Hi, Some doc comments/fixes below... On 9/12/19 1:06 PM, Chang S. Bae wrote: > From: Thomas Gleixner <t...@linutronix.de> > > Explain how the GS/FS based addressing can be utilized in user space > applications along with the differences between the generic prctl() based > GS/FS base control and the FSGSBASE version available on newer CPUs. > > --- > > Changes from v7: > * Rewritten the documentation and changelog by Thomas > * Included compiler version info additionally > --- > Documentation/x86/x86_64/fsgs.rst | 200 > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > Documentation/x86/x86_64/index.rst | 1 + > 2 files changed, 201 insertions(+) > create mode 100644 Documentation/x86/x86_64/fsgs.rst > > diff --git a/Documentation/x86/x86_64/fsgs.rst > b/Documentation/x86/x86_64/fsgs.rst > new file mode 100644 > index 0000000..791063c > --- /dev/null > +++ b/Documentation/x86/x86_64/fsgs.rst > @@ -0,0 +1,200 @@ > +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 > + > +Using FS and GS segments in user space applications > +=================================================== > + > +The x86 architecture supports segmentation. Instructions which access > +memory can use segment register based addressing mode. The following > +notation is used to address a byte within a segment: > + > + Segment-register:Byte-address > + > +The segment base address is added to the Byte-address to compute the > +resulting virtual address which is accessed. This allows to access multiple > +instances of data with the identical Byte-address, i.e. the same code. The > +selection of a particular instance is purely based on the base-address in > +the segment register. > + > +In 32-bit mode the CPU provides 6 segments, which also support segment > +limits. The limits can be used to enforce address space protections. > + > +In 64-bit mode the CS/SS/DS/ES segments are ignored and the base address is > +always 0 to provide a full 64bit address space. The FS and GS segments are > +still functional in 64-bit mode. > + > +Common FS and GS usage > +------------------------------ > + > +The FS segment is commonly used to address Thread Local Storage (TLS). FS > +is usually managed by runtime code or a threading library. Variables > +declared with the '__thread' storage class specifier are instantiated per > +thread and the compiler emits the FS: address prefix for accesses to these > +variables. Each thread has its own FS base address so common code can be > +used without complex address offset calculations to access the per thread > +instances. Applications should not use FS for other purposes when they use > +runtimes or threading libraries which manage the per thread FS. > + > +The GS segment has no common use and can be used freely by > +applications. There is no storage class specifier similar to __thread which > +would cause the compiler to use GS based addressing modes. Newer versions > +of GCC and Clang support GS based addressing via address space identifiers. > + > + > +Reading and writing the FS/GS base address > +------------------------------------------ > + > +There exist two mechanisms to read and write the FS/FS base address:
FS/GS > + > + - the arch_prctl() system call > + > + - the FSGSBASE instruction family > + > +Accessing FS/GS base with arch_prctl() > +-------------------------------------- > + > + The arch_prctl(2) based mechanism is available on all 64bit CPUs and all 64-bit > + kernel versions. > + > + Reading the base: > + > + arch_prctl(ARCH_GET_FS, &fsbase); > + arch_prctl(ARCH_GET_GS, &gsbase); > + > + Writing the base: > + > + arch_prctl(ARCH_SET_FS, fsbase); > + arch_prctl(ARCH_SET_GS, gsbase); > + > + The ARCH_SET_GS prctl may be disabled depending on kernel configuration > + and security settings. > + > +Accessing FS/GS base with the FSGSBASE instructions > +--------------------------------------------------- > + > + With the Ivy Bridge CPU generation Intel introduced a new set of > + instructions to access the FS and GS base registers directly from user > + space. These instructions are also supported on AMD Family 17H CPUs. The > + following instructions are available: > + > + =============== =========================== > + RDFSBASE %reg Read the FS base register > + RDGSBASE %reg Read the GS base register > + WRFSBASE %reg Write the FS base register > + WRGSBASE %reg Write the GS base register > + =============== =========================== > + > + The instructions avoid the overhead of the arch_prctl() syscall and allow > + more flexible usage of the FS/GS addressing modes in user space > + applications. This does not prevent conflicts between threading libraries > + and runtimes which utilize FS and applications which want to use it for > + their own purpose. > + > +FSGSBASE instructions enablement > +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > + The instructions are enumerated in CPUID leaf 7, bit 0 of EBX. If > + available /proc/cpuinfo shows 'fsgsbase' in the flag entry of the CPUs. > + > + The availability of the instructions is not enabling them > + automatically. The kernel has to enable them explicitly in CR4. The > + reason for this is that older kernels make assumptions about the values in > + the GS register and enforce them when GS base is set via > + arch_prctl(). Allowing user space to write arbitrary values to GS base > + would violate these assumptions and cause malfunction. > + > + On kernels which do not enable FSGSBASE the execution of the FSGSBASE > + instructions will fault with a #UD exception. > + > + The kernel provides reliable information about the enabled state in the > + ELF AUX vector. If the HWCAP2_FSGSBASE bit is set in the AUX vector, the > + kernel has FSGSBASE instructions enabled and applications can use them. > + The following code example shows how this detection works:: > + > + #include <sys/auxv.h> > + #include <elf.h> > + > + /* Will be eventually in asm/hwcap.h */ > + #ifndef HWCAP2_FSGSBASE > + #define HWCAP2_FSGSBASE (1 << 1) > + #endif > + > + .... > + > + unsigned val = getauxval(AT_HWCAP2); > + > + if (val & HWCAP2_FSGSBASE) > + printf("FSGSBASE enabled\n"); > + > +FSGSBASE instructions compiler support > +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > + > +GCC version 4.6.4 and newer provide instrinsics for the FSGSBASE > +instructions. Clang 5 supports them as well. > + > + =================== =========================== > + _readfsbase_u64() Read the FS base register > + _readfsbase_u64() Read the GS base register > + _writefsbase_u64() Write the FS base register > + _writegsbase_u64() Write the GS base register > + =================== =========================== > + > +To utilize these instrinsics <immintrin.h> must be included in the source > +code and the compiler option -mfsgsbase has to be added. > + > +Compiler support for FS/GS based addressing > +------------------------------------------- > + > +GCC version 6 and newer provide support for FS/GS based addressing via > +Named Address Spaces. GCC implements the following address space > +identifiers for x86: > + > + ========= ==================================== > + __seg_fs Variable is addressed relative to FS > + __seg_gs Variable is addressed relative to GS > + ========= ==================================== > + > +The preprocessor symbols __SEG_FS and __SEG_GS are defined when these > +address spaces are supported. Code which implements fallback modes should > +check whether these symbols are defined. Usage example:: > + > + #ifdef __SEG_GS > + > + long data0 = 0; > + long data1 = 1; > + > + long __seg_gs *ptr; > + > + /* Check whether FSGSBASE is enabled by the kernel (HWCAP2_FSGSBASE) */ > + .... > + > + /* Set GS to point to data0 */ > + _writegsbase_u64(&data0); > + > + /* Access offset 0 of GS */ > + ptr = 0; > + print("data0 = %ld\n", *ptr); > + > + /* Set GS to point to data1 */ > + _writegsbase_u64(&data1); > + /* ptr still addresses offset 0! */ > + print("data1 = %ld\n", *ptr); > + > + > +Clang does not provide these address space identifiers, but it provides > +an attribute based mechanism in Clang 2.6 and newer versions: > + > + ==================================== ===================================== > + __attribute__((address_space(256)) Variable is addressed relative to GS > + __attribute__((address_space(257)) Variable is addressed relative to FS > + ==================================== ===================================== > + > +FS/GS based addressing with inline assembly > +------------------------------------------- > + > +In case the compiler does not support address spaces, inline assembly can > +be used for FS/GS based addressing mode:: > + > + mov %fs:offset, %reg > + mov %gs:offset, %reg > + > + mov %reg, %fs:offset > + mov %reg, %gs:offset > \ No newline at end of file oops. -- ~Randy