From: sashiko-bot@kernel.org
To: "Sean Christopherson" <seanjc@google.com>
Cc: kvm@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH 1/6] KVM: nVMX: Ensure KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES is cleared on VM-Exit
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2026 01:07:07 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260724010707.8CD3C1F000E9@smtp.kernel.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260724004757.131420-2-seanjc@google.com>
Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 1 potential issue(s) to consider:
Pre-existing issues:
- [High] An L1 guest can trigger a silent host memory leak (pinned pages and kmap space) by repeatedly executing VMLAUNCH with an invalid guest state.
--
--- Patch [1]: [PATCH 1/6] KVM: nVMX: Ensure KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES is cleared on VM-Exit ---
commit 529c03d57fc94827c8dfbb4372dfae1313c5dd93
Author: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>
KVM: nVMX: Ensure KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES is cleared on VM-Exit
This patch ensures KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES is always checked and
cleared when emulating a nested VM-Exit. This prevents double-mapping
vmcs12 pages if KVM manages to bail from VM-Enter without processing the
request and then emulates VMLAUNCH or VMRESUME.
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
> diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c
> index b5460de4b1a72..f2518d67e7de5 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c
> +++ b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c
> @@ -5066,8 +5066,9 @@ void __nested_vmx_vmexit(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, u32 vm_exit_reason,
> /* trying to cancel vmlaunch/vmresume is a bug */
> kvm_warn_on_nested_run_pending(vcpu);
>
> -#ifdef CONFIG_KVM_HYPERV
> + /* Note, "checking" the request also clears the request. */
> if (kvm_check_request(KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES, vcpu)) {
> +#ifdef CONFIG_KVM_HYPERV
[Severity: High]
This isn't a bug introduced by this patch, but I noticed a potential memory
leak related to how nested VM-Entry failures handle mapped pages.
If an L1 guest prepares a VMCS12 with valid addresses for mapped pages (like
virtual_apic_page_addr) but intentionally configures an invalid guest state
(e.g., an invalid CR0 value), nested_vmx_enter_non_root_mode() maps the
pages before validating the guest state:
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c:nested_vmx_enter_non_root_mode() {
...
if (nested_vmx_check_guest_state(vcpu, vmcs12,
&entry_failure_code)) {
exit_reason.basic = EXIT_REASON_INVALID_STATE;
vmcs12->exit_qualification = entry_failure_code;
goto vmentry_fail_vmexit;
}
...
}
The error path in vmentry_fail_vmexit synthesizes a VM-Exit back to L1 but
returns without calling nested_put_vmcs12_pages() to unmap the resources:
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c:vmentry_fail_vmexit() {
...
if (!from_vmentry)
return NVMX_VMENTRY_VMEXIT;
load_vmcs12_host_state(vcpu, vmcs12);
vmcs12->vm_exit_reason = exit_reason.full;
...
return NVMX_VMENTRY_VMEXIT;
}
If the L1 guest resumes and executes VMLAUNCH again, KVM calls
kvm_vcpu_map() on the already populated map structures:
virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:__kvm_vcpu_map() {
...
map->pinned_page = NULL;
map->page = NULL;
map->hva = NULL;
...
}
This unconditionally clears the pointers without unmapping or verifying the
previous state, dropping the only KVM reference to the previously pinned
host page and kmap address.
Could a malicious L1 guest repeatedly trigger this in a tight loop to
exhaust host memory and kmap virtual space?
> /*
> * KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES is also used to map
> * Enlightened VMCS after migration and we still need to
[ ... ]
--
Sashiko AI review · https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260724004757.131420-1-seanjc@google.com?part=1
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-07-24 1:07 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 11+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-07-24 0:47 [PATCH 0/6] KVM: Harden kvm_vcpu_map() usage against memory leaks Sean Christopherson
2026-07-24 0:47 ` [PATCH 1/6] KVM: nVMX: Ensure KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES is cleared on VM-Exit Sean Christopherson
2026-07-24 1:07 ` sashiko-bot [this message]
2026-07-24 0:47 ` [PATCH 2/6] KVM: nSVM: Add CLASS()es for automagically handling local kvm_vcpu_map() usage Sean Christopherson
2026-07-24 0:47 ` [PATCH 3/6] KVM: nSVM: Use CLASS(kvm_vcpu_map_local) for SMM VMCB mappings Sean Christopherson
2026-07-24 0:47 ` [PATCH 4/6] KVM: nVMX: Use CLASS(kvm_vcpu_map_local_readonly) for MSR bitmap merging Sean Christopherson
2026-07-24 0:47 ` [PATCH 5/6] KVM: PPC: Use CLASS(kvm_vcpu_map_local_readonly) for patching dcbz Sean Christopherson
2026-07-24 1:03 ` sashiko-bot
2026-07-24 1:15 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-07-24 0:47 ` [PATCH 6/6] KVM: Harden kvm_vcpu_map() against double-mapping and thus leaking references Sean Christopherson
2026-07-24 1:11 ` sashiko-bot
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