[PATCH v2 4/5] perf/amd/ibs: Avoid calling perf_allow_kernel() from the IBS NMI handler

From: Ravi Bangoria

Date: Sun Feb 15 2026 - 23:24:47 EST


Calling perf_allow_kernel() from the NMI context is unsafe and could be
fatal. Capture the permission at event-initialization time by storing it
in event->hw.flags, and have the NMI handler rely on that cached flag
instead of making the call directly.

Reported-by: Sadasivan Shaiju <sadasivan.shaiju2@xxxxxxx>
Fixes: 50a53b60e141d ("perf/amd/ibs: Prevent leaking sensitive data to userspace")
Signed-off-by: Ravi Bangoria <ravi.bangoria@xxxxxxx>
---
arch/x86/events/amd/ibs.c | 5 ++++-
arch/x86/events/perf_event_flags.h | 1 +
2 files changed, 5 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/events/amd/ibs.c b/arch/x86/events/amd/ibs.c
index 05b7c9f2ec33..004226b52ac7 100644
--- a/arch/x86/events/amd/ibs.c
+++ b/arch/x86/events/amd/ibs.c
@@ -313,6 +313,9 @@ static int perf_ibs_init(struct perf_event *event)
if (ret)
return ret;

+ if (perf_allow_kernel())
+ hwc->flags |= PERF_X86_EVENT_UNPRIVILEGED;
+
if (hwc->sample_period) {
if (config & perf_ibs->cnt_mask)
/* raw max_cnt may not be set */
@@ -1349,7 +1352,7 @@ static int perf_ibs_handle_irq(struct perf_ibs *perf_ibs, struct pt_regs *iregs)
* unprivileged users.
*/
if ((event->attr.sample_type & PERF_SAMPLE_RAW) &&
- perf_allow_kernel()) {
+ (hwc->flags & PERF_X86_EVENT_UNPRIVILEGED)) {
perf_ibs_phyaddr_clear(perf_ibs, &ibs_data);
}

diff --git a/arch/x86/events/perf_event_flags.h b/arch/x86/events/perf_event_flags.h
index 70078334e4a3..47f84ee8f540 100644
--- a/arch/x86/events/perf_event_flags.h
+++ b/arch/x86/events/perf_event_flags.h
@@ -23,3 +23,4 @@ PERF_ARCH(PEBS_LAT_HYBRID, 0x0020000) /* ld and st lat for hybrid */
PERF_ARCH(NEEDS_BRANCH_STACK, 0x0040000) /* require branch stack setup */
PERF_ARCH(BRANCH_COUNTERS, 0x0080000) /* logs the counters in the extra space of each branch */
PERF_ARCH(ACR, 0x0100000) /* Auto counter reload */
+PERF_ARCH(UNPRIVILEGED, 0x0200000) /* Unprivileged event (wrt perf_allow_kernel()) */
--
2.43.0