arch_prctl(2) System Calls Manual arch_prctl(2)
NAME
arch_prctl - set architecture-specific thread state
LIBRARY
Standard C library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <asm/prctl.h> /* Definition of ARCH_* constants */
#include <sys/syscall.h> /* Definition of SYS_* constants */
#include <unistd.h>
int syscall(SYS_arch_prctl, int op, unsigned long addr);
int syscall(SYS_arch_prctl, int op, unsigned long *addr);
Note: glibc provides no wrapper for arch_prctl(), necessitating the use
of syscall(2).
DESCRIPTION
arch_prctl() sets architecture-specific process or thread state. op se-
lects an operation and passes argument addr to it; addr is interpreted
as either an unsigned long for the "set" operations, or as an unsigned
long *, for the "get" operations.
Subfunctions for both x86 and x86-64 are:
ARCH_SET_CPUID (since Linux 4.12)
Enable (addr != 0) or disable (addr == 0) the cpuid instruction
for the calling thread. The instruction is enabled by default.
If disabled, any execution of a cpuid instruction will instead
generate a SIGSEGV signal. This feature can be used to emulate
cpuid results that differ from what the underlying hardware would
have produced (e.g., in a paravirtualization setting).
The ARCH_SET_CPUID setting is preserved across fork(2) and
clone(2) but reset to the default (i.e., cpuid enabled) on ex-
ecve(2).
ARCH_GET_CPUID (since Linux 4.12)
Return the setting of the flag manipulated by ARCH_SET_CPUID as
the result of the system call (1 for enabled, 0 for disabled).
addr is ignored.
Subfunctions for x86-64 only are:
ARCH_SET_FS
Set the 64-bit base for the FS register to addr.
ARCH_GET_FS
Return the 64-bit base value for the FS register of the calling
thread in the unsigned long pointed to by addr.
ARCH_SET_GS
Set the 64-bit base for the GS register to addr.
ARCH_GET_GS
Return the 64-bit base value for the GS register of the calling
thread in the unsigned long pointed to by addr.
RETURN VALUE
On success, arch_prctl() returns 0; on error, -1 is returned, and errno
is set to indicate the error.
ERRORS
EFAULT addr points to an unmapped address or is outside the process ad-
dress space.
EINVAL op is not a valid operation.
ENODEV ARCH_SET_CPUID was requested, but the underlying hardware does
not support CPUID faulting.
EPERM addr is outside the process address space.
STANDARDS
Linux/x86-64.
NOTES
arch_prctl() is supported only on Linux/x86-64 for 64-bit programs cur-
rently.
The 64-bit base changes when a new 32-bit segment selector is loaded.
ARCH_SET_GS is disabled in some kernels.
Context switches for 64-bit segment bases are rather expensive. As an
optimization, if a 32-bit TLS base address is used, arch_prctl() may use
a real TLS entry as if set_thread_area(2) had been called, instead of
manipulating the segment base register directly. Memory in the first
2 GB of address space can be allocated by using mmap(2) with the
MAP_32BIT flag.
Because of the aforementioned optimization, using arch_prctl() and
set_thread_area(2) in the same thread is dangerous, as they may over-
write each other's TLS entries.
FS may be already used by the threading library. Programs that use
ARCH_SET_FS directly are very likely to crash.
SEE ALSO
mmap(2), modify_ldt(2), prctl(2), set_thread_area(2)
AMD X86-64 Programmer's manual
Linux man-pages 6.9.1 2024-05-02 arch_prctl(2)
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