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From: Richard Patel <ripatel@wii.dev>
To: x86@kernel.org
Cc: Rick Edgecombe <rick.p.edgecombe@intel.com>,
	Yu-cheng Yu <yu-cheng.yu@intel.com>,
	Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@linux.intel.com>,
	Thomas Gleixner <tglx@kernel.org>, Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com>,
	Borislav Petkov <bp@alien8.de>, "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@zytor.com>,
	Andy Lutomirski <luto@kernel.org>, Kees Cook <kees@kernel.org>,
	Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>,
	Shuah Khan <shuah@kernel.org>,
	linux-kselftest@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH 0/7] Usermode Indirect Branch Tracking
Date: Sun, 17 May 2026 13:30:17 -0500	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260517183024.16292-1-ripatel@wii.dev> (raw)

I was quite surprised that the Linux kernel still does not allow
userspace to enable x86 IBT (indirect jmp/call integrity).

Compilers and linkers have been emitting 'endbr64' IBT markers and ELF
support notes for a while now.

The hard work was done years ago by Intel:
https://lore.kernel.org/all/20210830182221.3535-1-yu-cheng.yu@intel.com/

In summary, usermode IBT requires 3 things:
1. Set the CET_ENDBR_EN bit in MSR_IA32_U_CET for each IBT-enabled thread
   (PATCH 2,5)
2. Back up the WAIT_FOR_ENDBR bit across signal handling (PATCH 3,4)
3. Provide a way for usermode to enable it (PATCH 5)

This builds on top of Yu Cheng's work, with some adaptations:
- FRED support
- Implemented the existing prctl(PR_CFI_*) API
- Removed ELF parsing (can be added later)

Unresolved questions:
- Is there a cleaner way to do the WAIT_FOR_ENDBR XSAVE fallback?
- What to do about 'notrack jmp *rax'?
  I leave CET_NO_TRACK_EN enabled, which weakens IBT, by enabling a jump
  prefix that skips the ENDBR check. GCC emits it for jump tables
  (-mcet-switch). We could introduce a PR_CFI_IBT_STRICT bit.
- There's some obvious overlap with arch_prctl(ARCH_SHSTK_*).
  Happy to use that API instead.

Richard Patel (7):
  x86: add userspace IBT config option
  x86: shstk: don't clobber IBT bits in U_CET MSR
  x86: signal handler support for IBT
  x86: ban 32-bit sigreturn when user IBT enabled
  x86: expose user IBT via PR_CFI_BRANCH_LANDING_PADS
  x86/entry/vdso: build with IBT support
  selftests/x86: test usermode IBT

 arch/x86/Kconfig                            |  17 ++
 arch/x86/entry/vdso/common/Makefile.include |   3 +-
 arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeatures.h          |   1 +
 arch/x86/include/asm/ibt.h                  |  16 ++
 arch/x86/include/asm/processor.h            |   5 +
 arch/x86/include/uapi/asm/ucontext.h        |   5 +
 arch/x86/kernel/Makefile                    |   1 +
 arch/x86/kernel/cet.c                       |   3 +-
 arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c                |  14 +-
 arch/x86/kernel/ibt.c                       | 175 ++++++++++++++++++++
 arch/x86/kernel/process_64.c                |   2 +
 arch/x86/kernel/shstk.c                     |  12 +-
 arch/x86/kernel/signal_32.c                 |   5 +
 arch/x86/kernel/signal_64.c                 |   6 +
 tools/arch/x86/include/asm/cpufeatures.h    |   1 +
 tools/testing/selftests/x86/Makefile        |   5 +-
 tools/testing/selftests/x86/user_ibt.c      | 157 ++++++++++++++++++
 17 files changed, 420 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 arch/x86/kernel/ibt.c
 create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/x86/user_ibt.c

--
2.47.3


             reply	other threads:[~2026-05-17 18:35 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 22+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-05-17 18:30 Richard Patel [this message]
2026-05-17 18:30 ` [PATCH 1/7] x86: add userspace IBT config option Richard Patel
2026-05-17 18:30 ` [PATCH 2/7] x86: shstk: don't clobber IBT bits in U_CET MSR Richard Patel
2026-05-17 18:30 ` [PATCH 3/7] x86: signal handler support for IBT Richard Patel
2026-05-17 18:30 ` [PATCH 4/7] x86: ban 32-bit sigreturn when user IBT enabled Richard Patel
2026-05-18 20:22   ` H. Peter Anvin
2026-05-19  0:14     ` Richard Patel
2026-05-24 21:53     ` Richard Patel
2026-05-25 11:05       ` David Laight
2026-05-17 18:30 ` [PATCH 5/7] x86: expose user IBT via PR_CFI_BRANCH_LANDING_PADS Richard Patel
2026-05-18  6:46   ` Richard Patel
2026-05-17 18:30 ` [PATCH 6/7] x86/entry/vdso: build with IBT support Richard Patel
2026-05-17 18:30 ` [PATCH 7/7] selftests/x86: test usermode IBT Richard Patel
2026-05-18  7:36 ` [PATCH 0/7] Usermode Indirect Branch Tracking Peter Zijlstra
2026-05-18 16:25   ` Richard Patel
2026-05-18 19:31     ` Peter Zijlstra
2026-05-19  9:33 ` David Laight
2026-05-19  9:40   ` Peter Zijlstra
2026-05-19 13:14   ` Richard Patel
2026-05-19 13:28     ` David Laight
2026-05-19 14:18       ` Richard Patel
2026-05-19 14:42         ` Peter Zijlstra

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