Re: [v6 PATCH 00/21] x86: Enable User-Mode Instruction Prevention

[Ricardo Neri]

On Fri, 2017-03-10 at 01:01 +0300, Stas Sergeev wrote:
> 09.03.2017 03:46, Ricardo Neri ÐÐÑÐÑ:
> > On Wed, 2017-03-08 at 17:08 +0300, Stas Sergeev wrote:
> >> 08.03.2017 03:32, Ricardo Neri ÐÐÑÐÑ:
> >>> These are the instructions covered by UMIP:
> >>> * SGDT - Store Global Descriptor Table
> >>> * SIDT - Store Interrupt Descriptor Table
> >>> * SLDT - Store Local Descriptor Table
> >>> * SMSW - Store Machine Status Word
> >>> * STR - Store Task Register
> >>>
> >>> This patchset initially treated tasks running in virtual-8086 mode as a
> >>> special case. However, I received clarification that DOSEMU[8] does not
> >>> support applications that use these instructions.
> >> Yes, this is the case.
> >> But at least in the past there was an attempt to
> >> support SLDT as it is used by an ancient pharlap
> >> DOS extender (currently unsupported by dosemu1/2).
> >> So how difficult would it be to add an optional
> >> possibility of delivering such SIGSEGV to userspace
> >> so that the kernel's dummy emulation can be overridden?
> > I suppose a umip=noemulation kernel parameter could be added in this
> > case.
> Why?
> It doesn't need to be global: the app should be
> able to change that on its own. Note that no app currently
> requires this, so its just for the future, and in the
> future the app can start using the new API for this,
> if you provide one.

Right, I missed this detail. Then, yes the API should allow only one app
to relay the SIGSEGV.
> 
> 
> >> It doesn't need to be a matter of this particular
> >> patch set, i.e. this proposal should not trigger a
> >> v7 resend of all 21 patches. :) But it would be useful
> >> for the future development of dosemu2.
> > Would dosemu2 use 32-bit processes in order to keep segmentation? If it
> > could use 64-bit processes, emulation is not used in this case and the
> > SIGSEGV is delivered to user space.
> It does use the mix: 64bit process but some segments
> are 32bit for DOS code.

Do you mean that dosemu2 will start as a 64-bit process and will jump to
32-bit code segments? My emulation code should work in this case as it
will use segmentation in 32-bit code descriptors. Is there anything else
needed?

Thanks and BR,
Ricardo