At the moment, all BL images share a similar memory layout: they start
with their code section, followed by their read-only data section.
The two sections are contiguous in memory. Therefore, the end of the
code section and the beginning of the read-only data one might share
a memory page. This forces both to be mapped with the same memory
attributes. As the code needs to be executable, this means that the
read-only data stored on the same memory page as the code are
executable as well. This could potentially be exploited as part of
a security attack.
This patch introduces a new build flag called
SEPARATE_CODE_AND_RODATA, which isolates the code and read-only data
on separate memory pages. This in turn allows independent control of
the access permissions for the code and read-only data.
This has an impact on memory footprint, as padding bytes need to be
introduced between the code and read-only data to ensure the
segragation of the two. To limit the memory cost, the memory layout
of the read-only section has been changed in this case.
- When SEPARATE_CODE_AND_RODATA=0, the layout is unchanged, i.e.
the read-only section still looks like this (padding omitted):
| ... |
+-------------------+
| Exception vectors |
+-------------------+
| Read-only data |
+-------------------+
| Code |
+-------------------+ BLx_BASE
In this case, the linker script provides the limits of the whole
read-only section.
- When SEPARATE_CODE_AND_RODATA=1, the exception vectors and
read-only data are swapped, such that the code and exception
vectors are contiguous, followed by the read-only data. This
gives the following new layout (padding omitted):
| ... |
+-------------------+
| Read-only data |
+-------------------+
| Exception vectors |
+-------------------+
| Code |
+-------------------+ BLx_BASE
In this case, the linker script now exports 2 sets of addresses
instead: the limits of the code and the limits of the read-only
data. Refer to the Firmware Design guide for more details. This
provides platform code with a finer-grained view of the image
layout and allows it to map these 2 regions with the appropriate
access permissions.
Note that SEPARATE_CODE_AND_RODATA applies to all BL images.
Change-Id: I936cf80164f6b66b6ad52b8edacadc532c935a49
Added a new platform porting function plat_panic_handler, to allow
platforms to handle unexpected error situations. It must be
implemented in assembly as it may be called before the C environment
is initialized. A default implementation is provided, which simply
spins.
Corrected all dead loops in generic code to call this function
instead. This includes the dead loop that occurs at the end of the
call to panic().
All unnecesary wfis from bl32/tsp/aarch64/tsp_exceptions.S have
been removed.
Change-Id: I67cb85f6112fa8e77bd62f5718efcef4173d8134
The Firmware Update (FWU) feature needs support for an optional
secure world image, BL2U, to allow additional secure world
initialization required by FWU, for example DDR initialization.
This patch adds generic framework support to create BL2U.
NOTE: A platform makefile must supply additional `BL2U_SOURCES`
to build the bl2u target. A subsequent patch adds bl2u
support for ARM platforms.
Change-Id: If2ce036199bb40b39b7f91a9332106bcd4e25413
Sandrine Bailleux
Antonio Nino Diaz
Yatharth Kochar