dangerous code.

Alternatively, KVM could use different bits for the magic FROZEN_SPTE value,
e.g. setting the Dirty bits (with effective IPAT and Global aliases) would
likely be "ok", as IPAT/Global are extremely unlikely to be cleared without
doing a full SPTE write, and KVM's clearing of Dirty bits shares logic with
Write-Protection, which must do a full SPTE write (via cmpxchg64() in the
TDP MMU) to ensure KVM isn't clobbering state.  But there is zero reason to
carry that risk (beyond stubbornness in wanting to preserve a "cute" idea),
as the cost of LOCK CMPXCHG and LOCK AND are within 1-2 uops of each other
on modern hardware.

Fixes: b146a9b34a ("KVM: x86/mmu: Age TDP MMU SPTEs without holding mmu_lock")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Reviewed-by: Kai Huang <kai.huang@intel.com>
Reviewed-by: James Houghton <jthoughton@google.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260728002236.869865-2-seanjc@google.com
Signed-off-by: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>
History 2026-07-29 05:44:07 -07:00
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Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst