[PATCH 2/2] s390/entry: Save lowcore on invalid kernel stack

From: Heiko Carstens

Date: Fri Oct 02 2026 - 11:24:03 EST


In case of an invalid kernel stack copy the current CPU's lowcore to
stack_invalid_lowcore, so it is available to debug tools after a crash.

The copy is helpful since the lowcore is modified e.g., when printing
messages before a dump is taken. Keep it as unmodified as possible and
as close to the event that caused register corruption.

Signed-off-by: Heiko Carstens <hca@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
arch/s390/kernel/entry.S | 15 +++++++++++++++
arch/s390/kernel/entry.h | 4 ++++
arch/s390/kernel/traps.c | 6 ++++++
3 files changed, 25 insertions(+)

diff --git a/arch/s390/kernel/entry.S b/arch/s390/kernel/entry.S
index 4e99ed559dbd..7346f8ad7f91 100644
--- a/arch/s390/kernel/entry.S
+++ b/arch/s390/kernel/entry.S
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
#include <asm/thread_info.h>
#include <asm/asm-offsets.h>
#include <asm/unistd.h>
+#include <asm/lowcore.h>
#include <asm/page.h>
#include <asm/sigp.h>
#include <asm/bug.h>
@@ -613,6 +614,8 @@ SYM_CODE_END(early_pgm_check_handler)
* The synchronous or the asynchronous stack pointer is invalid. We are dead.
* No need to properly save the registers, we are going to panic anyway.
* Setup a pt_regs so that show_trace can provide a good call trace.
+ * Copy lowcore of the current CPU to stack_invalid_lowcore before it
+ * is modified by printing debug messages and crash handling.
*/
SYM_CODE_START(stack_invalid)
GET_LC %r15
@@ -623,6 +626,18 @@ SYM_CODE_START(stack_invalid)
mvc __PT_R8(64,%r11),0(%r14)
GET_LC %r2
mvc __PT_LAST_BREAK(8,%r11),__LC_PGM_LAST_BREAK(%r2)
+ /* copy lowcore; skip if used by another CPU */
+ larl %r4,stack_invalid_lowcore_used
+ lhi %r1,0
+ lhi %r3,1
+ cs %r1,%r3,0(%r4)
+ jne .Lskip
+ larl %r0,stack_invalid_lowcore
+ lghi %r1,LC_PAGES * PAGE_SIZE
+ lgr %r4,%r2
+ lgr %r5,%r1
+ mvcl %r0,%r4
+.Lskip:
xc __SF_BACKCHAIN(8,%r15),__SF_BACKCHAIN(%r15)
lgr %r2,%r11 # pass pointer to pt_regs
jg kernel_stack_invalid
diff --git a/arch/s390/kernel/entry.h b/arch/s390/kernel/entry.h
index dc84ab497251..5d6685e5bf5f 100644
--- a/arch/s390/kernel/entry.h
+++ b/arch/s390/kernel/entry.h
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
#include <linux/types.h>
#include <linux/signal.h>
#include <asm/extable.h>
+#include <asm/lowcore.h>
#include <asm/ptrace.h>
#include <asm/idle.h>

@@ -64,6 +65,9 @@ long sys_s390_sthyi(unsigned long function_code, void __user *buffer, u64 __user
unsigned long stack_alloc(void);
void stack_free(unsigned long stack);

+extern int stack_invalid_lowcore_used;
+extern struct lowcore stack_invalid_lowcore;
+
extern char kprobes_insn_page[];

extern char _samode31[], _eamode31[];
diff --git a/arch/s390/kernel/traps.c b/arch/s390/kernel/traps.c
index b6ba4465f59d..cd55729e5f8a 100644
--- a/arch/s390/kernel/traps.c
+++ b/arch/s390/kernel/traps.c
@@ -283,6 +283,12 @@ static void monitor_event_exception(struct pt_regs *regs)
}
}

+/*
+ * Content of the faulting CPU's lowcore, copied by stack_invalid().
+ */
+struct lowcore stack_invalid_lowcore;
+int stack_invalid_lowcore_used;
+
void kernel_stack_invalid(struct pt_regs *regs)
{
/*
--
2.53.0