# Re: \[PATCH v15 02/12\] x86/hw\_breakpoints: Make DR7 updates NMI safe

- From: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) \<mhiramat@kernel.org\>
- Date: 2026-09-14 02:49:16 
- List: linux-trace-kernel
- Page: https://ratatoskr.run/linux-trace-kernel/2026/09/17570353
- Thread: https://ratatoskr.run/sashiko-reviews/2026/09/17570353/t.md

```text
On Mon, 07 Sep 2026 04:00:16 +0000
sashiko-bot@kernel.org wrote:

> > diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/debugreg.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/debugreg.h
> > index 854d82b88ff4e..3399e166d3044 100644
> > --- a/arch/x86/include/asm/debugreg.h
> > +++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/debugreg.h
> [ ... ]
> > @@ -125,40 +126,66 @@ static __always_inline bool hw_breakpoint_active(void)
> >  
> >  extern void hw_breakpoint_restore(void);
> >  
> > -static __always_inline unsigned long local_db_save(void)
> > +static __always_inline void local_db_save(unsigned long *dr7,
> > +					  unsigned int *dr7_seq)
> >  {
> > -	unsigned long dr7;
> > +	do {
> > +		*dr7_seq = this_cpu_read(cpu_dr7_seq);
> > +		*dr7 = 0;
> >  
> > -	if (cpu_feature_enabled(X86_FEATURE_HYPERVISOR) && !hw_breakpoint_active())
> > -		return 0;
> > -
> > -	get_debugreg(dr7, 7);
> > +		if (cpu_feature_enabled(X86_FEATURE_HYPERVISOR) &&
> > +		    !hw_breakpoint_active())
> > +			return;
> 
> [Severity: High]
> This isn't a bug introduced by this patch, but could this early return
> in local_db_save() bypass the sequence retry loop?
> 
> If an NMI hits exactly before the return instruction and installs a
> breakpoint, the function exits immediately. This leaves the newly installed
> hardware breakpoint active during exception handlers like MCE, which could
> trigger a recursive #DB exception and lead to a kernel panic.

Wait... but fixing this may leak the DR7 setting to the guest. We need another
patch to solve this, which introduce a per-cpu flag to prohibit updating the
DR7 during switching to the guest.

Thanks,

-- 
Masami Hiramatsu (Google) [ref]
```