# Re: \[PATCH v7 2/6\] x86/asm: Avoid emitting DWARF CFI for non-VDSO

- From: H. Peter Anvin \<hpa@zytor.com\>
- Date: 2026-02-04 00:45:27 
- List: linux-trace-kernel
- Page: https://ratatoskr.run/linux-trace-kernel/2026/02/3400516
- Thread: https://ratatoskr.run/linux-trace-kernel/2026/02/3399878/t.md

```text
On 2026-02-03 09:19, Jens Remus wrote:
> From: Josh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@kernel.org>
> 
> It was decided years ago that .cfi_* annotations aren't maintainable in
> the kernel.  They were replaced by objtool unwind hints.  For the kernel
> proper, ensure the CFI_* macros don't do anything.
> 
> On the other hand the VDSO library *does* use them, so user space can
> unwind through it.
> 
> Make sure these macros only work for VDSO.  They aren't actually being
> used outside of VDSO anyway, so there's no functional change.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Josh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@kernel.org>
> Signed-off-by: Steven Rostedt (Google) <rostedt@goodmis.org>
> Signed-off-by: Jens Remus <redacted>
> ---
>  arch/x86/include/asm/dwarf2.h | 51 ++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------
>  1 file changed, 35 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/dwarf2.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/dwarf2.h
> index 09c9684d3ad6..7cc30500c095 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/include/asm/dwarf2.h
> +++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/dwarf2.h
> @@ -6,6 +6,15 @@
>  #warning "asm/dwarf2.h should be only included in pure assembly files"
>  #endif
>  
> +#ifdef BUILD_VDSO
> +
> +	/*
> +	 * For the vDSO, emit both runtime unwind information and debug
> +	 * symbols for the .dbg file.
> +	 */
> +
> +	.cfi_sections .eh_frame, .debug_frame
> +
>  #define CFI_STARTPROC		.cfi_startproc
>  #define CFI_ENDPROC		.cfi_endproc
>  #define CFI_DEF_CFA		.cfi_def_cfa
> @@ -22,21 +31,31 @@
>  #define CFI_ESCAPE		.cfi_escape
>  #define CFI_SIGNAL_FRAME	.cfi_signal_frame
>  
> -#ifndef BUILD_VDSO
> -	/*
> -	 * Emit CFI data in .debug_frame sections, not .eh_frame sections.
> -	 * The latter we currently just discard since we don't do DWARF
> -	 * unwinding at runtime.  So only the offline DWARF information is
> -	 * useful to anyone.  Note we should not use this directive if we
> -	 * ever decide to enable DWARF unwinding at runtime.
> -	 */
> -	.cfi_sections .debug_frame
> -#else
> -	 /*
> -	  * For the vDSO, emit both runtime unwind information and debug
> -	  * symbols for the .dbg file.
> -	  */
> -	.cfi_sections .eh_frame, .debug_frame
> -#endif
> +#else /* !BUILD_VDSO */
> +
> +/*
> + * On x86, these macros aren't used outside VDSO.  As well they shouldn't be:
> + * they're fragile and very difficult to maintain.
> + */
> +
> +.macro nocfi args:vararg
> +.endm
> +
> +#define CFI_STARTPROC		nocfi
> +#define CFI_ENDPROC		nocfi
> +#define CFI_DEF_CFA		nocfi
> +#define CFI_DEF_CFA_REGISTER	nocfi
> +#define CFI_DEF_CFA_OFFSET	nocfi
> +#define CFI_ADJUST_CFA_OFFSET	nocfi
> +#define CFI_OFFSET		nocfi
> +#define CFI_REL_OFFSET		nocfi
> +#define CFI_REGISTER		nocfi
> +#define CFI_RESTORE		nocfi
> +#define CFI_REMEMBER_STATE	nocfi
> +#define CFI_RESTORE_STATE	nocfi
> +#define CFI_UNDEFINED		nocfi
> +#define CFI_ESCAPE		nocfi
> +
> +#endif /* !BUILD_VDSO */
>  
>  #endif /* _ASM_X86_DWARF2_H */

I guess patch 3 justifies this.

Acked-by: H. Peter Anvin (Intel) <hpa@zytor.com>

```