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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 code, unsigned long addr);
       int syscall(SYS_arch_prctl, int code, 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.   code
       selects  a  subfunction  and passes argument addr to it; addr is inter-
       preted 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 code is not a valid subcommand.

       ENODEV ARCH_SET_CPUID was requested, but the underlying  hardware  does
              not support CPUID faulting.

       EPERM  addr is outside the process address space.

STANDARDS
       arch_prctl() is a Linux/x86-64 extension and should not be used in pro-
       grams intended to be portable.

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 6.03              2022-10-30                     arch_prctl(2)

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