Re: [RFC PATCH v3 12/24] x86/mm: Modify ptep_set_wrprotect and pmdp_set_wrprotect for _PAGE_DIRTY_SW

From: Dave Hansen
Date: Fri Aug 31 2018 - 12:29:54 EST


On 08/30/2018 07:38 AM, Yu-cheng Yu wrote:
> + * Some processors can start a write, but ending up seeing
> + * a read-only PTE by the time they get to the Dirty bit.
> + * In this case, they will set the Dirty bit, leaving a
> + * read-only, Dirty PTE which looks like a Shadow Stack PTE.
> + *
> + * However, this behavior has been improved and will not occur
> + * on processors supporting Shadow Stacks. Without this
> + * guarantee, a transition to a non-present PTE and flush the
> + * TLB would be needed.

Did we publicly document this behavior anywhere? I can't seem to find it.