Merge branch 'x86-pti-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip

Pull x86 PTI updates from Ingo Molnar:
 "Fix reporting bugs of the MDS and TAA mitigation status, if one or
  both are set via a boot option.

  No change to mitigation behavior intended"

* 'x86-pti-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip:
  x86/speculation: Fix redundant MDS mitigation message
  x86/speculation: Fix incorrect MDS/TAA mitigation status

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 9b847f06cb19..a0a4732eedbb 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
@@ -2473,6 +2473,12 @@
 				     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.
 
@@ -4931,6 +4937,11 @@
 				     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