diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/admin-guide')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/mds.rst | 7 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/tsx_async_abort.rst | 5 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt | 11 |
3 files changed, 20 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/mds.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/mds.rst index e3a796c0d3a2..2d19c9f4c1fe 100644 --- a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/mds.rst +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/mds.rst @@ -265,8 +265,11 @@ time with the option "mds=". The valid arguments for this option are: ============ ============================================================= -Not specifying this option is equivalent to "mds=full". - +Not specifying this option is equivalent to "mds=full". For processors +that are affected by both TAA (TSX Asynchronous Abort) and MDS, +specifying just "mds=off" without an accompanying "tsx_async_abort=off" +will have no effect as the same mitigation is used for both +vulnerabilities. Mitigation selection guide -------------------------- diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/tsx_async_abort.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/tsx_async_abort.rst index fddbd7579c53..af6865b822d2 100644 --- a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/tsx_async_abort.rst +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/tsx_async_abort.rst @@ -174,7 +174,10 @@ the option "tsx_async_abort=". The valid arguments for this option are: CPU is not vulnerable to cross-thread TAA attacks. ============ ============================================================= -Not specifying this option is equivalent to "tsx_async_abort=full". +Not specifying this option is equivalent to "tsx_async_abort=full". For +processors that are affected by both TAA and MDS, specifying just +"tsx_async_abort=off" without an accompanying "mds=off" will have no +effect as the same mitigation is used for both vulnerabilities. The kernel command line also allows to control the TSX feature using the parameter "tsx=" on CPUs which support TSX control. MSR_IA32_TSX_CTRL is used diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt index 05596e05bc71..b0da6050a254 100644 --- a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt @@ -2254,6 +2254,12 @@ SMT on vulnerable CPUs off - Unconditionally disable MDS mitigation + On TAA-affected machines, mds=off can be prevented by + an active TAA mitigation as both vulnerabilities are + mitigated with the same mechanism so in order to disable + this mitigation, you need to specify tsx_async_abort=off + too. + Not specifying this option is equivalent to mds=full. @@ -4588,6 +4594,11 @@ vulnerable to cross-thread TAA attacks. off - Unconditionally disable TAA mitigation + On MDS-affected machines, tsx_async_abort=off can be + prevented by an active MDS mitigation as both vulnerabilities + are mitigated with the same mechanism so in order to disable + this mitigation, you need to specify mds=off too. + Not specifying this option is equivalent to tsx_async_abort=full. On CPUs which are MDS affected and deploy MDS mitigation, TAA mitigation is not |