Apple Inc.

Peter Cooper

Louis G Gerbarg

Bernard Joseph Semeria

Daniel Andreas Steffen

Jeremy C Andrus

Nick G Kledzik

Robert John McCall

Jacques Fortier

Justin R Unger

Devon S Andrade

Ahmed Bougacha

James H Grosbach

Davide Italiano

Mohamadou A Abdoulaye

Dallas Blake De Atley

Joseph J Bonasera

Michael J Ash

Michael H Rawdon

Frederic Riss

Damian Malarczyk

Nick Kledzik

Robert J Mccall

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for using mergeable libraries. One of the methods includes during a build of an executable target, generating the executable target by merging the executable target with data for a library that was previously linked with the executable target.

Mergeable libraries

A dynamic linking system can be designed to dynamically resolve symbol references of pages associated with executable code as the pages are paged into virtual memory. The operating system can include a dynamic linker that uses metadata in the pages to determine symbol references that reference other code or values. Other code can include code in shared libraries. The dynamic linker can generate a data structure containing the symbol references in a small and dense format. The dynamic linker can send the data structure and other relevant data to the kernel once the symbol references have been identified. The kernel can perform the functions related to resolving the symbol references. For example, the kernel can resolve the symbol by determining a pointer value for the symbol, wherein the pointer value can be used to point to code or values. The kernel can resolve the symbol references and store the data structure, which contains the resolved symbol references.

Page-in linking

Techniques may include receiving a first request for a conformance check for a conformance pair, the conformance pair include a variable type and a particular protocol. The first request can identifying a first pointer. The technique can include determining a conformance check result is not cached for the conformance pair using the first pointer. In response to determining that the conformance check result is not cached for a variable, the electronic device may include performing the conformance check for the conformance pair and storing a result of the conformance check in an index table in persistent memory in association with at least a portion of bits in the first pointer. The technique can include referencing the index table on subsequent requests for a conformance check.

Techniques for runtime protocol conformance cache for third party

Embodiments described herein enable the interoperability between processes configured for pointer authentication and processes that are not configured for pointer authentication. Enabling the interoperability between such processes enables essential libraries, such as system libraries, to be compiled with pointer authentication, while enabling those libraries to still be used by processes that have not yet been compiled or configured to use pointer authentication.

Dynamic switching between pointer authentication regimes

One embodiment provides for a computer-implemented method comprising generating a linked list table including a first component having linking data to be stored in a table data structure for one or more rebase and bind operations and second a component having instructions to implement the table data structure to perform the rebase and bind operations according to a linked list chain and executing the instructions in the second component of the linked list table to perform the one or more rebase and bind operations based on the linked list chain.

Threaded linking pointer mechanism

Disclosed herein are techniques for performing dynamic linking at a computing device. According to some embodiments, the techniques can involve receiving a request to perform a dynamic linking of a software application. The request can be issued in conjunction with installing the software application, launching the software application for a first time, and so on. In response to the request, a closure file can be generated based on different properties associated with the software application (e.g., environment variables, object files, etc.). Notably, the closure file is generated 'out-of-process' relative to the execution environment of the software application. Additionally, the techniques can involve caching the closure file such that the closure file is accessible to the software application. In turn, the software application can utilize the closure file at launch/execution times to reduce a number of dynamic linking operations that otherwise are required to take place using conventional approaches.

Techniques for performing dynamic linking

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Peter Cooper