US 11,748,468 B2
Dynamic switching between pointer authentication regimes
Bernard J. Semeria, Palo Alto, CA (US); Devon S. Andrade, Santa Clara, CA (US); Jeremy C. Andrus, Sunnyvale, CA (US); Ahmed Bougacha, San Jose, CA (US); Peter Cooper, San Jose, CA (US); Jacques Fortier, San Francisco, CA (US); Louis G. Gerbarg, San Francisco, CA (US); James H. Grosbach, San Jose, CA (US); Robert J. McCall, New York, NY (US); Daniel A. Steffen, San Francisco, CA (US); and Justin R. Unger, San Jose, CA (US)
Assigned to Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed by Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 8, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/497,826.
Application 17/497,826 is a continuation of application No. 16/539,356, filed on Aug. 13, 2019, granted, now 11,144,631.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/729,958, filed on Sep. 11, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2022/0027452 A1, Jan. 27, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06F 21/44 (2013.01); G06F 15/78 (2006.01); G06F 21/78 (2013.01); G06F 21/54 (2013.01); G06F 12/109 (2016.01); G06F 21/56 (2013.01); G06F 21/12 (2013.01); H04L 9/32 (2006.01); H04L 9/08 (2006.01); H04L 9/40 (2022.01)
CPC G06F 21/44 (2013.01) [G06F 12/109 (2013.01); G06F 15/7807 (2013.01); G06F 21/125 (2013.01); G06F 21/54 (2013.01); G06F 21/565 (2013.01); G06F 21/78 (2013.01); H04L 9/0861 (2013.01); H04L 9/3236 (2013.01); H04L 9/3247 (2013.01); H04L 63/06 (2013.01)] 21 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method performed by an execution core of a processor coupled to a memory, the method comprising:
determining that a first mode of the execution core is enabled for a first process, wherein the first process supports pointer authentication;
authenticating, while in the first mode, a first memory address via a signature associated with the first memory address, the authenticating occurring before execution of an instruction associated with the first memory address;
switching from the first mode to a second mode in response to execution of an instruction of a second process fetched from the memory, wherein the second process does not support pointer authentication; and
bypassing, while in the second mode, authentication of a second memory address for the second process.