kernel/events/core.c has:

  /*
   * perf event paranoia level:
   *  -1 - not paranoid at all
   *   0 - disallow raw tracepoint access for unpriv
   *   1 - disallow cpu events for unpriv
   *   2 - disallow kernel profiling for unpriv
   */
  int sysctl_perf_event_paranoid __read_mostly = 1;

So, with the default being 1, a non-root user can trace his stuff:

  [acme@zoo ~]$ cat /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid
  1
  [acme@zoo ~]$ yes > /dev/null &
  [1] 15338
  [acme@zoo ~]$ trace -p 15338 | head -5
       0.005 ( 0.005 ms): write(fd: 1</dev/null>, buf: 0x7fe6db765000, count: 4096 ) = 4096
       0.045 ( 0.001 ms): write(fd: 1</dev/null>, buf: 0x7fe6db765000, count: 4096 ) = 4096
       0.085 ( 0.001 ms): write(fd: 1</dev/null>, buf: 0x7fe6db765000, count: 4096 ) = 4096
       0.125 ( 0.001 ms): write(fd: 1</dev/null>, buf: 0x7fe6db765000, count: 4096 ) = 4096
       0.165 ( 0.001 ms): write(fd: 1</dev/null>, buf: 0x7fe6db765000, count: 4096 ) = 4096
  [acme@zoo ~]$
  [acme@zoo ~]$ trace --duration 1 sleep 1
    1002.148 (1001.218 ms): nanosleep(rqtp: 0x7fff46c79250                           ) = 0
  [acme@zoo ~]$
  [acme@zoo ~]$ trace -- usleep 1 | tail -5
       0.905 ( 0.002 ms): brk(                                                     ) = 0x1c82000
       0.910 ( 0.003 ms): brk(brk: 0x1ca3000                                       ) = 0x1ca3000
       0.913 ( 0.001 ms): brk(                                                     ) = 0x1ca3000
       0.990 ( 0.059 ms): nanosleep(rqtp: 0x7fffe31a3280                           ) = 0
       0.995 ( 0.000 ms): exit_group(
  [acme@zoo ~]$

But can't do system wide tracing:

  [acme@zoo ~]$ trace
  Error:	Operation not permitted.
  Hint:	Check /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid setting.
  Hint:	For system wide tracing it needs to be set to -1.
  Hint:	The current value is 1.
  [acme@zoo ~]$

  [acme@zoo ~]$ trace --cpu 0
  Error:	Operation not permitted.
  Hint:	Check /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid setting.
  Hint:	For system wide tracing it needs to be set to -1.
  Hint:	The current value is 1.
  [acme@zoo ~]$

If the paranoid level is >= 2, i.e. turn this perf stuff off for !root users:

  [acme@zoo ~]$ sudo sh -c 'echo 2 > /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid'
  [acme@zoo ~]$ cat /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid
  2
  [acme@zoo ~]$
  [acme@zoo ~]$ trace usleep 1
  Error:	Permission denied.
  Hint:	Check /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid setting.
  Hint:	For your workloads it needs to be <= 1
  Hint:	For system wide tracing it needs to be set to -1.
  Hint:	The current value is 2.
  [acme@zoo ~]$
  [acme@zoo ~]$ trace
  Error:	Permission denied.
  Hint:	Check /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid setting.
  Hint:	For your workloads it needs to be <= 1
  Hint:	For system wide tracing it needs to be set to -1.
  Hint:	The current value is 2.
  [acme@zoo ~]$
  [acme@zoo ~]$ trace --cpu 1
  Error:	Permission denied.
  Hint:	Check /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid setting.
  Hint:	For your workloads it needs to be <= 1
  Hint:	For system wide tracing it needs to be set to -1.
  Hint:	The current value is 2.
  [acme@zoo ~]$

If the user manages to get what he/she wants, convincing root not
to be paranoid at all...

  [root@zoo ~]# echo -1 > /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid
  [root@zoo ~]# cat /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid
  -1
  [root@zoo ~]#

  [acme@zoo ~]$ ps -eo user,pid,comm | grep Xorg
  root       729 Xorg
  [acme@zoo ~]$
  [acme@zoo ~]$ trace -a --duration 0.001 -e \!select,ioctl,writev | grep Xorg  | head -5
      23.143 ( 0.003 ms): Xorg/729 setitimer(which: REAL, value: 0x7fffaadf16e0 ) = 0
      23.152 ( 0.004 ms): Xorg/729 read(fd: 31, buf: 0x2544af03, count: 4096     ) = 8
      23.161 ( 0.002 ms): Xorg/729 read(fd: 31, buf: 0x2544af03, count: 4096     ) = -1 EAGAIN Resource temporarily unavailable
      23.175 ( 0.002 ms): Xorg/729 setitimer(which: REAL, value: 0x7fffaadf16e0 ) = 0
      23.235 ( 0.002 ms): Xorg/729 setitimer(which: REAL, value: 0x7fffaadf16e0 ) = 0
  [acme@zoo ~]$

Cc: Adrian Hunter <adrian.hunter@intel.com>
Cc: David Ahern <dsahern@gmail.com>
Cc: Frederic Weisbecker <fweisbec@gmail.com>
Cc: Jiri Olsa <jolsa@redhat.com>
Cc: Mike Galbraith <efault@gmx.de>
Cc: Paul Mackerras <paulus@samba.org>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>
Cc: Stephane Eranian <eranian@google.com>
Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/n/tip-di28olfwd28rvkox7v3hqhu1@git.kernel.orgSigned-off-by: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>