Messages in this thread | | | Date | Fri, 28 Jan 2022 15:05:36 -0800 | From | Dave Hansen <> | Subject | Re: [PATCH V8 07/44] x86/pkeys: Add PKS CPU feature bit |
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On 1/27/22 09:54, ira.weiny@intel.com wrote: > From: Ira Weiny <ira.weiny@intel.com> > > Protection Keys for Supervisor pages (PKS) enables fast, hardware thread > specific, manipulation of permission restrictions on supervisor page
Nit: should be "hardware-thread-specific".
> mappings. It uses the same mechanism of Protection Keys as those on > User mappings but applies that mechanism to supervisor mappings using a > supervisor specific MSR.
"supervisor-specific"
Memory Protection Keys (pkeys) provides a mechanism for enforcing page-based protections, but without requiring modification of the page tables when an application changes protection domains.
The kernel currently supports the pkeys for userspace (PKU) architecture. That architecture has been extended to additionally support supervisor mappings. The supervisor support is referred to as PKS.
I probably wouldn't mention the MSR unless you want to say:
The main difference between PKU and PKS is that PKS does not introduce any new instructions to write to its register. The register is exposed as a normal MSR and is accessed with the normal MSR instructions.
> The CPU indicates support for PKS in bit 31 of the ECX register after a > cpuid instruction.
I'd just remove this sentence. We don't need to rehash each tiny morsel of the architecture in a commit message.
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