Verifying proper operation of the instruction execution protection architecture

A system comprising:

• a memory having computer-readable instructions;
• and
• one or more processors for executing the computer-readable instructions, the computer readable instructions comprising:
• executing one or more tests on a computing device, wherein the computing device comprises Instruction Execution Protection (IEP), and wherein each test of the one or more tests comprises selectively setting one or more IEP bits of one or more page tables, wherein each IEP bit prevents code in a respective storage block from being executed;
• wherein executing a first test of the one or more tests comprises:
• setting a first IEP bit in a first page table used to translate between virtual memory and physical memory, wherein the first IEP bit in the first page table indicates that data in a storage block associated with the first page table is not executable;
• and
• detecting, during the first test, a first IEP exception responsive to an attempt to execute the data in the first storage block and responsive to the first IEP bit of the first page table associated with the first storage block being set;
• determining test results of the one or more tests based at least in part on the detecting the first IEP exception;
• and
• performing a remedial action in response to the test results of the one or more tests.

A computer-program product for testing functionality of Instruction Execution Protection (IEP), the computer-program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

• executing one or more tests on a computing device, wherein the computing device comprises Instruction Execution Protection (IEP), and wherein each test of the one or more tests comprises selectively setting one or more IEP bits of one or more page tables, wherein each IEP bit prevents code in a respective storage block from being executed;
• wherein executing a first test of the one or more tests comprises:
• setting a first IEP bit in a first page table used to translate between virtual memory and physical memory, wherein the first IEP bit in the first page table indicates that data in a storage block associated with the first page table is not executable;
• and
• detecting, during the first test, a first IEP exception responsive to an attempt to execute the data in the first storage block and responsive to the first IEP bit of the first page table associated with the first storage block being set;
• determining test results of the one or more tests based at least in part on the detecting the first IEP exception;
• and
• performing a remedial action in response to the test results of the one or more tests.