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The typical steps with context tracking are:
1) Task runs in userspace
2) Task enters the kernel (syscall/exception/IRQ)
3) Task switches from context tracking state CONTEXT_USER to
CONTEXT_KERNEL (user_exit())
4) Task does stuff in kernel
5) Task switches from context tracking state CONTEXT_KERNEL to
CONTEXT_USER (user_enter())
6) Task exits the kernel
If an exception fires between 5) and 6), the pt_regs and the context
tracking disagree on the context of the faulted/trapped instruction.
CONTEXT_KERNEL must be set before the exception handler, that's
unconditional for those handlers that want to be able to call into
schedule(), but CONTEXT_USER must be restored when the exception exits
whereas pt_regs tells that we are resuming to kernel space.
This can't be fixed with storing the context tracking state in a per-cpu
or per-task variable since another exception may fire onto the current
one and overwrite the saved state. Also the task can schedule. So it
has to be stored in a per task stack.
This is how exception_enter()/exception_exit() paper over the problem:
5) Task switches from context tracking state CONTEXT_KERNEL to
CONTEXT_USER (user_enter())
5.1) Exception fires
5.2) prev_state = exception_enter() // save CONTEXT_USER to prev_state
// and set CONTEXT_KERNEL
5.3) Exception handler
5.4) exception_enter(prev_state) // restore CONTEXT_USER
5.5) Exception resumes
6) Task exits the kernel
The condition to live without exception_enter()/exception_exit() is to
forbid exceptions and IRQs between 2) and 3) and between 5) and 6), or if
any is allowed to trigger, it won't call into context tracking, eg: NMIs,
and it won't schedule. These requirements are met by architectures
supporting CONFIG_HAVE_CONTEXT_TRACKING_OFFSTACK and those can
therefore afford not to implement this hack.
Signed-off-by: Frederic Weisbecker <frederic@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Peter Zijlstra (Intel) <peterz@infradead.org>
Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20201117151637.259084-3-frederic@kernel.org
Linux kernel
============
There are several guides for kernel developers and users. These guides can
be rendered in a number of formats, like HTML and PDF. Please read
Documentation/admin-guide/README.rst first.
In order to build the documentation, use ``make htmldocs`` or
``make pdfdocs``. The formatted documentation can also be read online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/
There are various text files in the Documentation/ subdirectory,
several of them using the Restructured Text markup notation.
Please read the Documentation/process/changes.rst file, as it contains the
requirements for building and running the kernel, and information about
the problems which may result by upgrading your kernel.