From: Yosry Ahmed <yosry.ahmed@linux.dev>
To: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>
Cc: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>,
kvm@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
Yosry Ahmed <yosry.ahmed@linux.dev>
Subject: [PATCH v2 1/2] KVM: SVM: Triple fault L1 on unintercepted EFER.SVME clear by L2
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2026 19:51:41 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260209195142.2554532-2-yosry.ahmed@linux.dev> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260209195142.2554532-1-yosry.ahmed@linux.dev>
KVM tracks when EFER.SVME is set and cleared to initialize and tear down
nested state. However, it doesn't differentiate if EFER.SVME is getting
toggled in L1 or L2+. If L2 clears EFER.SVME, and L1 does not intercept
the EFER write, KVM exits guest mode and tears down nested state while
L2 is running, executing L1 without injecting a proper #VMEXIT.
According to the APM:
The effect of turning off EFER.SVME while a guest is running is
undefined; therefore, the VMM should always prevent guests from
writing EFER.
Since the behavior is architecturally undefined, KVM gets to choose what
to do. Inject a triple fault into L1 as a more graceful option that
running L1 with corrupted state.
Co-developed-by: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Yosry Ahmed <yosry.ahmed@linux.dev>
---
arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c | 11 +++++++++++
1 file changed, 11 insertions(+)
diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c
index 5f0136dbdde6..ccd73a3be3f9 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c
@@ -216,6 +216,17 @@ int svm_set_efer(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, u64 efer)
if ((old_efer & EFER_SVME) != (efer & EFER_SVME)) {
if (!(efer & EFER_SVME)) {
+ /*
+ * Architecturally, clearing EFER.SVME while a guest is
+ * running yields undefined behavior, i.e. KVM can do
+ * literally anything. Force the vCPU back into L1 as
+ * that is the safest option for KVM, but synthesize a
+ * triple fault (for L1!) so that KVM at least doesn't
+ * run random L2 code in the context of L1.
+ */
+ if (is_guest_mode(vcpu))
+ kvm_make_request(KVM_REQ_TRIPLE_FAULT, vcpu);
+
svm_leave_nested(vcpu);
/* #GP intercept is still needed for vmware backdoor */
if (!enable_vmware_backdoor)
--
2.53.0.rc2.204.g2597b5adb4-goog
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-02-09 19:53 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 10+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-02-09 19:51 [PATCH v2 0/2] KVM: nSVM: Handle L2 clearing EFER.SVME properly Yosry Ahmed
2026-02-09 19:51 ` Yosry Ahmed [this message]
2026-02-26 16:36 ` [PATCH v2 1/2] KVM: SVM: Triple fault L1 on unintercepted EFER.SVME clear by L2 Yosry Ahmed
2026-02-26 18:20 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-02-27 20:03 ` Yosry Ahmed
2026-02-28 0:41 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-02-28 0:46 ` Yosry Ahmed
2026-03-02 22:48 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-02-09 19:51 ` [PATCH v2 2/2] KVM: selftests: Add a test for L2 clearing EFER.SVME without intercept Yosry Ahmed
2026-03-05 17:08 ` [PATCH v2 0/2] KVM: nSVM: Handle L2 clearing EFER.SVME properly Sean Christopherson
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