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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/livepatch/livepatch.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/livepatch/livepatch.txt | 28 |
1 files changed, 9 insertions, 19 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/livepatch/livepatch.txt b/Documentation/livepatch/livepatch.txt index 4f2aec8d4c12..ecdb18104ab0 100644 --- a/Documentation/livepatch/livepatch.txt +++ b/Documentation/livepatch/livepatch.txt @@ -316,8 +316,15 @@ section "Livepatch life-cycle" below for more details about these two operations. Module removal is only safe when there are no users of the underlying -functions. The immediate consistency model is not able to detect this; -therefore livepatch modules cannot be removed. See "Limitations" below. +functions. The immediate consistency model is not able to detect this. The +code just redirects the functions at the very beginning and it does not +check if the functions are in use. In other words, it knows when the +functions get called but it does not know when the functions return. +Therefore it cannot be decided when the livepatch module can be safely +removed. This is solved by a hybrid consistency model. When the system is +transitioned to a new patch state (patched/unpatched) it is guaranteed that +no task sleeps or runs in the old code. + 5. Livepatch life-cycle ======================= @@ -469,23 +476,6 @@ The current Livepatch implementation has several limitations: by "notrace". - + Livepatch modules can not be removed. - - The current implementation just redirects the functions at the very - beginning. It does not check if the functions are in use. In other - words, it knows when the functions get called but it does not - know when the functions return. Therefore it can not decide when - the livepatch module can be safely removed. - - This will get most likely solved once a more complex consistency model - is supported. The idea is that a safe state for patching should also - mean a safe state for removing the patch. - - Note that the patch itself might get disabled by writing zero - to /sys/kernel/livepatch/<patch>/enabled. It causes that the new - code will not longer get called. But it does not guarantee - that anyone is not sleeping anywhere in the new code. - + Livepatch works reliably only when the dynamic ftrace is located at the very beginning of the function. |