Re: [RFC PATCH v2 05/17] KVM: SVM: Do not intercept SECURE_AVIC_CONTROL MSR for SAVIC guests

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

On 9/23/25 00:03, Neeraj Upadhyay wrote:
> Disable interception for SECURE_AVIC_CONTROL MSR for Secure AVIC
> enabled guests. The SECURE_AVIC_CONTROL MSR holds the GPA of the
> guest APIC backing page and bitfields to control enablement of Secure
> AVIC and whether the guest allows NMIs to be injected by the hypervisor.
> This MSR is populated by the guest and can be read by the guest to get
> the GPA of the APIC backing page. The MSR can only be accessed in Secure
> AVIC mode; accessing it when not in Secure AVIC mode results in #GP. So,
> KVM should not intercept it.

The reason KVM should not intercept the MSR access is that the guest
would not be able to actually set the MSR if it is intercepted.

Thanks,
Tom

> 
> 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/include/asm/msr-index.h | 1 +
>  arch/x86/kvm/svm/sev.c           | 6 +++++-
>  2 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
> 
> diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/msr-index.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/msr-index.h
> index b65c3ba5fa14..9f16030dd849 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/include/asm/msr-index.h
> +++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/msr-index.h
> @@ -707,6 +707,7 @@
>  #define MSR_AMD64_SEG_RMP_ENABLED_BIT	0
>  #define MSR_AMD64_SEG_RMP_ENABLED	BIT_ULL(MSR_AMD64_SEG_RMP_ENABLED_BIT)
>  #define MSR_AMD64_RMP_SEGMENT_SHIFT(x)	(((x) & GENMASK_ULL(13, 8)) >> 8)
> +#define MSR_AMD64_SAVIC_CONTROL		0xc0010138
>  
>  #define MSR_SVSM_CAA			0xc001f000
>  
> diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/sev.c b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/sev.c
> index b2eae102681c..afe4127a1918 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/sev.c
> +++ b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/sev.c
> @@ -4487,7 +4487,8 @@ void sev_vcpu_after_set_cpuid(struct vcpu_svm *svm)
>  
>  static void sev_es_init_vmcb(struct vcpu_svm *svm)
>  {
> -	struct kvm_sev_info *sev = to_kvm_sev_info(svm->vcpu.kvm);
> +	struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu = &svm->vcpu;
> +	struct kvm_sev_info *sev = to_kvm_sev_info(vcpu->kvm);
>  	struct vmcb *vmcb = svm->vmcb01.ptr;
>  
>  	svm->vmcb->control.nested_ctl |= SVM_NESTED_CTL_SEV_ES_ENABLE;
> @@ -4546,6 +4547,9 @@ static void sev_es_init_vmcb(struct vcpu_svm *svm)
>  
>  	/* Can't intercept XSETBV, HV can't modify XCR0 directly */
>  	svm_clr_intercept(svm, INTERCEPT_XSETBV);
> +
> +	if (sev_savic_active(vcpu->kvm))
> +		svm_set_intercept_for_msr(vcpu, MSR_AMD64_SAVIC_CONTROL, MSR_TYPE_RW, false);
>  }
>  
>  void sev_init_vmcb(struct vcpu_svm *svm)