[PATCH v11 10/12] x86/vmscape: Deploy BHB clearing mitigation

Pawan Gupta
2026-04-23T06:17:22Z

IBPB mitigation for VMSCAPE is an overkill on CPUs that are only affected
by the BHI variant of VMSCAPE. On such CPUs, eIBRS already provides
indirect branch isolation between guest and host userspace. However, branch
history from guest may also influence the indirect branches in host
userspace.

To mitigate the BHI aspect, use the BHB clearing sequence. Since now, IBPB
is not the only mitigation for VMSCAPE, update the documentation to reflect
that =auto could select either IBPB or BHB clear mitigation based on the
CPU.

Reviewed-by: Nikolay Borisov <nik.borisov@suse.com>
Tested-by: Jon Kohler <jon@nutanix.com>
Signed-off-by: Pawan Gupta <pawan.kumar.gupta@linux.intel.com>
---
Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/vmscape.rst | 11 ++++++++-
Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt | 4 +++-
arch/x86/include/asm/entry-common.h | 4 ++++
arch/x86/include/asm/nospec-branch.h | 2 ++
arch/x86/kernel/cpu/bugs.c | 30 +++++++++++++++++++------
5 files changed, 42 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/vmscape.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/vmscape.rst
index d9b9a2b6c114..7c40cf70ad7a 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/vmscape.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/vmscape.rst
@@ -86,6 +86,10 @@ The possible values in this file are:
run a potentially malicious guest and issues an IBPB before the first
exit to userspace after VM-exit.

+ * 'Mitigation: Clear BHB before exit to userspace':
+
+ As above, conditional BHB clearing mitigation is enabled.
+
* 'Mitigation: IBPB on VMEXIT':

IBPB is issued on every VM-exit. This occurs when other mitigations like
@@ -102,9 +106,14 @@ The mitigation can be controlled via the ``vmscape=`` command line parameter:

* ``vmscape=ibpb``:

- Enable conditional IBPB mitigation (default when CONFIG_MITIGATION_VMSCAPE=y).
+ Enable conditional IBPB mitigation.

* ``vmscape=force``:

Force vulnerability detection and mitigation even on processors that are
not known to be affected.
+
+ * ``vmscape=auto``:
+
+ Choose the mitigation based on the VMSCAPE variant the CPU is affected by.
+ (default when CONFIG_MITIGATION_VMSCAPE=y)
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
index 03a550630644..3853c7109419 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
@@ -8378,9 +8378,11 @@ Kernel parameters

off - disable the mitigation
ibpb - use Indirect Branch Prediction Barrier
- (IBPB) mitigation (default)
+ (IBPB) mitigation
force - force vulnerability detection even on
unaffected processors
+ auto - (default) use IBPB or BHB clear
+ mitigation based on CPU

vsyscall= [X86-64,EARLY]
Controls the behavior of vsyscalls (i.e. calls to
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/entry-common.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/entry-common.h
index 783e7cb50cae..13db31472f3a 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/entry-common.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/entry-common.h
@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@ static inline void arch_exit_to_user_mode_prepare(struct pt_regs *regs,
choose_random_kstack_offset(rdtsc());

if (unlikely(this_cpu_read(x86_predictor_flush_exit_to_user))) {
+ /*
+ * Since the mitigation is for userspace, an explicit
+ * speculation barrier is not required after flush.
+ */
static_call_cond(vmscape_predictor_flush)();
this_cpu_write(x86_predictor_flush_exit_to_user, false);
}
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/nospec-branch.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/nospec-branch.h
index 066fd8095200..38478383139b 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/nospec-branch.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/nospec-branch.h
@@ -390,6 +390,8 @@ extern void write_ibpb(void);

#ifdef CONFIG_X86_64
extern void clear_bhb_loop_nofence(void);
+#else
+static inline void clear_bhb_loop_nofence(void) {}
#endif

extern void (*x86_return_thunk)(void);
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/bugs.c b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/bugs.c
index bfc0e41697f6..1082ed1fb2e6 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/bugs.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/bugs.c
@@ -61,9 +61,8 @@ DEFINE_PER_CPU(u64, x86_spec_ctrl_current);
EXPORT_PER_CPU_SYMBOL_GPL(x86_spec_ctrl_current);

/*
- * Set when the CPU has run a potentially malicious guest. An IBPB will
- * be needed to before running userspace. That IBPB will flush the branch
- * predictor content.
+ * Set when the CPU has run a potentially malicious guest. Indicates that a
+ * branch predictor flush is needed before running userspace.
*/
DEFINE_PER_CPU(bool, x86_predictor_flush_exit_to_user);
EXPORT_PER_CPU_SYMBOL_GPL(x86_predictor_flush_exit_to_user);
@@ -3061,13 +3060,15 @@ enum vmscape_mitigations {
VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_AUTO,
VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_IBPB_EXIT_TO_USER,
VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_IBPB_ON_VMEXIT,
+ VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_BHB_CLEAR_EXIT_TO_USER,
};

static const char * const vmscape_strings[] = {
- [VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_NONE] = "Vulnerable",
+ [VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_NONE] = "Vulnerable",
/* [VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_AUTO] */
- [VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_IBPB_EXIT_TO_USER] = "Mitigation: IBPB before exit to userspace",
- [VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_IBPB_ON_VMEXIT] = "Mitigation: IBPB on VMEXIT",
+ [VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_IBPB_EXIT_TO_USER] = "Mitigation: IBPB before exit to userspace",
+ [VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_IBPB_ON_VMEXIT] = "Mitigation: IBPB on VMEXIT",
+ [VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_BHB_CLEAR_EXIT_TO_USER] = "Mitigation: Clear BHB before exit to userspace",
};

static enum vmscape_mitigations vmscape_mitigation __ro_after_init =
@@ -3085,6 +3086,8 @@ static int __init vmscape_parse_cmdline(char *str)
} else if (!strcmp(str, "force")) {
setup_force_cpu_bug(X86_BUG_VMSCAPE);
vmscape_mitigation = VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_AUTO;
+ } else if (!strcmp(str, "auto")) {
+ vmscape_mitigation = VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_AUTO;
} else {
pr_err("Ignoring unknown vmscape=%s option.\n", str);
}
@@ -3114,7 +3117,17 @@ static void __init vmscape_select_mitigation(void)
break;

case VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_AUTO:
- if (boot_cpu_has(X86_FEATURE_IBPB))
+ /*
+ * CPUs with BHI_CTRL(ADL and newer) can avoid the IBPB and use
+ * BHB clear sequence. These CPUs are only vulnerable to the BHI
+ * variant of the VMSCAPE attack, and thus they do not require a
+ * full predictor flush.
+ *
+ * Note, in 32-bit mode BHB clear sequence is not supported.
+ */
+ if (boot_cpu_has(X86_FEATURE_BHI_CTRL) && IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_64))
+ vmscape_mitigation = VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_BHB_CLEAR_EXIT_TO_USER;
+ else if (boot_cpu_has(X86_FEATURE_IBPB))
vmscape_mitigation = VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_IBPB_EXIT_TO_USER;
else
vmscape_mitigation = VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_NONE;
@@ -3141,6 +3154,8 @@ static void __init vmscape_apply_mitigation(void)
{
if (vmscape_mitigation == VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_IBPB_EXIT_TO_USER)
static_call_update(vmscape_predictor_flush, write_ibpb);
+ else if (vmscape_mitigation == VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_BHB_CLEAR_EXIT_TO_USER)
+ static_call_update(vmscape_predictor_flush, clear_bhb_loop_nofence);
}

#undef pr_fmt
@@ -3232,6 +3247,7 @@ void cpu_bugs_smt_update(void)
break;
case VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_IBPB_ON_VMEXIT:
case VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_IBPB_EXIT_TO_USER:
+ case VMSCAPE_MITIGATION_BHB_CLEAR_EXIT_TO_USER:
/*
* Hypervisors can be attacked across-threads, warn for SMT when
* STIBP is not already enabled system-wide.

--
2.34.1