Re: [Patch v3] x86/head/64: remove redundant check on level2_kernel_pgt's _PAGE_PRESENT bit

From: Wei Yang
Date: Mon Jun 10 2024 - 21:01:35 EST


On Mon, Jun 03, 2024 at 11:50:06AM -0700, Dave Hansen wrote:
>On 5/23/24 05:35, Wei Yang wrote:
>> --- a/arch/x86/kernel/head64.c
>> +++ b/arch/x86/kernel/head64.c
>> @@ -260,8 +260,7 @@ unsigned long __head __startup_64(unsigned long physaddr,
>>
>> /* fixup pages that are part of the kernel image */
>> for (; i <= pmd_index((unsigned long)_end); i++)
>> - if (pmd[i] & _PAGE_PRESENT)
>> - pmd[i] += load_delta;
>> + pmd[i] += load_delta;
>
>So, I think this is correct. But, man, I wish folks would go through
>the git history and make it clear that they understand _how_ the code
>got the way it is.
>
>I suspect that the original _PAGE_PRESENT check wasn't even necessary if
>cleanup_highmap() really did fix things up. But this commit:
>
> 2aa85f246c18 ("x86/boot/64: Make level2_kernel_pgt pages invalid
> outside kernel area")
>
>tweaked things to actively clear out PMDs that weren't populated in
>Kirill's original loop. It didn't touch the _PAGE_PRESENT check. But
>it certainly did imply that the PMD doesn't have any holes in it and
>there's nothing int he middle that needs _PAGE_PRESENT cleared.
>
>> level2_kernel_pgt compiled with _PAGE_PRESENT set. The check is
>> redundant
>
>This isn't super reassuring. It also depends on nothing having munged
>the page tables up to this point. The code is also a bit cruel in that
>it manipulates two different sets of PMDs with the same 'pmd' variable.
>
>Also, is this comment still accurate after '2aa85f246c18'?
>
>> * Fixup the kernel text+data virtual addresses. Note that
>> * we might write invalid pmds, when the kernel is relocated
>> * cleanup_highmap() fixes this up along with the mappings
>> * beyond _end.

Hi, Dave

Do you have other suggestions? What do I expect to do next?

--
Wei Yang
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