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+Most of the text from Keith Owens, hacked by AK
+
+x86_64 page size (PAGE_SIZE) is 4K.
+
+Like all other architectures, x86_64 has a kernel stack for every
+active thread.  These thread stacks are THREAD_SIZE (2*PAGE_SIZE) big.
+These stacks contain useful data as long as a thread is alive or a
+zombie. While the thread is in user space the kernel stack is empty
+except for the thread_info structure at the bottom.
+
+In addition to the per thread stacks, there are specialized stacks
+associated with each cpu.  These stacks are only used while the kernel
+is in control on that cpu, when a cpu returns to user space the
+specialized stacks contain no useful data.  The main cpu stacks is
+
+* Interrupt stack.  IRQSTACKSIZE
+
+  Used for external hardware interrupts.  If this is the first external
+  hardware interrupt (i.e. not a nested hardware interrupt) then the
+  kernel switches from the current task to the interrupt stack.  Like
+  the split thread and interrupt stacks on i386 (with CONFIG_4KSTACKS),
+  this gives more room for kernel interrupt processing without having
+  to increase the size of every per thread stack.
+
+  The interrupt stack is also used when processing a softirq.
+
+Switching to the kernel interrupt stack is done by software based on a
+per CPU interrupt nest counter. This is needed because x86-64 "IST"
+hardware stacks cannot nest without races.
+
+x86_64 also has a feature which is not available on i386, the ability
+to automatically switch to a new stack for designated events such as
+double fault or NMI, which makes it easier to handle these unusual
+events on x86_64.  This feature is called the Interrupt Stack Table
+(IST).  There can be up to 7 IST entries per cpu. The IST code is an
+index into the Task State Segment (TSS), the IST entries in the TSS
+point to dedicated stacks, each stack can be a different size.
+
+An IST is selected by an non-zero value in the IST field of an
+interrupt-gate descriptor.  When an interrupt occurs and the hardware
+loads such a descriptor, the hardware automatically sets the new stack
+pointer based on the IST value, then invokes the interrupt handler.  If
+software wants to allow nested IST interrupts then the handler must
+adjust the IST values on entry to and exit from the interrupt handler.
+(this is occasionally done, e.g. for debug exceptions)
+
+Events with different IST codes (i.e. with different stacks) can be
+nested.  For example, a debug interrupt can safely be interrupted by an
+NMI.  arch/x86_64/kernel/entry.S::paranoidentry adjusts the stack
+pointers on entry to and exit from all IST events, in theory allowing
+IST events with the same code to be nested.  However in most cases, the
+stack size allocated to an IST assumes no nesting for the same code.
+If that assumption is ever broken then the stacks will become corrupt.
+
+The currently assigned IST stacks are :-
+
+* STACKFAULT_STACK.  EXCEPTION_STKSZ (PAGE_SIZE).
+
+  Used for interrupt 12 - Stack Fault Exception (#SS).
+
+  This allows to recover from invalid stack segments. Rarely
+  happens.
+
+* DOUBLEFAULT_STACK.  EXCEPTION_STKSZ (PAGE_SIZE).
+
+  Used for interrupt 8 - Double Fault Exception (#DF).
+
+  Invoked when handling a exception causes another exception. Happens
+  when the kernel is very confused (e.g. kernel stack pointer corrupt)
+  Using a separate stack allows to recover from it well enough in many
+  cases to still output an oops.
+
+* NMI_STACK.  EXCEPTION_STKSZ (PAGE_SIZE).
+
+  Used for non-maskable interrupts (NMI).
+
+  NMI can be delivered at any time, including when the kernel is in the
+  middle of switching stacks.  Using IST for NMI events avoids making
+  assumptions about the previous state of the kernel stack.
+
+* DEBUG_STACK.  DEBUG_STKSZ
+
+  Used for hardware debug interrupts (interrupt 1) and for software
+  debug interrupts (INT3).
+
+  When debugging a kernel, debug interrupts (both hardware and
+  software) can occur at any time.  Using IST for these interrupts
+  avoids making assumptions about the previous state of the kernel
+  stack.
+
+* MCE_STACK.  EXCEPTION_STKSZ (PAGE_SIZE).
+
+  Used for interrupt 18 - Machine Check Exception (#MC).
+
+  MCE can be delivered at any time, including when the kernel is in the
+  middle of switching stacks.  Using IST for MCE events avoids making
+  assumptions about the previous state of the kernel stack.
+
+For more details see the Intel IA32 or AMD AMD64 architecture manuals.