Techniques for identifying and handling processor interrupts
A method for identifying and reporting interrupt behavior includes incrementing a counter when an interrupt signal is a designated type and is not received from an approved peripheral device, and performing a corrective action when the counter reaches a threshold value. In some embodiments, the designated type of the interrupt signal comprises a System Management Interrupt (SMI), which has the capability of halting operations at all processors within a system to execute associated instructions within a protected circumstance, resuming normal operations for each of the plurality of processors when the corrective action has been completed. In another embodiment, the corrective action includes creating a report identifying, within the same protected circumstance, the interrupt signal as an SMI. In some embodiments, the method performs a different corrective action when an interrupt signal is a designated type and is received from an approved peripheral device and decrements a counter. In some embodiments, the interrupt signal includes information indicating its source.
1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having executable instructions stored thereon, wherein, when executed by a processor, the executable instructions perform a method comprising:
receiving a System Management Interrupt (SMI) signal, wherein the SMI signal is associated with a set of SMI instructions;
entering the set of SMI instructions;
determining whether the SMI signal is from one of a plurality of verified sources;
when the SMI signal is from one of the plurality of verified sources:
taking corrective action with regard to one of the plurality of verified sources;
decrementing a counter; and
exiting the set of SMI instructions;
incrementing the counter when the SMI signal is not from one of the plurality of verified sources; and
when the counter reaches a pre-determined threshold value:
creating a report including properties of the SMI signal; and
exiting the set of SMI instructions.
2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the corrective action comprises correcting a malfunction at one of the plurality of verified sources.
3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the pre-determined threshold value is indicative of an SMI storm.
4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein:
entering the set of SMI instructions creates a protected circumstance; and
exiting the set of SMI instructions terminates the protected circumstance.
5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 4 , wherein the protected circumstance comprises all processors within a system suspending normal operations to complete the set of SMI instructions.
6. A method for handling SMI behavior, comprising:
by a computer system,
receiving a System Management Interrupt (SMI) signal, wherein the SMI signal is associated with a set of SMI instructions;
entering the set of SMI instructions;
determining whether the SMI signal is from one of a plurality of verified sources;
when the SMI signal is from one of the plurality of verified sources:
taking corrective action with regard to one of the plurality of verified sources;
decrementing a counter; and
exiting the set of SMI instructions;
incrementing the counter when the SMI signal is not from one of the plurality of verified sources; and
when the counter reaches a pre-determined threshold value:
creating a report including properties of the SMI signal; and
exiting the set of SMI instructions.
7. A method for handling interrupt behavior, comprising:
by a computer system,
receiving a System Management Interrupt (SMI) signal;
when the SMI signal is determined to be from one of a plurality of verified sources:
resolving an issue that generated the SMI signal at the one of the plurality of verified sources; and
decrementing a counter; and
when the SMI signal is not determined to be from one of the plurality of verified sources:
incrementing the counter; and
taking a corrective action when the counter reaches a pre-determined threshold value.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein resolving the issue comprises correcting a malfunction at the one of the plurality of verified sources.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein taking the corrective action comprises creating a report that comprises information about the SMI signal.
10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the pre-determined threshold value is indicative of an SMI storm.
11. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
upon receiving the SMI signal, entering a set of SMI instructions associated with the SMI signal; and
exiting the set of SMI instructions after decrementing the counter or taking the corrective action.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
causing one or more processors in the computer system to suspend operation when entering the set of SMI instructions.