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Dave Hansen 932d922285 x86/cpu: Disable FRED when PTI is forced on
FRED and PTI were never intended to work together. No FRED hardware is
vulnerable to Meltdown and all of it should have LASS anyway.
Nevertheless, if you boot a system with pti=on and fred=on, the kernel
tries to do what is asked of it and dies a horrible death on the first
attempt to run userspace (since it never switches to the user page
tables).

Disable FRED when PTI is forced on, and print a warning about it.

A quick brain dump about what a FRED+PTI implementation would look like
is below. I'm not sure it would make any sense to do it, but never say
never. All I know is that it's way too complicated to be worth it today.

<brain dump>
The SWITCH_TO_USER/KERNEL_CR3 bits are simple to fix (or at least we
have the assembly tools to do it already), as is sticking the FRED entry
text in .entry.text (it's not in there today).

The nasty part is the stacks. Today, the CPU pops into the kernel on
MSR_IA32_FRED_RSP0 which is normal old kernel memory and not mapped to
userspace. The hardware pushes gunk on to MSR_IA32_FRED_RSP0, which is
currently the task stacks. MSR_IA32_FRED_RSP0 would need to point
elsewhere, probably cpu_entry_stack(). Then, start playing games with
stacks on entry/exit, including copying gunk to and from the task stack.

While I'd *like* to have PTI everywhere, I'm not sure it's worth mucking
up the FRED code with PTI kludges. If a user wants fast entry/exit, they
use FRED. If you want PTI (and sekuritay), you certainly don't care
about fast entry and FRED isn't going to help you *all* that much, so
you can just stay with the IDT.

Plus, FRED hardware should have LASS which gives you a similar security
profile to PTI without the CR3 munging.
</brain dump>

Reported-by: Gayatri Kammela <Gayatri.Kammela@amd.com>
Signed-off-by: Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@linux.intel.com>
Reviewed-by: Borislav Petkov (AMD) <bp@alien8.de>
Tested-by: Maciej Wieczor-Retman <maciej.wieczor-retman@intel.com>
Cc:stable@vger.kernel.org
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260421163136.E7C6788A@davehans-spike.ostc.intel.com
History 2026-04-21 15:11:40 -07:00
arch x86/cpu: Disable FRED when PTI is forced on 2026-04-21 15:11:40 -07:00
block for-7.1/block-20260411 2026-04-13 15:51:31 -07:00
certs extract-cert: drop unused definition of PKEY_ID_PKCS7 2026-03-24 21:42:37 +00:00
crypto mm.git review status for linus..mm-nonmm-stable 2026-04-16 20:11:56 -07:00
Documentation USB / Thunderbolt changes for 7.1-rc1 2026-04-19 08:47:40 -07:00
drivers Driver core fixes for 7.1-rc1 2026-04-19 12:58:08 -07:00
fs Driver core fixes for 7.1-rc1 2026-04-19 12:58:08 -07:00
include Driver core fixes for 7.1-rc1 2026-04-19 12:58:08 -07:00
init memblock: updates for 7.0-rc1 2026-04-18 11:29:14 -07:00
io_uring Networking changes for 7.1. 2026-04-14 18:36:10 -07:00
ipc Convert 'alloc_obj' family to use the new default GFP_KERNEL argument 2026-02-21 17:09:51 -08:00
kernel mm.git review status for linus..mm-stable 2026-04-19 08:01:17 -07:00
lib USB / Thunderbolt changes for 7.1-rc1 2026-04-19 08:47:40 -07:00
LICENSES LICENSES: Add modern form of the LGPL-2.1 tags to the usage guide section 2025-10-22 07:58:19 +02:00
mm 7 hotfixes. 6 are cc:stable and all are for MM. Please see the 2026-04-19 14:45:37 -07:00
net bpf-fixes 2026-04-17 15:58:22 -07:00
rust mm.git review status for linus..mm-stable 2026-04-15 12:59:16 -07:00
samples soc: drivers for 7.1 2026-04-16 20:34:34 -07:00
scripts parisc architecture fixes and updates for kernel v7.1-rc1: 2026-04-18 11:37:36 -07:00
security integrity-v7.1 2026-04-17 15:42:01 -07:00
sound rpmsg updates for v7.1 2026-04-17 14:18:55 -07:00
tools USB / Thunderbolt changes for 7.1-rc1 2026-04-19 08:47:40 -07:00
usr kbuild: uapi: also test UAPI headers against C++ compilers 2026-03-25 13:24:42 +01:00
virt Arm: 2026-04-17 07:18:03 -07:00
.clang-format Devicetree updates for v7.0: 2026-02-11 18:27:08 -08:00
.clippy.toml rust: bump Clippy's MSRV and clean incompatible_msrv allows 2026-04-07 09:51:39 +02:00
.cocciconfig scripts: add Linux .cocciconfig for coccinelle 2016-07-22 12:13:39 +02:00
.editorconfig editorconfig: add rst extension 2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
.get_maintainer.ignore .get_maintainer.ignore: add myself 2026-04-02 16:48:25 +02:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: set diff driver for Rust source code files 2023-05-31 17:48:25 +02:00
.gitignore kbuild: rust: provide an option to inline C helpers into Rust 2026-03-30 02:03:52 +02:00
.mailmap CXL changes for v7.1 2026-04-17 15:52:58 -07:00
.pylintrc docs: Move the python libraries to tools/lib/python 2025-11-18 09:22:40 -07:00
.rustfmt.toml rust: add .rustfmt.toml 2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
COPYING COPYING: state that all contributions really are covered by this file 2020-02-10 13:32:20 -08:00
CREDITS mm.git review status for linus..mm-stable 2026-04-19 08:01:17 -07:00
Kbuild checksyscalls: move instance functionality into generic code 2026-04-05 09:21:32 +02:00
Kconfig io_uring: Rename KConfig to Kconfig 2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
MAINTAINERS USB / Thunderbolt changes for 7.1-rc1 2026-04-19 08:47:40 -07:00
Makefile Kbuild/Kconfig updates for 7.1 2026-04-14 09:18:40 -07:00
README docs: add AI Coding Assistants documentation 2026-01-06 14:55:06 -07:00

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