[PATCH v4 4/4] x86/asm: Rewrite sync_core() to use IRET-to-self

[Andy Lutomirski]

Aside from being excessively slow, CPUID is problematic: Linux runs
on a handful of CPUs that don't have CPUID.  Use IRET-to-self
instead.  IRET-to-self works everywhere, so it makes testing easy.

For reference, On my laptop, IRET-to-self is ~110ns,
CPUID(eax=1, ecx=0) is ~83ns on native and very very slow under KVM,
and MOV-to-CR2 is ~42ns.

While we're at it: sync_core() serves a very specific purpose.
Document it.

Cc: "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@xxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Andy Lutomirski <luto@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
 arch/x86/include/asm/processor.h | 80 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------
 1 file changed, 58 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/processor.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/processor.h
index 64fbc937d586..ceb1f4d3f3fa 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/processor.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/processor.h
@@ -590,33 +590,69 @@ static __always_inline void cpu_relax(void)
 
 #define cpu_relax_lowlatency() cpu_relax()
 
-/* Stop speculative execution and prefetching of modified code. */
+/*
+ * This function forces the icache and prefetched instruction stream to
+ * catch up with reality in two very specific cases:
+ *
+ *  a) Text was modified using one virtual address and is about to be executed
+ *     from the same physical page at a different virtual address.
+ *
+ *  b) Text was modified on a different CPU, may subsequently be
+ *     executed on this CPU, and you want to make sure the new version
+ *     gets executed.  This generally means you're calling this in a IPI.
+ *
+ * If you're calling this for a different reason, you're probably doing
+ * it wrong.
+ */
 static inline void sync_core(void)
 {
-	int tmp;
-
-#ifdef CONFIG_X86_32
 	/*
-	 * Do a CPUID if available, otherwise do a jump.  The jump
-	 * can conveniently enough be the jump around CPUID.
+	 * There are quite a few ways to do this.  IRET-to-self is nice
+	 * because it works on every CPU, at any CPL (so it's compatible
+	 * with paravirtualization), and it never exits to a hypervisor.
+	 * The only down sides are that it's a bit slow (it seems to be
+	 * a bit more than 2x slower than the fastest options) and that
+	 * it unmasks NMIs.  The "push %cs" is needed because, in
+	 * paravirtual environments, __KERNEL_CS may not be a valid CS
+	 * value when we do IRET directly.
+	 *
+	 * In case NMI unmasking or performance ever becomes a problem,
+	 * the next best option appears to be MOV-to-CR2 and an
+	 * unconditional jump.  That sequence also works on all CPUs,
+	 * but it will fault at CPL3 (i.e. Xen PV and lguest).
+	 *
+	 * CPUID is the conventional way, but it's nasty: it doesn't
+	 * exist on some 486-like CPUs, and it usually exits to a
+	 * hypervisor.
+	 *
+	 * Like all of Linux's memory ordering operations, this is a
+	 * compiler barrier as well.
 	 */
-	asm volatile("cmpl %2,%1\n\t"
-		     "jl 1f\n\t"
-		     "cpuid\n"
-		     "1:"
-		     : "=a" (tmp)
-		     : "rm" (boot_cpu_data.cpuid_level), "ri" (0), "0" (1)
-		     : "ebx", "ecx", "edx", "memory");
+	register void *__sp asm(_ASM_SP);
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_X86_32
+	asm volatile (
+		"pushfl\n\t"
+		"pushl %%cs\n\t"
+		"pushl $1f\n\t"
+		"iret\n\t"
+		"1:"
+		: "+r" (__sp) : : "memory");
 #else
-	/*
-	 * CPUID is a barrier to speculative execution.
-	 * Prefetched instructions are automatically
-	 * invalidated when modified.
-	 */
-	asm volatile("cpuid"
-		     : "=a" (tmp)
-		     : "0" (1)
-		     : "ebx", "ecx", "edx", "memory");
+	unsigned int tmp;
+
+	asm volatile (
+		"mov %%ss, %0\n\t"
+		"pushq %q0\n\t"
+		"pushq %%rsp\n\t"
+		"addq $8, (%%rsp)\n\t"
+		"pushfq\n\t"
+		"mov %%cs, %0\n\t"
+		"pushq %q0\n\t"
+		"pushq $1f\n\t"
+		"iretq\n\t"
+		"1:"
+		: "=&r" (tmp), "+r" (__sp) : : "cc", "memory");
 #endif
 }
 
-- 
2.9.3