From: sashiko-bot@kernel.org
To: "Paolo Bonzini" <pbonzini@redhat.com>, kvm@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH 04/45] KVM: x86/emulate: Check TSS busy-bit writes during task switches
Date: Mon, 02 Nov 2026 18:22:38 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <sashiko-outbox-193930@kernel.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20261102174130.8779-5-pbonzini@redhat.com>
Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 2 potential issue(s) to consider:
- [High] KVM: x86/emulate: unhandled write_segment_descriptor() error in task switch
- [High] KVM: x86/emulate: task switch drops faults and IO_NEEDED on descriptor writes
--
commit 31629465ad13b50735702c0107b5866c7a5a5806
Author: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
KVM: x86/emulate: Check TSS busy-bit writes during task switches
This commit checks the return values of the write_segment_descriptor() calls
that clear the old TSS busy bit and set the new TSS busy bit in
emulator_do_task_switch(), returning early on failure so that failed writes
stop the task switch.
> diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/emulate.c b/arch/x86/kvm/emulate.c
> index c1b21282187f3..711794592c2ca 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/kvm/emulate.c
> +++ b/arch/x86/kvm/emulate.c
> @@ -2925,7 +2925,9 @@ static int emulator_do_task_switch(struct x86_emulate_ctxt *ctxt,
>
> if (reason == TASK_SWITCH_IRET || reason == TASK_SWITCH_JMP) {
> curr_tss_desc.type &= ~(1 << 1); /* clear busy flag */
> - write_segment_descriptor(ctxt, old_tss_sel, &curr_tss_desc);
> + ret = write_segment_descriptor(ctxt, old_tss_sel, &curr_tss_desc);
> + if (ret != X86EMUL_CONTINUE)
> + return ret;
[Severity: High]
When write_segment_descriptor() fails in arch/x86/kvm/emulate.c:
emulator_do_task_switch(), will returning the non-X86EMUL_CONTINUE status
actually reach the emulation-failure exit in kvm_task_switch(), or does it
cause emulator_task_switch() to return EMULATION_OK while skipping register
writeback?
Tracing the call chain from write_segment_descriptor() ->
linear_write_system() -> emulator_write_std() ->
kvm_write_guest_virt_helper():
arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:kvm_write_guest_virt_helper() {
...
if (gpa == INVALID_GPA)
return X86EMUL_PROPAGATE_FAULT;
ret = kvm_vcpu_write_guest(vcpu, gpa, data, towrite);
if (ret < 0) {
r = X86EMUL_IO_NEEDED;
goto out;
}
...
}
At this commit (prior to the later commit "KVM: x86/emulate: Propagate memory
faults to userspace" in the series), any write failure returns
X86EMUL_PROPAGATE_FAULT or X86EMUL_IO_NEEDED (without setting
vcpu->mmio_needed), and never returns X86EMUL_UNHANDLEABLE. Even after commit
"KVM: x86/emulate: Propagate memory faults to userspace" wires up
X86EMUL_MEMORY_FAULT to EMULATION_MEMORY_FAULT, non-memory-attribute failures
still return X86EMUL_PROPAGATE_FAULT (for example, when the GDT page is
mapped read-only in the guest page tables with CR0.WP=1) or
X86EMUL_IO_NEEDED (for example, when the GDT is in a read-only memslot).
In arch/x86/kvm/emulate.c:emulator_task_switch():
if (rc == X86EMUL_CONTINUE) {
ctxt->eip = ctxt->_eip;
writeback_registers(ctxt);
}
return (rc == X86EMUL_UNHANDLEABLE) ? EMULATION_FAILED : EMULATION_OK;
And in arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:kvm_task_switch():
if (ret || vcpu->mmio_needed)
goto unhandled_task_switch;
kvm_rip_write(vcpu, ctxt->eip);
kvm_set_rflags(vcpu, ctxt->eflags);
return 1;
When this first write_segment_descriptor() call fails on an IRET or JMP task
switch, skip_emulated_instruction() has already advanced RIP, and
emulator_task_switch() returns EMULATION_OK (0) with vcpu->mmio_needed false.
Doesn't kvm_task_switch() then silently turn the task switch into a no-op and
resume the guest without injecting an exception or exiting to userspace?
> }
>
> if (reason == TASK_SWITCH_IRET)
> @@ -2949,7 +2951,9 @@ static int emulator_do_task_switch(struct x86_emulate_ctxt *ctxt,
>
> if (reason != TASK_SWITCH_IRET) {
> next_tss_desc.type |= (1 << 1); /* set busy flag */
> - write_segment_descriptor(ctxt, tss_selector, &next_tss_desc);
> + ret = write_segment_descriptor(ctxt, tss_selector, &next_tss_desc);
> + if (ret != X86EMUL_CONTINUE)
> + return ret;
[Severity: High]
Similarly, if this second write_segment_descriptor() call in
arch/x86/kvm/emulate.c:emulator_do_task_switch() fails with
X86EMUL_PROPAGATE_FAULT or X86EMUL_IO_NEEDED (for instance, if the GDT page
containing next_tss_desc is read-only or unmapped under the new CR3 just
loaded by load_state_from_tss32() when segment descriptors are VM86/NULL or
already have the Accessed bit set, or if the GDT resides in a read-only
memslot), can returning early here leave the vCPU in a half-switched state?
At this point in emulator_do_task_switch(), task_switch_16() or
task_switch_32() has already committed the new task's CR3, ctxt->eflags, and
segment registers (LDTR, ES, CS, SS, DS, FS, GS). Returning early skips
setting X86_CR0_TS, loading VCPU_SREG_TR, pushing error_code, and updating
dr7 in emulator_do_task_switch(), and skips updating ctxt->eip = ctxt->_eip
and calling writeback_registers(ctxt) in emulator_task_switch().
Because emulator_task_switch() still translates X86EMUL_PROPAGATE_FAULT and
X86EMUL_IO_NEEDED into EMULATION_OK without setting ctxt->have_exception, and
arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:kvm_task_switch() neither checks ctxt->have_exception nor
takes the unhandled_task_switch path when ret is 0 and vcpu->mmio_needed is
false:
ret = emulator_task_switch(ctxt, tss_selector, idt_index, reason,
has_error_code, error_code);
/*
* Report an error userspace if MMIO is needed, as KVM doesn't support
* MMIO during a task switch (or any other complex operation).
*/
if (ret || vcpu->mmio_needed)
goto unhandled_task_switch;
kvm_rip_write(vcpu, ctxt->eip);
kvm_set_rflags(vcpu, ctxt->eflags);
return 1;
Won't kvm_task_switch() drop the architectural fault or write failure and
resume the guest with the new task's CR3, EFLAGS, and segments but the old
task's TR, RIP, and general-purpose registers?
--
Sashiko AI review · https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20261102174130.8779-1-pbonzini@redhat.com?part=4
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-11-02 18:22 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 67+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-11-02 17:40 [PATCH v4 00/45] KVM: x86: Introduce memory protection attributes Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 01/45] KVM: nVMX/nSVM: check unconditionally whether CR3 is valid Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:05 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 02/45] KVM: x86/hyperv: do not overwrite hc->ingpa for SIGNAL_EVENT hypercall Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 03/45] KVM: x86: apply nGPA->GPA translation to KVM_HC_CLOCK_PAIRING Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 04/45] KVM: x86/emulate: Check TSS busy-bit writes during task switches Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:22 ` sashiko-bot [this message]
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 05/45] KVM: loongarch: do full validity check on the gfn-to-hva cache Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 06/45] KVM: selftests: Test address translation for Hyper-V direct L2 hypercalls Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 07/45] KVM: selftests: Take into account mixed memory fault flags Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:50 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 08/45] selftests: kvm: drop TEST_ASSERT_SUPPORTED_ATTRIBUTES Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 09/45] KVM: Define and communicate KVM_EXIT_MEMORY_FAULT RWX flags to userspace Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:55 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 10/45] KVM: x86: Introduce memory fault on invalid hypercalls reads/writes Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 11/45] KVM: selftests: test hypercall memory fault exits Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:58 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 12/45] KVM: x86/mmu: intersect writability from __kvm_faultin_pfn with fault->map_writable Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 13/45] KVM: x86/mmu: Extend map_writable to a full ACC_* mask Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 14/45] KVM: x86/mmu: Init memslot hugepage information for non-private_mem VMs too Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:40 ` [PATCH 15/45] KVM: VMX: return error from kvm_set_cr* Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:41 ` [PATCH 16/45] KVM: adjust for presence of more than one attribute Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:03 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 17/45] KVM: Introduce NR/NW/NX memory attributes Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:04 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 18/45] KVM: Include memory protections in result of gfn->hva conversion Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 19/45] KVM: Introduce kvm_fetch_guest_page() and use it for x86 Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 20/45] KVM: Take memory protections into account for memory read/write/fetch Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 21/45] KVM: Take memory protections into account for __kvm_vcpu_map Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 22/45] KVM: Encapsulate memattrs array into anonymous struct Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 23/45] KVM: Introduce kvm_check_gen()/kvm_memslots_check_gen() Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:04 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 24/45] KVM: Introduce a generation number for memory attributes Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:20 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 25/45] KVM: Take memory protections into account for accesses with cached gfn->hva Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:14 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 26/45] KVM: pfncache: Fail to refresh if it contains memory protections Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:09 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 27/45] KVM: x86/mmu: Do not prefetch sptes on gfns backed by memory attributes Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 28/45] KVM: x86/mmu: Take memory protection attributes into account during faults Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:26 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 29/45] KVM: x86/emulate: change return value of emulator_io_permitted to int Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 30/45] KVM: x86/emulate: Propagate memory faults to userspace Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:32 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 31/45] KVM: x86: "Handle" failed decode when skipping instructions Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:18 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:44 ` [PATCH 32/45] KVM: vmx/sgx: make return value of sgx_gva_to_gpa consistent with its callers Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:45 ` [PATCH 33/45] KVM: x86: Allow page fault fixup to return errors Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:45 ` [PATCH 34/45] KVM: x86/mmu: Adjust gva_to_gpa to allow returning an error Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:19 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:45 ` [PATCH 35/45] KVM: x86/mmu: Propagate errors from nested GPA translation Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:45 ` [PATCH 36/45] KVM: x86: Propagate memory faults through load_pdptrs() Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:29 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:45 ` [PATCH 37/45] KVM: x86/mmu: Issue memory fault exit if walk failed due to memory attribute Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:32 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:45 ` [PATCH 38/45] KVM: x86: mark VM as dead after KVM_SET_SREGS fails to load PDPTRs Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:28 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:45 ` [PATCH 39/45] KVM: VMX: mark VM dead on shadow VMCS or eVMCS access failures Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:40 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:45 ` [PATCH 40/45] KVM: let kvm_arch_post_set_memory_attributes drop mmu_lock Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:45 ` [PATCH 41/45] KVM: x86/mmu: Obsolete all roots if memattr contains gPTEs Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:45 ` [PATCH 42/45] KVM: x86: selftests: Introduce memory protection attributes test Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:43 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:45 ` [PATCH 43/45] KVM: x86: selftests: Introduce memory attributes PTE test Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 17:45 ` [PATCH 44/45] KVM: x86: selftests: Introduce memory attributes side-channel tests Paolo Bonzini
2026-11-02 18:41 ` sashiko-bot
2026-11-02 17:45 ` [PATCH 45/45] KVM: x86: split out parts of load_pdptrs Paolo Bonzini
Reply instructions:
You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:
* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
and reply-to-all from there: mbox
Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style
* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
switches of git-send-email(1):
git send-email \
--in-reply-to=sashiko-outbox-193930@kernel.org \
--to=sashiko-bot@kernel.org \
--cc=kvm@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=pbonzini@redhat.com \
--cc=sashiko-reviews@lists.linux.dev \
/path/to/YOUR_REPLY
https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html
* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line
before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox