Re: [PATCH] iommu/arm-smmu-v3: Invalidate a new level-1 stream table descriptor

From: Mostafa Saleh

Date: Tue Nov 10 2026 - 10:03:34 EST


On Mon, Nov 09, 2026 at 09:36:54PM +0000, Xuheng Li via B4 Relay wrote:
> From: Xuheng Li <xuheng@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> arm_smmu_init_l2_strtab() allocates a level-2 stream table when the first
> master in its range is added, and makes the level-1 descriptor valid. It
> issues no invalidation, and the attach that follows sends only the leaf
> form of CMD_CFGI_STE.
>
> IHI 0070 5.1.1 requires the non-leaf form of CMD_CFGI_STE when an L1STD
> changes, including when an inactive descriptor with Span == 0 becomes
> active. An SMMU that cached the inactive descriptor can keep terminating
> the master's transactions as if its StreamID were invalid.
>

Looking at the spec it says:
An STE or L1STD that is successfully fetched might be cached by the
SMMU in any state, therefore any modification, commissioning or
decommissioning of an STE must be followed by a CMD_CFGI_STE command.

Which checks out. However, I am curious why this was not seen for
over 10 years with the current behaviour as I doubt any existing
implementation will do negative caching. Is that something that was
observed or found by inspection?

Interestingly, that is not the case for L1CD:
/* An invalid L1CD can be cached */
arm_smmu_sync_cd(master, ssid, false);

> Issue a non-leaf CMD_CFGI_STE after writing the descriptor. The RMR path
> runs before the stream table is programmed into the SMMU, and
> arm_smmu_device_reset() then issues CMD_CFGI_ALL, so it needs none.
>
> Fixes: 48ec83bcbcf5 ("iommu/arm-smmu: Add initial driver support for ARM SMMUv3 devices")

With the few nits below:
Reviewed-by: Mostafa Saleh <smostafa@xxxxxxxxxx>

Thanks,
Mostafa

> Signed-off-by: Xuheng Li <xuheng@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu-v3/arm-smmu-v3.c | 21 ++++++++++++++++-----
> 1 file changed, 16 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu-v3/arm-smmu-v3.c b/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu-v3/arm-smmu-v3.c
> index 6d4520c47..f61cc6d86 100644
> --- a/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu-v3/arm-smmu-v3.c
> +++ b/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu-v3/arm-smmu-v3.c
> @@ -2030,7 +2030,8 @@ static void arm_smmu_init_initial_stes(struct arm_smmu_ste *strtab,
> }
> }
>
> -static int arm_smmu_init_l2_strtab(struct arm_smmu_device *smmu, u32 sid)
> +static int arm_smmu_init_l2_strtab(struct arm_smmu_device *smmu, u32 sid,
> + bool live)
> {
> dma_addr_t l2ptr_dma;
> struct arm_smmu_strtab_cfg *cfg = &smmu->strtab_cfg;
> @@ -2053,6 +2054,14 @@ static int arm_smmu_init_l2_strtab(struct arm_smmu_device *smmu, u32 sid)
> ARRAY_SIZE((*l2table)->stes));
> arm_smmu_write_strtab_l1_desc(&cfg->l2.l1tab[arm_smmu_strtab_l1_idx(sid)],
> l2ptr_dma);
> +
> + /*
> + * The SMMU may have cached the old, invalid L1 descriptor. Making it
> + * valid needs the non-leaf form of CMD_CFGI_STE (IHI 0070 5.1.1).
> + */

A similar comment to the CD case is enough.

> + if (live)
> + arm_smmu_cmdq_issue_cmd_with_sync(smmu,
> + arm_smmu_make_cmd_cfgi_ste(sid, false));
> return 0;
> }
>
> @@ -4261,7 +4270,8 @@ static bool arm_smmu_sid_in_range(struct arm_smmu_device *smmu, u32 sid)
> return sid < smmu->strtab_cfg.linear.num_ents;
> }
>
> -static int arm_smmu_init_sid_strtab(struct arm_smmu_device *smmu, u32 sid)
> +static int arm_smmu_init_sid_strtab(struct arm_smmu_device *smmu, u32 sid,
> + bool live)
> {
> /* Check the SIDs are in range of the SMMU and our stream table */
> if (!arm_smmu_sid_in_range(smmu, sid))
> @@ -4269,7 +4279,7 @@ static int arm_smmu_init_sid_strtab(struct arm_smmu_device *smmu, u32 sid)
>
> /* Ensure l2 strtab is initialised */
> if (smmu->features & ARM_SMMU_FEAT_2_LVL_STRTAB)
> - return arm_smmu_init_l2_strtab(smmu, sid);
> + return arm_smmu_init_l2_strtab(smmu, sid, live);
>
> return 0;
> }
> @@ -4333,7 +4343,7 @@ static int arm_smmu_insert_master(struct arm_smmu_device *smmu,
> struct rb_node *existing;
> u32 sid = new_stream->id;
>
> - ret = arm_smmu_init_sid_strtab(smmu, sid);
> + ret = arm_smmu_init_sid_strtab(smmu, sid, true);
> if (ret)
> break;
>
> @@ -5713,7 +5723,8 @@ static void arm_smmu_rmr_install_bypass_ste(struct arm_smmu_device *smmu)
>
> rmr = container_of(e, struct iommu_iort_rmr_data, rr);
> for (i = 0; i < rmr->num_sids; i++) {
> - ret = arm_smmu_init_sid_strtab(smmu, rmr->sids[i]);
> + /* The stream table is not programmed into the SMMU yet */

I don't think this comment is adding anything, there is another one a
couple of line below.

> + ret = arm_smmu_init_sid_strtab(smmu, rmr->sids[i], false);
> if (ret) {
> dev_err(smmu->dev, "RMR SID(0x%x) bypass failed\n",
> rmr->sids[i]);
>
> ---
> base-commit: 05441d697f7f9a927264f4058cbbc6a03dfcac9d
> change-id: 20261109-smmu-l1std-cfgi-c194b2aafea4
>
> Best regards,
> --
> Xuheng Li <xuheng@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>