[PATCH v2] arm64/simd: Avoid pointless clearing of FP/SIMD buffer
Eric Biggers
ebiggers at kernel.org
Fri Dec 12 18:29:29 PST 2025
On Tue, Dec 09, 2025 at 06:48:49AM +0100, Ard Biesheuvel wrote:
> The buffer provided to kernel_neon_begin() is only used if the task is
> scheduled out while the FP/SIMD is in use by the kernel, or when such a
> section is interrupted by a softirq that also uses the FP/SIMD.
>
> IOW, this happens rarely, and even if it happened often, there is still
> no reason for this buffer to be cleared beforehand, which happens
> unconditionally, due to the use of a compound literal expression.
>
> So define that buffer variable explicitly, and mark it as
> __uninitialized so that it will not get cleared, even when
> -ftrivial-auto-var-init is in effect.
>
> This requires some preprocessor gymnastics, due to the fact that the
> variable must be defined throughout the entire guarded scope, and the
> expression
>
> ({ struct user_fpsimd_state __uninitialized st; &st; })
>
> is problematic in that regard, even though the compilers seem to
> permit it. So instead, repeat for 'for ()' trick that is also used in
> the implementation of the guarded scope helpers.
>
> Cc: Will Deacon <will at kernel.org>,
> Cc: Catalin Marinas <catalin.marinas at arm.com>,
> Cc: Kees Cook <keescook at chromium.org>
> Cc: Eric Biggers <ebiggers at kernel.org>
> Signed-off-by: Ard Biesheuvel <ardb at kernel.org>
> ---
> arch/arm64/include/asm/simd.h | 9 ++++++++-
> 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/arch/arm64/include/asm/simd.h b/arch/arm64/include/asm/simd.h
> index 0941f6f58a14..69ecbd69ca8c 100644
> --- a/arch/arm64/include/asm/simd.h
> +++ b/arch/arm64/include/asm/simd.h
> @@ -48,6 +48,13 @@ DEFINE_LOCK_GUARD_1(ksimd,
> kernel_neon_begin(_T->lock),
> kernel_neon_end(_T->lock))
>
> -#define scoped_ksimd() scoped_guard(ksimd, &(struct user_fpsimd_state){})
> +#define __scoped_ksimd(_label) \
> + for (struct user_fpsimd_state __uninitialized __st; \
> + true; ({ goto _label; })) \
> + if (0) { \
> +_label: break; \
> + } else scoped_guard(ksimd, &__st)
> +
> +#define scoped_ksimd() __scoped_ksimd(__UNIQUE_ID(label))
>
> #endif
>
Applied to https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/ebiggers/linux.git/log/?h=libcrypto-fixes
I added:
Fixes: 4fa617cc6851 ("arm64/fpsimd: Allocate kernel mode FP/SIMD buffers on the stack")
- Eric
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