[tip: x86/urgent] x86/build/64: Prevent native builds from generating EGPR use

From: tip-bot2 for Chang S. Bae

Date: Sat Sep 19 2026 - 01:32:41 EST


The following commit has been merged into the x86/urgent branch of tip:

Commit-ID: 63edf5a009ae366369a1b484cd9ae4ee7c51946c
Gitweb: https://git.kernel.org/tip/63edf5a009ae366369a1b484cd9ae4ee7c51946c
Author: Chang S. Bae <chang.seok.bae@xxxxxxxxx>
AuthorDate: Wed, 16 Sep 2026 23:00:03
Committer: Borislav Petkov (AMD) <bp@xxxxxxxxx>
CommitterDate: Fri, 18 Sep 2026 21:43:38 -07:00

x86/build/64: Prevent native builds from generating EGPR use

Omar reports that CONFIG_X86_NATIVE_CPU=y allows builds to opportunistically
emit instructions using %r16-%r31 (EGPRs) when the build host supports APX
since the commit:

ea1dcca1de12 ("x86/kbuild/64: Add the CONFIG_X86_NATIVE_CPU option to locally optimize the kernel with '-march=native'")

But the kernel is not yet prepared to use new registers internally. For
example, there is no context-switch support for general in-kernel use.

Explicitly disable EGPR use when building with -march=native.

For C, since GCC 14 and Clang 18, both compilers support suppressing EGPR
use with -mno-apx-features=egpr, whose availability can be detected via
cc-option.

For Rust, pass features=-apxf through the generated JSON to avoid
unstable-feature warnings, see

https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/139284

Note Rust only accepts the option to disable APX instructions entirely or not.

Support for this gating also depends on the Rust/LLVM combination. Rust
1.88 introduced the `apxf` feature option, but versions prior to 1.93 may
emit an `apxf` attribute to the backend that only LLVM 23 or later can
interpret. Restrict native Rust builds accordingly.

Fixes: ea1dcca1de12 ("x86/kbuild/64: Add the CONFIG_X86_NATIVE_CPU option to locally optimize the kernel with '-march=native'")
Reported-by: Omar Avelar <omar.avelar@xxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Chang S. Bae <chang.seok.bae@xxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Borislav Petkov (AMD) <bp@xxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Nathan Chancellor <nathan@xxxxxxxxxx>
Acked-by: Miguel Ojeda <ojeda@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260916230003.1144622-1-chang.seok.bae@xxxxxxxxx
---
arch/x86/Kconfig.cpu | 11 +++++++++++
arch/x86/Makefile | 5 +++++
scripts/generate_rust_target.rs | 5 +++++
3 files changed, 21 insertions(+)

diff --git a/arch/x86/Kconfig.cpu b/arch/x86/Kconfig.cpu
index e465438..6e7a366 100644
--- a/arch/x86/Kconfig.cpu
+++ b/arch/x86/Kconfig.cpu
@@ -204,10 +204,21 @@ config CC_HAS_MARCH_NATIVE
# usage warnings that only appear wth '-march=native'.
depends on CC_IS_GCC || CLANG_VERSION >= 190100

+config RUSTC_HAS_APXF
+ # The kernel isn't ready for in-kernel APX instructions. Without
+ # explicit frontend gating of APX, the backend may emit those
+ # instructions in native builds.
+ #
+ # Rust 1.88 added the `apxf` feature option, but versions before 1.93
+ # emit an `apxf` target attribute that only LLVM 23+ can interpret.
+ def_bool (RUSTC_VERSION >= 108800 && RUSTC_LLVM_MAJOR_VERSION >= 23) || \
+ RUSTC_VERSION >= 109300
+
config X86_NATIVE_CPU
bool "Build and optimize for local/native CPU"
depends on X86_64
depends on CC_HAS_MARCH_NATIVE
+ depends on !RUST || RUSTC_HAS_APXF
help
Optimize for the current CPU used to compile the kernel.
Use this option if you intend to build the kernel for your
diff --git a/arch/x86/Makefile b/arch/x86/Makefile
index 598f178..8af6b80 100644
--- a/arch/x86/Makefile
+++ b/arch/x86/Makefile
@@ -161,6 +161,11 @@ else

ifdef CONFIG_X86_NATIVE_CPU
KBUILD_CFLAGS += -march=native
+ # Prevent the compiler from generating EGPR use. The kernel is
+ # not yet prepared for general in-kernel use.
+ KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option,-mno-apx-features=egpr)
+
+ # generate_rust_target.rs handles Rust APX gating.
KBUILD_RUSTFLAGS += -Ctarget-cpu=native
else
KBUILD_CFLAGS += -march=x86-64 -mtune=generic
diff --git a/scripts/generate_rust_target.rs b/scripts/generate_rust_target.rs
index 3bf2965..7687b0d 100644
--- a/scripts/generate_rust_target.rs
+++ b/scripts/generate_rust_target.rs
@@ -224,6 +224,11 @@ fn main() {
features += ",+harden-sls-ijmp";
features += ",+harden-sls-ret";
}
+ if cfg.has("X86_NATIVE_CPU") {
+ // Prevent the backend from generating APX instructions. The kernel is not yet prepared
+ // for general in-kernel EGPR use.
+ features += ",-apxf";
+ }
ts.push("features", features);
ts.push("llvm-target", "x86_64-linux-gnu");
ts.push("supported-sanitizers", ["kcfi", "kernel-address"]);