Making Use Of Intel MPX Extensions On Linux

Intel MPX memory protection aims to safeguard against buffer overflows in programs assuming you have a supported processor and software stack. Over at Intel's Open-Source Technology Center they published a guide this week on making use of Intel MPX under Linux.

The software requirements for utilizing Intel Memory Protection Extensions (MPX) on Linux include the Linux 3.19 kernel (but Linux 4.1 or newer is recommended), GCC 5.0 or newer, Glibc 2.20 or newer, Binutils 2.24 or newer, and GDB 7.9 or newer. On the hardware side, MPX support is present with latest-generation Skylake processors and newer. This combination of software and hardware allows for checking pointer references to look for buffer overflows.

If you are interested in how to build software with the MPX instruction support, debugging MPX exceptions with GDB, and more, you can read this week's post by Intel's Dave Hasen. Visit 01.org.