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230 lines
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.. _perf_security:
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Perf Events and tool security
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=============================
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Overview
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--------
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Usage of Performance Counters for Linux (perf_events) [1]_ , [2]_ , [3]_
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can impose a considerable risk of leaking sensitive data accessed by
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monitored processes. The data leakage is possible both in scenarios of
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direct usage of perf_events system call API [2]_ and over data files
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generated by Perf tool user mode utility (Perf) [3]_ , [4]_ . The risk
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depends on the nature of data that perf_events performance monitoring
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units (PMU) [2]_ and Perf collect and expose for performance analysis.
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Collected system and performance data may be split into several
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categories:
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1. System hardware and software configuration data, for example: a CPU
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model and its cache configuration, an amount of available memory and
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its topology, used kernel and Perf versions, performance monitoring
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setup including experiment time, events configuration, Perf command
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line parameters, etc.
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2. User and kernel module paths and their load addresses with sizes,
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process and thread names with their PIDs and TIDs, timestamps for
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captured hardware and software events.
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3. Content of kernel software counters (e.g., for context switches, page
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faults, CPU migrations), architectural hardware performance counters
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(PMC) [8]_ and machine specific registers (MSR) [9]_ that provide
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execution metrics for various monitored parts of the system (e.g.,
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memory controller (IMC), interconnect (QPI/UPI) or peripheral (PCIe)
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uncore counters) without direct attribution to any execution context
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state.
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4. Content of architectural execution context registers (e.g., RIP, RSP,
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RBP on x86_64), process user and kernel space memory addresses and
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data, content of various architectural MSRs that capture data from
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this category.
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Data that belong to the fourth category can potentially contain
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sensitive process data. If PMUs in some monitoring modes capture values
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of execution context registers or data from process memory then access
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to such monitoring capabilities requires to be ordered and secured
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properly. So, perf_events/Perf performance monitoring is the subject for
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security access control management [5]_ .
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perf_events/Perf access control
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-------------------------------
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To perform security checks, the Linux implementation splits processes
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into two categories [6]_ : a) privileged processes (whose effective user
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ID is 0, referred to as superuser or root), and b) unprivileged
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processes (whose effective UID is nonzero). Privileged processes bypass
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all kernel security permission checks so perf_events performance
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monitoring is fully available to privileged processes without access,
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scope and resource restrictions.
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Unprivileged processes are subject to a full security permission check
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based on the process's credentials [5]_ (usually: effective UID,
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effective GID, and supplementary group list).
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Linux divides the privileges traditionally associated with superuser
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into distinct units, known as capabilities [6]_ , which can be
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independently enabled and disabled on per-thread basis for processes and
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files of unprivileged users.
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Unprivileged processes with enabled CAP_SYS_ADMIN capability are treated
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as privileged processes with respect to perf_events performance
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monitoring and bypass *scope* permissions checks in the kernel.
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Unprivileged processes using perf_events system call API is also subject
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for PTRACE_MODE_READ_REALCREDS ptrace access mode check [7]_ , whose
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outcome determines whether monitoring is permitted. So unprivileged
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processes provided with CAP_SYS_PTRACE capability are effectively
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permitted to pass the check.
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Other capabilities being granted to unprivileged processes can
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effectively enable capturing of additional data required for later
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performance analysis of monitored processes or a system. For example,
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CAP_SYSLOG capability permits reading kernel space memory addresses from
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/proc/kallsyms file.
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perf_events/Perf privileged users
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---------------------------------
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Mechanisms of capabilities, privileged capability-dumb files [6]_ and
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file system ACLs [10]_ can be used to create a dedicated group of
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perf_events/Perf privileged users who are permitted to execute
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performance monitoring without scope limits. The following steps can be
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taken to create such a group of privileged Perf users.
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1. Create perf_users group of privileged Perf users, assign perf_users
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group to Perf tool executable and limit access to the executable for
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other users in the system who are not in the perf_users group:
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::
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# groupadd perf_users
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# ls -alhF
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-rwxr-xr-x 2 root root 11M Oct 19 15:12 perf
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# chgrp perf_users perf
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# ls -alhF
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-rwxr-xr-x 2 root perf_users 11M Oct 19 15:12 perf
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# chmod o-rwx perf
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# ls -alhF
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-rwxr-x--- 2 root perf_users 11M Oct 19 15:12 perf
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2. Assign the required capabilities to the Perf tool executable file and
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enable members of perf_users group with performance monitoring
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privileges [6]_ :
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::
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# setcap "cap_sys_admin,cap_sys_ptrace,cap_syslog=ep" perf
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# setcap -v "cap_sys_admin,cap_sys_ptrace,cap_syslog=ep" perf
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perf: OK
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# getcap perf
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perf = cap_sys_ptrace,cap_sys_admin,cap_syslog+ep
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As a result, members of perf_users group are capable of conducting
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performance monitoring by using functionality of the configured Perf
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tool executable that, when executes, passes perf_events subsystem scope
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checks.
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This specific access control management is only available to superuser
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or root running processes with CAP_SETPCAP, CAP_SETFCAP [6]_
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capabilities.
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perf_events/Perf unprivileged users
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-----------------------------------
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perf_events/Perf *scope* and *access* control for unprivileged processes
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is governed by perf_event_paranoid [2]_ setting:
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-1:
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Impose no *scope* and *access* restrictions on using perf_events
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performance monitoring. Per-user per-cpu perf_event_mlock_kb [2]_
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locking limit is ignored when allocating memory buffers for storing
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performance data. This is the least secure mode since allowed
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monitored *scope* is maximized and no perf_events specific limits
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are imposed on *resources* allocated for performance monitoring.
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>=0:
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*scope* includes per-process and system wide performance monitoring
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but excludes raw tracepoints and ftrace function tracepoints
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monitoring. CPU and system events happened when executing either in
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user or in kernel space can be monitored and captured for later
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analysis. Per-user per-cpu perf_event_mlock_kb locking limit is
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imposed but ignored for unprivileged processes with CAP_IPC_LOCK
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[6]_ capability.
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>=1:
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*scope* includes per-process performance monitoring only and
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excludes system wide performance monitoring. CPU and system events
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happened when executing either in user or in kernel space can be
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monitored and captured for later analysis. Per-user per-cpu
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perf_event_mlock_kb locking limit is imposed but ignored for
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unprivileged processes with CAP_IPC_LOCK capability.
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>=2:
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*scope* includes per-process performance monitoring only. CPU and
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system events happened when executing in user space only can be
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monitored and captured for later analysis. Per-user per-cpu
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perf_event_mlock_kb locking limit is imposed but ignored for
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unprivileged processes with CAP_IPC_LOCK capability.
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perf_events/Perf resource control
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---------------------------------
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Open file descriptors
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+++++++++++++++++++++
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The perf_events system call API [2]_ allocates file descriptors for
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every configured PMU event. Open file descriptors are a per-process
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accountable resource governed by the RLIMIT_NOFILE [11]_ limit
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(ulimit -n), which is usually derived from the login shell process. When
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configuring Perf collection for a long list of events on a large server
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system, this limit can be easily hit preventing required monitoring
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configuration. RLIMIT_NOFILE limit can be increased on per-user basis
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modifying content of the limits.conf file [12]_ . Ordinarily, a Perf
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sampling session (perf record) requires an amount of open perf_event
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file descriptors that is not less than the number of monitored events
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multiplied by the number of monitored CPUs.
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Memory allocation
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+++++++++++++++++
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The amount of memory available to user processes for capturing
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performance monitoring data is governed by the perf_event_mlock_kb [2]_
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setting. This perf_event specific resource setting defines overall
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per-cpu limits of memory allowed for mapping by the user processes to
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execute performance monitoring. The setting essentially extends the
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RLIMIT_MEMLOCK [11]_ limit, but only for memory regions mapped
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specifically for capturing monitored performance events and related data.
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For example, if a machine has eight cores and perf_event_mlock_kb limit
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is set to 516 KiB, then a user process is provided with 516 KiB * 8 =
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4128 KiB of memory above the RLIMIT_MEMLOCK limit (ulimit -l) for
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perf_event mmap buffers. In particular, this means that, if the user
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wants to start two or more performance monitoring processes, the user is
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required to manually distribute the available 4128 KiB between the
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monitoring processes, for example, using the --mmap-pages Perf record
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mode option. Otherwise, the first started performance monitoring process
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allocates all available 4128 KiB and the other processes will fail to
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proceed due to the lack of memory.
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RLIMIT_MEMLOCK and perf_event_mlock_kb resource constraints are ignored
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for processes with the CAP_IPC_LOCK capability. Thus, perf_events/Perf
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privileged users can be provided with memory above the constraints for
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perf_events/Perf performance monitoring purpose by providing the Perf
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executable with CAP_IPC_LOCK capability.
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Bibliography
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------------
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.. [1] `<https://lwn.net/Articles/337493/>`_
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.. [2] `<http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man2/perf_event_open.2.html>`_
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.. [3] `<http://web.eece.maine.edu/~vweaver/projects/perf_events/>`_
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.. [4] `<https://perf.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page>`_
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.. [5] `<https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/security/credentials.html>`_
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.. [6] `<http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/capabilities.7.html>`_
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.. [7] `<http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man2/ptrace.2.html>`_
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.. [8] `<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_performance_counter>`_
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.. [9] `<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model-specific_register>`_
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.. [10] `<http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/acl.5.html>`_
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.. [11] `<http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man2/getrlimit.2.html>`_
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.. [12] `<http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/limits.conf.5.html>`_
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