Re: [RFC PATCH v2 11/17] KVM: SVM: Enable NMI support for Secure AVIC guests

[Tom Lendacky <thomas.lendacky@amd.com>]

On 9/23/25 00:03, Neeraj Upadhyay wrote:
> The Secure AVIC hardware introduces a new model for handling Non-Maskable
> Interrupts (NMIs). This model differs significantly from standard SVM, as
> guest NMI state is managed by the hardware and is not visible to KVM.
> 
> Consequently, KVM can no longer use the generic EVENT_INJ mechanism and
> must not track NMI masking state in software. Instead, it must adopt the
> vNMI (Virtual NMI) flow, which is the only mechanism supported by
> Secure AVIC.
> 
> Enable NMI support by making three key changes:
> 
> 1.  Enable NMI in VMSA: Set the V_NMI_ENABLE_MASK bit in the VMSA's
>     vintr_ctr field. This is a hardware prerequisite to enable the
>     vNMI feature for the guest.
> 
> 2.  Use vNMI for Injection: Modify svm_inject_nmi() to use the vNMI
>     flow for Secure AVIC guests. When an NMI is requested, set the
>     V_NMI_PENDING_MASK in the VMCB instead of using EVENT_INJ.
> 
> 3.  Update NMI Windowing: Modify svm_nmi_allowed() to reflect that
>     hardware now manages NMI blocking. KVM's only responsibility is to
>     avoid queuing a new vNMI if one is already pending. The check is
>     now simplified to whether V_NMI_PENDING_MASK is already set.
> 
> Co-developed-by: Kishon Vijay Abraham I <kvijayab@amd.com>
> Signed-off-by: Kishon Vijay Abraham I <kvijayab@amd.com>
> Signed-off-by: Neeraj Upadhyay <Neeraj.Upadhyay@amd.com>
> ---
>  arch/x86/kvm/svm/sev.c |  2 +-
>  arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c | 56 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------------
>  2 files changed, 36 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/sev.c b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/sev.c
> index 2dee210efb37..7c66aefe428a 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/sev.c
> +++ b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/sev.c
> @@ -885,7 +885,7 @@ static int sev_es_sync_vmsa(struct vcpu_svm *svm)
>  	save->sev_features = sev->vmsa_features;
>  
>  	if (sev_savic_active(vcpu->kvm))
> -		save->vintr_ctrl |= V_GIF_MASK;
> +		save->vintr_ctrl |= V_GIF_MASK | V_NMI_ENABLE_MASK;
>  
>  	/*
>  	 * Skip FPU and AVX setup with KVM_SEV_ES_INIT to avoid
> diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c
> index fdd612c975ae..a945bc094c1a 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c
> +++ b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c
> @@ -3635,27 +3635,6 @@ static int pre_svm_run(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
>  	return 0;
>  }
>  
> -static void svm_inject_nmi(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
> -{
> -	struct vcpu_svm *svm = to_svm(vcpu);
> -
> -	svm->vmcb->control.event_inj = SVM_EVTINJ_VALID | SVM_EVTINJ_TYPE_NMI;
> -
> -	if (svm->nmi_l1_to_l2)
> -		return;
> -
> -	/*
> -	 * No need to manually track NMI masking when vNMI is enabled, hardware
> -	 * automatically sets V_NMI_BLOCKING_MASK as appropriate, including the
> -	 * case where software directly injects an NMI.
> -	 */
> -	if (!is_vnmi_enabled(svm)) {
> -		svm->nmi_masked = true;
> -		svm_set_iret_intercept(svm);
> -	}
> -	++vcpu->stat.nmi_injections;
> -}

A pre-patch that moves this function would make the changes you make to
it in this patch more obvious.

Thanks,
Tom

> -
>  static bool svm_is_vnmi_pending(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
>  {
>  	struct vcpu_svm *svm = to_svm(vcpu);
> @@ -3689,6 +3668,33 @@ static bool svm_set_vnmi_pending(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
>  	return true;
>  }
>  
> +static void svm_inject_nmi(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
> +{
> +	struct vcpu_svm *svm = to_svm(vcpu);
> +
> +	if (sev_savic_active(vcpu->kvm)) {
> +		svm_set_vnmi_pending(vcpu);
> +		++vcpu->stat.nmi_injections;
> +		return;
> +	}
> +
> +	svm->vmcb->control.event_inj = SVM_EVTINJ_VALID | SVM_EVTINJ_TYPE_NMI;
> +
> +	if (svm->nmi_l1_to_l2)
> +		return;
> +
> +	/*
> +	 * No need to manually track NMI masking when vNMI is enabled, hardware
> +	 * automatically sets V_NMI_BLOCKING_MASK as appropriate, including the
> +	 * case where software directly injects an NMI.
> +	 */
> +	if (!is_vnmi_enabled(svm)) {
> +		svm->nmi_masked = true;
> +		svm_set_iret_intercept(svm);
> +	}
> +	++vcpu->stat.nmi_injections;
> +}
> +
>  static void svm_inject_irq(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, bool reinjected)
>  {
>  	struct vcpu_svm *svm = to_svm(vcpu);
> @@ -3836,6 +3842,14 @@ bool svm_nmi_blocked(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
>  static int svm_nmi_allowed(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, bool for_injection)
>  {
>  	struct vcpu_svm *svm = to_svm(vcpu);
> +
> +	/* Secure AVIC only support V_NMI based NMI injection. */
> +	if (sev_savic_active(vcpu->kvm)) {
> +		if (svm->vmcb->control.int_ctl & V_NMI_PENDING_MASK)
> +			return 0;
> +		return 1;
> +	}
> +
>  	if (svm->nested.nested_run_pending)
>  		return -EBUSY;
>