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Date:   Fri, 18 Oct 2019 15:40:58 +0200
From:   Petr Mladek <pmladek@suse.com>
To:     Jessica Yu <jeyu@kernel.org>
Cc:     Miroslav Benes <mbenes@suse.cz>,
        Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>,
        Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org>,
        Joe Lawrence <joe.lawrence@redhat.com>, x86@kernel.org,
        linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, mhiramat@kernel.org,
        bristot@redhat.com, jbaron@akamai.com,
        torvalds@linux-foundation.org, tglx@linutronix.de,
        mingo@kernel.org, namit@vmware.com, hpa@zytor.com, luto@kernel.org,
        ard.biesheuvel@linaro.org, jpoimboe@redhat.com,
        live-patching@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH v3 5/6] x86/ftrace: Use text_poke()
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On Fri 2019-10-18 15:03:42, Jessica Yu wrote:
> +++ Miroslav Benes [16/10/19 15:29 +0200]:
> > On Wed, 16 Oct 2019, Miroslav Benes wrote:
> > Thinking about it more... crazy idea. I think we could leverage these new
> > ELF .text per vmlinux/module sections for the reinvention I was talking
> > about. If we teach module loader to relocate (and apply alternatives and
> > so on, everything in arch-specific module_finalize()) not the whole module
> > in case of live patch modules, but separate ELF .text sections, it could
> > solve the issue with late module patching we have. It is a variation on
> > Steven's idea. When live patch module is loaded, only its section for
> > present modules would be processed. Then whenever a to-be-patched module
> > is loaded, its .text section in all present patch module would be
> > processed.
> > 
> > The upside is that almost no work would be required on patch modules
> > creation side. The downside is that klp_modinfo must stay. Module loader
> > needs to be hacked a lot in both cases. So it remains to be seen which
> > idea is easier to implement.
> > 
> > Jessica, do you think it would be feasible?
> 
> I think that does sound feasible. I'm trying to visualize how that
> would look. I guess there would need to be various livepatching hooks
> called during the different stages (apply_relocate_add(),
> module_finalize(), module_enable_ro/x()).
> 
> So maybe something like the following?
> 
> When a livepatch module loads:
>    apply_relocate_add()
>        klp hook: apply .klp.rela.$objname relocations *only* for
>        already loaded modules
>    module_finalize()
>        klp hook: apply .klp.arch.$objname changes for already loaded modules
>    module_enable_ro()
>        klp hook: only enable ro/x for .klp.text.$objname for already
>        loaded modules

Just for record. We should also set ro for the not-yet used
.klp.text.$objname at this stage so that it can't be modified
easily "by accident".


> When a to-be-patched module loads:
>    apply_relocate_add()
>        klp hook: for each patch module that patches the coming
>        module, apply .klp.rela.$objname relocations for this object
>    module_finalize()
>        klp hook: for each patch module that patches the coming
>        module, apply .klp.arch.$objname changes for this object
>    module_enable_ro()
>        klp hook: for each patch module, apply ro/x permissions for
>        .klp.text.$objname for this object
> 
> Then, in klp_module_coming, we only need to do the callbacks and
> enable the patch, and get rid of the module_disable_ro->apply
> relocs->module_enable_ro block.
> 
> Does that sound like what you had in mind or am I totally off?

Makes sense to me.

Well, I wonder if it is really any better from what we have now.
We would still need special delayed handling for the module-specific
elf sections. Also we still would not need to clear the modifications
in these sections when the livepatched object gets unloaded.

I am afraid that the real difference might come when we split
the livepatch into per-livepatched object modules. This would
move the complexity to another parts of the code ;-) I am
unable to say what approach is easier and more safe to maintain
at the moment.

Best Regards,
Petr