[PATCH] microblaze: prevent ptrace writes to MSR and pt_mode

From: Jérémy Jean

Date: Fri Aug 21 2026 - 07:11:33 EST


arch_ptrace() accepts PTRACE_POKEUSR for every aligned offset below
PT_SIZE. This includes the saved machine status register and pt_mode,
which are kernel-owned execution state rather than general registers.

On return from an exception, rtbd copies MSR_UMS to the live MSR_UM bit.
An unprivileged same-UID tracer can therefore clear MSR_UMS in its
tracee's saved register frame and make the tracee resume in supervisor
mode. pt_mode also controls whether later entry paths classify the frame
as kernel or user state.

Reject PTRACE_POKEUSR writes to both fields while retaining read access.

Fixes: 2b4384542691 ("microblaze_v8: ptrace support")
Assisted-by: Codex:gpt-5
Signed-off-by: Jérémy Jean <Jeremy.Jean@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
arch/microblaze/kernel/ptrace.c | 3 +++
1 file changed, 3 insertions(+)

diff --git a/arch/microblaze/kernel/ptrace.c b/arch/microblaze/kernel/ptrace.c
index 236264e932d6..ac1f0503216b 100644
--- a/arch/microblaze/kernel/ptrace.c
+++ b/arch/microblaze/kernel/ptrace.c
@@ -101,6 +101,9 @@ long arch_ptrace(struct task_struct *child, long request,
} else {
rval = -EIO;
}
+ } else if (request == PTRACE_POKEUSR &&
+ (addr == PT_MSR || addr == PT_MODE)) {
+ rval = -EIO;
} else if (addr < PT_SIZE && (addr & 0x3) == 0) {
microblaze_reg_t *reg_addr = reg_save_addr(addr, child);
if (request == PTRACE_PEEKUSR)
--
2.47.3