From: Jim Mattson <jmattson@google.com>
To: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>,
Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>,
Thomas Gleixner <tglx@kernel.org>,
Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com>, Borislav Petkov <bp@alien8.de>,
Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@linux.intel.com>,
x86@kernel.org, "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@zytor.com>,
Shuah Khan <shuah@kernel.org>,
kvm@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
linux-kselftest@vger.kernel.org,
Yosry Ahmed <yosry.ahmed@linux.dev>
Cc: Jim Mattson <jmattson@google.com>
Subject: [PATCH v3 0/8] KVM: x86: nSVM: Improve PAT virtualization
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2026 13:43:00 -0800 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260205214326.1029278-1-jmattson@google.com> (raw)
Currently, KVM's implementation of nested SVM treats the PAT MSR the same
way whether or not nested NPT is enabled: L1 and L2 share a single
PAT. However, the APM specifies that when nested NPT is enabled, the host
(L1) and the guest (L2) should have independent PATs: hPAT for L1 and gPAT
for L2. This patch series implements the architectural specification in
KVM.
Use the existing PAT MSR (vcpu->arch.pat) for hPAT. Add a new field,
svm->nested.gpat, for gPAT. With nested NPT enabled, redirect guest
accesses to the IA32_PAT MSR to gPAT. All other accesses, including
userspace accesses via KVM_{GET,SET}_MSRS, continue to reference hPAT. The
special handling of userspace accesses ensures save/restore forward
compatibility (i.e. resuming a new checkpoint on an older kernel). When an
old kernel restores a checkpoint from a new kernel, the gPAT will be lost,
and L2 will simply use L1's PAT, which is the existing behavior of the old
kernel anyway.
v1: https://lore.kernel.org/kvm/20260113003016.3511895-1-jmattson@google.com/
v2: https://lore.kernel.org/kvm/20260115232154.3021475-1-jmattson@google.com/
v2 -> v3:
* Extract VMCB_NPT clean bit fix as a separate patch [Yosry]
* Squash v2 patches 2 and 3 (cache and validate g_pat) [Yosry]
* Drop redundant npt_enabled check in g_pat validation since existing
nested_vmcb_check_controls() already rejects NP_ENABLE when !npt_enabled
[Yosry]
* Fix svm_set_hpat() to propagate to vmcb02 only when !nested_npt_enabled,
not unconditionally when in guest mode [Jim]
* Warn in svm_{get,set}_msr() if host_initiated and vcpu_wants_to_run when
accessing IA32_PAT [Sean]
* Use dedicated svm->nested.gpat field instead of vmcb_save_area_cached
* Use dedicated header field (kvm_svm_nested_state_hdr.gpat) for nested
state save/restore instead of overwriting vmcb01 save area
* Replace restore_gpat_from_pat with legacy_gpat_semantics to correctly
handle KVM_GET_NESTED_STATE before the first KVM_RUN [Jim]
* Remove nested_vmcb02_compute_g_pat() after removing all callers [Yosry]
Jim Mattson (8):
KVM: x86: nSVM: Clear VMCB_NPT clean bit when updating g_pat in L2
KVM: x86: nSVM: Cache and validate vmcb12 g_pat
KVM: x86: nSVM: Set vmcb02.g_pat correctly for nested NPT
KVM: x86: nSVM: Redirect IA32_PAT accesses to either hPAT or gPAT
KVM: x86: nSVM: Save gPAT to vmcb12.g_pat on VMEXIT
KVM: x86: nSVM: Save/restore gPAT with KVM_{GET,SET}_NESTED_STATE
KVM: x86: nSVM: Handle restore of legacy nested state
KVM: selftests: nSVM: Add svm_nested_pat test
arch/x86/include/uapi/asm/kvm.h | 5 +
arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c | 51 ++-
arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c | 37 ++-
arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.h | 35 +-
tools/testing/selftests/kvm/Makefile.kvm | 1 +
.../selftests/kvm/x86/svm_nested_pat_test.c | 298 ++++++++++++++++++
6 files changed, 406 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/kvm/x86/svm_nested_pat_test.c
base-commit: e944fe2c09f405a2e2d147145c9b470084bc4c9a
--
2.53.0.rc2.204.g2597b5adb4-goog
next reply other threads:[~2026-02-05 21:43 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 23+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-02-05 21:43 Jim Mattson [this message]
2026-02-05 21:43 ` [PATCH v3 1/8] KVM: x86: nSVM: Clear VMCB_NPT clean bit when updating g_pat in L2 Jim Mattson
2026-02-09 16:05 ` Yosry Ahmed
2026-02-05 21:43 ` [PATCH v3 2/8] KVM: x86: nSVM: Cache and validate vmcb12 g_pat Jim Mattson
2026-02-06 18:19 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-02-06 18:23 ` Yosry Ahmed
2026-02-06 18:32 ` Jim Mattson
2026-02-06 19:12 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-02-06 19:15 ` Yosry Ahmed
2026-02-06 19:50 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-02-06 20:56 ` Jim Mattson
2026-02-06 23:07 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-02-05 21:43 ` [PATCH v3 3/8] KVM: x86: nSVM: Set vmcb02.g_pat correctly for nested NPT Jim Mattson
2026-02-06 18:23 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-02-06 18:29 ` Yosry Ahmed
2026-02-06 19:14 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-02-05 21:43 ` [PATCH v3 4/8] KVM: x86: nSVM: Redirect IA32_PAT accesses to either hPAT or gPAT Jim Mattson
2026-02-05 21:43 ` [PATCH v3 5/8] KVM: x86: nSVM: Save gPAT to vmcb12.g_pat on VMEXIT Jim Mattson
2026-02-05 21:43 ` [PATCH v3 6/8] KVM: x86: nSVM: Save/restore gPAT with KVM_{GET,SET}_NESTED_STATE Jim Mattson
2026-02-05 21:43 ` [PATCH v3 7/8] KVM: x86: nSVM: Handle restore of legacy nested state Jim Mattson
2026-02-06 19:17 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-02-06 22:38 ` Jim Mattson
2026-02-05 21:43 ` [PATCH v3 8/8] KVM: selftests: nSVM: Add svm_nested_pat test Jim Mattson
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