[PATCH] riscv: cfi: reduce shadow stack size limit from 2GB to 512MB

[Paul Walmsley]

On Fri, 22 May 2026, Zong Li wrote:

> Change the shadow stack size calculation from RLIMIT_STACK/2 (capped at
> 2GB) to RLIMIT_STACK/8 (capped at 512MB), following David Laight's
> analysis and recommendation.
> 
> Rationale:
> 
> David Laight pointed out that the focus should be on the ratio between
> shadow stack size and the normal stack size, rather than just the
> absolute upper limit. His analysis showed that while there are many
> functions with small stack frames, the majority have stack deltas of
> over 64 bytes due to saved registers and local variables.
> 
> Shadow stacks only store return addresses (8 bytes per entry on 64-bit
> systems), whereas normal stack frames typically consume 64+ bytes. This
> 8:64 byte ratio means that programs using a lot of stack space are
> dominated by large buffer allocations and local variables, not extreme
> recursion depths with minimal local data.
> 
> For example, with the default RLIMIT_STACK of 8MB:
> - RLIMIT_STACK/2 gives a 4MB shadow stack supporting 512K nested calls
> - RLIMIT_STACK/8 gives a 1MB shadow stack supporting 128K nested calls
> 
> Given typical stack frame sizes of 64+ bytes, RLIMIT_STACK/8 is still
> conservative and provides adequate depth for practical applications.
> David noted that this could even be safely halved again.
> 
> This reduction also better accommodates memory-constrained platforms.
> On systems with limited physical memory, allocating large shadow stacks
> can cause virtual memory allocation failures when overcommit mode is set
> to OVERCOMMIT_GUESS or OVERCOMMIT_NEVER.
> 
> Suggested-by: David Laight <david.laight.linux at gmail.com>
> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260518105725.7afe7a4c@pumpkin/
> Signed-off-by: Zong Li <zong.li at sifive.com>

Thanks, queued for v7.3.


- Paul