From: "Paul E. McKenney" <paulmck@kernel.org>
To: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@kernel.org>, Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com>,
Borislav Petkov <bp@alien8.de>,
Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@linux.intel.com>,
"H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@zytor.com>
Cc: x86@kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, kernel-team@meta.com
Subject: [PATCH v2] x86/nmi: Enable panic() when NMI handler runs too long
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:44:30 -0700 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <8b14bd35-8f7e-4e41-9aae-e085f9a536f6@paulmck-laptop> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <53ff8d29-b7ce-4b3f-bdcf-9ac1f31f0a9f@paulmck-laptop>
Firmware, device-driver, and configuration issues can result in
long-running NMI handlers, for example, nmi_cpu_backtrace_handler()
running for more than two seconds, and with no console issues. In this
case, this is not the fault of nmi_cpu_backtrace_handler(), but it is
the first symptom of the underlying problem. These NMI handlers result
in various other problems, including CSD-lock warnings, clocksource
watchdog false positives, scheduler frequency invariance wobbliness,
systemd excessive-CPU complaints, and even the occasional RCU CPU
stall warning. Eventually, the automation will take the system out of
service, but with quite a bit of noise obscuring the underlying issue,
and thus confusing both automation and human beings.
Therefore, provide a toolong_nmi_panic __setup() parameter that makes
nmi_check_duration() invoke nmi_panic() if the just-completed NMI handler
ran for more than the specified number of milliseconds. This parameter
defaults to zero, which disables the nmi_panic(). As in, by default
you get the same behavior that you get today.
[ paulmck: Apply kernel test robot feedback, add documentation. ]
Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@kernel.org>
Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@kernel.org>
Cc: Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com>
Cc: Borislav Petkov <bp@alien8.de>
Cc: Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@linux.intel.com>
Cc: "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@zytor.com>
Cc: <x86@kernel.org>
---
Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt | 6 ++++++
arch/x86/kernel/nmi.c | 21 +++++++++++++++++++--
2 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
Changes since v1:
o Add documentation of new toolong_nmi_panic kernel boot parameter.
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
index 68647ff4bdd24..e7dbd5bf48fc9 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
@@ -7642,6 +7642,12 @@ Kernel parameters
Format: {ipi}
ipi: switch to IPI-based TLB flushing
+ toolong_nmi_panic= [X86]
+ Cause a panic upon return from an NMI handler
+ that took longer than the specified number
+ of milliseconds. The default value of zero
+ suppresses these panics.
+
topology= [S390,EARLY]
Format: {off | on}
Specify if the kernel should make use of the cpu
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/nmi.c b/arch/x86/kernel/nmi.c
index 3c9f60d6ca5a7..aae7254774680 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/nmi.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/nmi.c
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ static DEFINE_PER_CPU(struct nmi_stats, nmi_stats);
static int ignore_nmis __read_mostly;
int unknown_nmi_panic;
+static unsigned long toolong_nmi_panic;
int panic_on_unrecovered_nmi;
int panic_on_io_nmi;
@@ -101,6 +102,20 @@ static int __init setup_unknown_nmi_panic(char *str)
}
__setup("unknown_nmi_panic", setup_unknown_nmi_panic);
+static int __init setup_toolong_nmi_panic(char *str)
+{
+ int ret;
+
+ ret = kstrtoul(str, 0, &toolong_nmi_panic);
+ if (ret) {
+ pr_alert("%s: %s on '%s', disabling to zero.\n",
+ __func__, ret == -ERANGE ? "Overflow" : "Parse error", str);
+ toolong_nmi_panic = 0;
+ }
+ return 1;
+}
+__setup("toolong_nmi_panic=", setup_toolong_nmi_panic);
+
static u64 nmi_longest_ns = 1 * NSEC_PER_MSEC;
static int __init nmi_warning_debugfs(void)
@@ -111,7 +126,7 @@ static int __init nmi_warning_debugfs(void)
}
fs_initcall(nmi_warning_debugfs);
-static void nmi_check_duration(struct nmiaction *action, u64 duration)
+static void nmi_check_duration(struct nmiaction *action, u64 duration, struct pt_regs *regs)
{
int remainder_ns, decimal_msecs;
@@ -126,6 +141,8 @@ static void nmi_check_duration(struct nmiaction *action, u64 duration)
pr_info_ratelimited("INFO: NMI handler (%ps) took too long to run: %lld.%03d msecs\n",
action->handler, duration, decimal_msecs);
+ if (toolong_nmi_panic && duration >= toolong_nmi_panic)
+ nmi_panic(regs, "Panic per toolong_nmi_panic");
}
static int nmi_handle(unsigned int type, struct pt_regs *regs)
@@ -165,7 +182,7 @@ static int nmi_handle(unsigned int type, struct pt_regs *regs)
delta = sched_clock() - delta;
trace_nmi_handler(a->handler, (int)delta, thishandled);
- nmi_check_duration(a, delta);
+ nmi_check_duration(a, delta, regs);
}
rcu_read_unlock();
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-10-19 20:44 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 6+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-09-19 0:17 [PATCH] " Paul E. McKenney
2026-10-19 20:44 ` Paul E. McKenney [this message]
2026-10-20 4:52 ` [PATCH v2] " Borislav Petkov
2026-10-20 16:15 ` Paul E. McKenney
2026-10-20 16:45 ` Dave Hansen
2026-10-20 18:27 ` Paul E. McKenney
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