Patent attributes
Systems and methods are disclosed for secure control flow prediction. Some implementations may be used to eliminate or mitigate the Spectre-class of attacks in a processor. For example, an integrated circuit (e.g., a processor) for executing instructions includes a control flow predictor with entries that include respective indications of whether the entry has been activated for use in a current process, wherein the integrated circuit is configured to access the indication in one of the entries that is associated with a control flow instruction that is scheduled for execution; determine, based on the indication, whether the entry of the control flow predictor associated with the control flow instruction is activated for use in a current process; and responsive to a determination that the entry is not activated for use in the current process, apply a constraint on speculative execution based on control flow prediction for the control flow instruction.
