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From: sashiko-bot@kernel.org
To: "Vincent Donnefort" <vdonnefort@google.com>
Cc: "Oliver Upton" <oupton@kernel.org>,
	"Marc Zyngier" <maz@kernel.org>,
	kvmarm@lists.linux.dev
Subject: Re: [PATCH v5 14/18] KVM: arm64: Alloc pkvm_hyp_vcpu using pKVM heap allocator
Date: Tue, 01 Sep 2026 08:34:17 +0000	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260901083417.E690A1F00A3D@smtp.kernel.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260901080941.997769-15-vdonnefort@google.com>

Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 1 potential issue(s) to consider:
- [High] Loss of memory cgroup (memcg) accounting for hypervisor heap top-ups enables host memory exhaustion (DoS).
--

commit 1ea96bec624ff9de3986b5d4e5708b17bd70343c
Author: Vincent Donnefort <vdonnefort@google.com>

KVM: arm64: Alloc pkvm_hyp_vcpu using pKVM heap allocator

This patch transitions the allocation of the hypervisor vCPU state structure
(pkvm_hyp_vcpu) from the host to the hypervisor using the new pKVM heap
allocator. The host now uses pkvm_call_hyp_req() to invoke
__pkvm_create_hyp_vcpu, which automatically handles top-up requests if the
hypervisor runs out of heap memory.

> diff --git a/arch/arm64/kvm/pkvm.c b/arch/arm64/kvm/pkvm.c
> index 8505965dbfb21..36e677e51f7d6 100644
> --- a/arch/arm64/kvm/pkvm.c
> +++ b/arch/arm64/kvm/pkvm.c
[ ... ]
> @@ -174,28 +174,19 @@ static void __pkvm_destroy_hyp_vm(struct kvm *kvm)
[ ... ]
>  static int __pkvm_create_hyp_vcpu(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
>  {
> -	size_t hyp_vcpu_sz = PAGE_ALIGN(PKVM_HYP_VCPU_SIZE);
>  	pkvm_handle_t handle = vcpu->kvm->arch.pkvm.handle;
> -	void *hyp_vcpu;
>  	int ret;
>  
>  	init_hyp_stage2_memcache(&vcpu->arch.pkvm_memcache);
>  
> -	hyp_vcpu = alloc_pages_exact(hyp_vcpu_sz, GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT);
> -	if (!hyp_vcpu)
> -		return -ENOMEM;
> -
> -	ret = kvm_call_hyp_nvhe(__pkvm_init_vcpu, handle, vcpu, hyp_vcpu);
> +	ret = pkvm_call_hyp_req(__pkvm_init_vcpu, handle, vcpu);

[Severity: High]
Does this change lose memory cgroup (memcg) accounting for the hypervisor vCPU
allocations?

Previously, alloc_pages_exact() used GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT directly, ensuring
the allocation was charged to the caller's memcg. With this patch, the
allocation transitions to the EL2 heap. If the heap is exhausted,
pkvm_call_hyp_req() triggers a top-up request.

However, it appears the top-up path handles the allocation without the memcg
accounting flag. For instance, when the EL2 heap needs memory:

arch/arm64/kvm/pkvm.c:pkvm_hyp_topup() {
	init_hyp_memcache(&mc);
	ret = topup_hyp_memcache(&mc, nr_pages);
	...
}

Because init_hyp_memcache() explicitly omits the HYP_MEMCACHE_ACCOUNT_KMEMCG
flag, the subsequent allocation in hyp_mc_alloc_fn() uses GFP_KERNEL instead
of GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT:

arch/arm64/kvm/mmu.c:hyp_mc_alloc_fn() {
	gfp = memcache->flags & HYP_MEMCACHE_ACCOUNT_KMEMCG ? GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT : GFP_KERNEL;
	addr = (void *)__get_free_page(gfp);
	...
}

Could this allow an unprivileged container with access to /dev/kvm to bypass
its memory limits by repeatedly creating VMs and VCPUs, potentially leading to
host memory exhaustion?

>  	if (!ret)
>  		vcpu_set_flag(vcpu, VCPU_PKVM_FINALIZED);
> -	else
> -		free_pages_exact(hyp_vcpu, hyp_vcpu_sz);
>  
>  	return ret;
>  }

-- 
Sashiko AI review · https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260901080941.997769-1-vdonnefort@google.com?part=14

  reply	other threads:[~2026-09-01  8:34 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 26+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-09-01  8:09 [PATCH v5 00/18] KVM: arm64: Introduce pKVM hypervisor heap allocator Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 01/18] KVM: arm64: Add pkvm_private_va_range_pa Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 02/18] KVM: arm64: Add pkvm_remove_mappings Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 03/18] KVM: arm64: Add pkvm_map_private_va_range Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 04/18] KVM: arm64: Add a heap allocator for the pKVM hyp Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 05/18] KVM: arm64: Allow kvm_hyp_memcache usage outside of stage-2 Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 06/18] KVM: arm64: Add pkvm_hyp_req infrastructure Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 07/18] KVM: arm64: Add PKVM_HYP_REQ_HYP_ALLOC request Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 08/18] KVM: arm64: Add reclaim interface for the pKVM heap alloc Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 09/18] KVM: arm64: Add selftests for the pKVM heap allocator Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:27   ` sashiko-bot
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 10/18] KVM: arm64: Add a shrinker for pKVM Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01 17:30   ` Fuad Tabba
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 11/18] KVM: arm64: Filter out non-kernel addresses in kern_hyp_va Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:23   ` sashiko-bot
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 12/18] KVM: arm64: Move hyp_vm refcount into the structure Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 13/18] KVM: arm64: Alloc pkvm_hyp_vm using pKVM heap allocator Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:34   ` sashiko-bot
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 14/18] KVM: arm64: Alloc pkvm_hyp_vcpu " Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:34   ` sashiko-bot [this message]
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 15/18] KVM: arm64: Rename vCPU pkvm_memcache to stage2_mc Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01 17:59   ` Fuad Tabba
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 16/18] KVM: arm64: Reject hyp trace descriptors with fewer CPUs than hyp_nr_cpus Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 17/18] KVM: arm64: Reject hyp trace descriptors with fewer than 3 pages Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:09 ` [PATCH v5 18/18] KVM: arm64: Alloc simple_buffer_page using pKVM hyp allocator Vincent Donnefort
2026-09-01  8:35   ` sashiko-bot

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