The RISC-V architecture updates have been submitted for the Linux 6.12 kernel cycle. More RISC-V CPU ISA extensions are being supported along with enabling some additional kernel features for this CPU architecture.
The RISC-V highlights for Linux 6.12 amount to:
* Support for using Zkr to seed KASLR.
* Support for IPI-triggered CPU backtracing.
* Support for generic CPU vulnerabilities reporting to userspace.
* A few cleanups for missing licenses.
* The size limit on the XIP kernel has been removed.
* Support for tracing userspace stacks.
* Support for the Svvptc extension.
* Various cleanups and fixes throughout the tree.
Better handling Kernel Address Space Layout Randomization (KASLR) is always worthy, RISC-V supporting generic CPU vulnerabilities reporting is good in the name of transparency and being consistent across architectures, and overcoming the size limit for execute in place (XIP) kernels is also worth mentioning. RISC-V’s Svvptc extension is for obviating memory management instructions after marking PTEs as valid. The ability to trace user-space stacks rounds out the useful RISC-V work for Linux 6.12.
The full list of RISC-V patches for Linux 6.12 can be found via this pull request.
