[PATCH v3 2/2] efi/libstub: Fix page table access in 5-level to 4-level paging transition

From: Usama Arif

Date: Mon Nov 03 2025 - 09:10:33 EST


When transitioning from 5-level to 4-level paging, the existing code
incorrectly accesses page table entries by directly dereferencing CR3
and applying PAGE_MASK. This approach has several issues:

- __native_read_cr3() returns the raw CR3 register value, which on
x86_64 includes not just the physical address but also flags Bits
above the physical address width of the system (i.e. above
__PHYSICAL_MASK_SHIFT) are also not masked.
- The pgd value is masked by PAGE_SIZE which doesn't take into account
the higher bits such as _PAGE_BIT_NOPTISHADOW.

Replace this with proper accessor functions:
- native_read_cr3_pa(): Uses CR3_ADDR_MASK to additionally mask
metadata out of CR3 (like SME or LAM bits). All remaining bits are
real address bits or reserved and must be 0.
- mask pgd value with PTE_PFN_MASK instead of PAGE_MASK, accounting for
flags above bit 51 (_PAGE_BIT_NOPTISHADOW in particular). Bits below
51, but above the max physical address are reserved and must be 0.

Fixes: cb1c9e02b0c1 ("x86/efistub: Perform 4/5 level paging switch from the stub")
Co-developed-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@xxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Kiryl Shutsemau <kas@xxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Usama Arif <usamaarif642@xxxxxxxxx>
Reported-by: Michael van der Westhuizen <rmikey@xxxxxxxx>
Reported-by: Tobias Fleig <tfleig@xxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Ard Biesheuvel <ardb@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/x86-5lvl.c | 4 ++--
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/x86-5lvl.c b/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/x86-5lvl.c
index f1c5fb45d5f7c..c00d0ae7ed5d5 100644
--- a/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/x86-5lvl.c
+++ b/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/x86-5lvl.c
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ void efi_5level_switch(void)
bool have_la57 = native_read_cr4() & X86_CR4_LA57;
bool need_toggle = want_la57 ^ have_la57;
u64 *pgt = (void *)la57_toggle + PAGE_SIZE;
- u64 *cr3 = (u64 *)__native_read_cr3();
+ pgd_t *cr3 = (pgd_t *)native_read_cr3_pa();
u64 *new_cr3;

if (!la57_toggle || !need_toggle)
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ void efi_5level_switch(void)
new_cr3[0] = (u64)cr3 | _PAGE_TABLE_NOENC;
} else {
/* take the new root table pointer from the current entry #0 */
- new_cr3 = (u64 *)(cr3[0] & PAGE_MASK);
+ new_cr3 = (u64 *)(native_pgd_val(cr3[0]) & PTE_PFN_MASK);

/* copy the new root table if it is not 32-bit addressable */
if ((u64)new_cr3 > U32_MAX)
--
2.47.3