From: Tim Wiederhake <twiederh@redhat.com>
To: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>,
Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>,
kvm@vger.kernel.org, linux-doc@vger.kernel.org,
linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>,
Shuah Khan <skhan@linuxfoundation.org>
Cc: Tim Wiederhake <twiederh@redhat.com>
Subject: [PATCH v2 0/2] KVM: x86: Document APIC base memory hole constraint
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2026 15:38:53 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260708133856.302151-1-twiederh@redhat.com> (raw)
When virtual APIC access acceleration is enabled on x86 (APICv on
Intel, AVIC on AMD), vcpu creation installs a private memory slot at
the default APIC base address (0xfee00000). If user space maps a
memory region covering that address, vcpu creation fails with -EEXIST.
This is not documented and very puzzling when it happens.
This series documents two undocumented constraints:
1/2 KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP must precede vcpu creation
2/2 APIC base address memory hole when APIC acceleration is enabled
Thanks to Sean Christopherson for the thorough review of v1.
Changes since v1:
- Dropped enforcement patches (3/4, 4/4) per review feedback.
- Patch 1/2: Reworded to avoid implying that KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP is
mandatory.
- Patch 2/2: Reworded to reflect that the APIC access page is not
installed in every case. Added note about KVM_CAP_SPLIT_IRQCHIP
having the same constraint.
v1: https://lore.kernel.org/kvm/20260706092021.3625908-2-twiederh@redhat.com/
Tim Wiederhake (2):
KVM: x86: Document that KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP must precede vcpu creation
KVM: x86: Document APIC base address constraint for in-kernel irqchip
Documentation/virt/kvm/api.rst | 15 ++++++++++++++-
1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
--
2.52.0
next reply other threads:[~2026-07-08 13:39 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 3+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-07-08 13:38 Tim Wiederhake [this message]
2026-07-08 13:38 ` [PATCH 1/2] KVM: x86: Document that KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP must precede vcpu creation Tim Wiederhake
2026-07-08 13:38 ` [PATCH 2/2] KVM: x86: Document APIC base address constraint for in-kernel irqchip Tim Wiederhake
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