Re: [PATCH v6 2/3] KVM: SVM: Add Idle HLT intercept support

Sean Christopherson
2025-02-27T16:11:16Z

On Thu, Feb 27, 2025, Manali Shukla wrote:
> On 2/27/2025 8:02 PM, Sean Christopherson wrote:
> > On Thu, Feb 27, 2025, Manali Shukla wrote:
> >> On 2/26/2025 3:37 AM, Sean Christopherson wrote:
> >>>> @@ -5225,6 +5230,8 @@ static __init void svm_set_cpu_caps(void)
> >>>> if (vnmi)
> >>>> kvm_cpu_cap_set(X86_FEATURE_VNMI);
> >>>>
> >>>> + kvm_cpu_cap_check_and_set(X86_FEATURE_IDLE_HLT);
> >>>
> >>> I am 99% certain this is wrong. Or at the very least, severly lacking an
> >>> explanation of why it's correct. If L1 enables Idle HLT but not HLT interception,
> >>> then it is KVM's responsibility to NOT exit to L1 if there is a pending V_IRQ or
> >>> V_NMI.
> >>>
> >>> Yeah, it's buggy. But, it's buggy in part because *existing* KVM support is buggy.
> >>> If L1 disables HLT exiting, but it's enabled in KVM, then KVM will run L2 with
> >>> HLT exiting and so it becomes KVM's responsibility to check for valid L2 wake events
> >>> prior to scheduling out the vCPU if L2 executes HLT. E.g. nVMX handles this by
> >>> reading vmcs02.GUEST_INTERRUPT_STATUS.RVI as part of vmx_has_nested_events(). I
> >>> don't see the equivalent in nSVM.
> >>>
> >>> Amusingly, that means Idle HLT is actually a bug fix to some extent. E.g. if there
> >>> is a pending V_IRQ/V_NMI in vmcb02, then running with Idle HLT will naturally do
> >>> the right thing, i.e. not hang the vCPU.
> >>>
> >>> Anyways, for now, I think the easiest and best option is to simply skip full nested
> >>> support for the moment.
> >>>
> >>
> >> Got it, I see the issue you're talking about. I'll need to look into it a bit more to
> >> fully understand it. So yeah, we can hold off on full nested support for idle HLT
> >> intercept for now.
> >>
> >> Since we are planning to disable Idle HLT support on nested guests, should we do
> >> something like this ?
> >>
> >> @@ -167,10 +167,15 @@ void recalc_intercepts(struct vcpu_svm *svm)
> >> if (!nested_svm_l2_tlb_flush_enabled(&svm->vcpu))
> >> vmcb_clr_intercept(c, INTERCEPT_VMMCALL);
> >>
> >> + if (!guest_cpu_cap_has(&svm->vcpu, X86_FEATURE_IDLE_HLT))
> >> + vmcb_clr_intercept(c, INTERCEPT_IDLE_HLT);
> >> +
> >>
> >> When recalc_intercepts copies the intercept values from vmc01 to vmcb02, it also copies
> >> the IDLE HLT intercept bit, which is set to 1 in vmcb01. Normally, this isn't a problem
> >> because the HLT intercept takes priority when it's on. But if the HLT intercept gets
> >> turned off for some reason, the IDLE HLT intercept will stay on, which is not what we
> >> want.
> >
> > Why don't we want that?
>
> The idle-HLT intercept remains '1' for the L2 guest. Now, when L2 executes HLT and there
> is no pending event available, it will still do idle-HLT exit, although Idle HLT
> was never explicitly enabled on L2 guest.

Yes, but why is that a problem? L1 doesn't want to intercept HLT, so KVM isn't
violating the architecture by not intercepting HLT.