linux-kernel - Re: [RFC PATCH 00/13] KVM: x86: SMM support

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Date:	Wed, 6 May 2015 19:14:32 +0200
From:	Radim Krčmář <rkrcmar@...hat.com>
To:	Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@...hat.com>
Cc:	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, kvm@...r.kernel.org, bsd@...hat.com,
	guangrong.xiao@...ux.intel.com,
	Yang Zhang <yang.z.zhang@...el.com>, wanpeng.li@...ux.intel.com
Subject: Re: [RFC PATCH 00/13] KVM: x86: SMM support

2015-05-06 13:18+0200, Paolo Bonzini:
> On 05/05/2015 20:40, Radim Krčmář wrote:
> > - Whole SMRAM is writeable.  Spec says that parts of state should be
> >   read-only.  (This seems hard to fix without trapping all writes.)
> 
> Read-only here just means that you shouldn't touch it.  It says "Some
> register images are read-only, and must not be modified (modifying these
> registers will result in unpredictable behavior)".

I haven't seen the note that they musn't be modified, sorry.

> But actually the behavior is very predictable, and can be very fun.  You
> can do stuff such as interrupting a VM86 task with an SMI, and prepare
> an SMM handler that returns to VM86 with CPL=0 (by setting SS.DPL=0 in
> the SS access rights field).  That's very illegal compared to big real
> mode. :)
> 
> Or you can fake a processor reset straight after RSM, which includes
> setting the right segment base, limit and access rights (again you need
> to set SS.DPL=0 to affect the CPL).
> 
> Worst case, you get a failed VM entry (e.g. if you set up an invalid
> combination of segment limit and segment G flag).  If you care, disable
> unrestricted_guest. :)

Nice, thanks.

> > - I/O restarting is not enabled.  (APM 2:10.2.4 SMM-Revision Identifier
> >   says that AMD64 always sets this bit.)
> 
> Yes, unfortunately if I do enable it SeaBIOS breaks.  So it's left for
> later.
> 
> I/O restarting is meant for stuff like emulating the i8042 on top of a
> USB keyboard.  We luckily don't care (do not get strange ideas about
> reducing the QEMU attack surface).

Ok.  (SMM handlers doing sanity checks on their environment are probably
the biggest obstacle.)

> > - SMM and userspace.
> >   We can get if smm is enabled at two separate places (flag from KVM_RUN
> >   and in KVM_GET_VCPU_EVENTS) and toggle it via KVM_SET_VCPU_EVENTS.
> > 
> >   It's not an event, so I wouldn't include it in EVENTS API ...
> 
> Well, neither is nmi.masked or interrupt.shadow.  In the end, smi.smm is
> just "smi.masked" (except that it also doubles as "is RSM allowed/is
> SMRAM accessible").

Yeah, that double function is bugging me ... SMI can be masked for
reasons other than being in SMM, so the connection is not obvious.
(But all cases I know of are handled differently in KVM.)

Other case is that when emulating the SMM switch in userspace, EVENTS
ioctl wouldn't be the place where I where I would expect a toggle for
KVM to be.

> >   Letting the flag in KVM_RUN also toggle SMM would be easiest.
> 
> I'm worried about breaking userspace with that.  I would probably have
> to enable the SMM capability manually.
> 
> By comparison, the current implementation is entirely transparent as
> long as the guest only generates SMIs through the APIC: all QEMU changes
> are needed to support SMRAM and generation of SMIs through port 0xB2,
> but the feature otherwise has zero impact on userspace.

They should be equally transparent.  Userspace needs to preserve all
reserved bits, and hopefully does.  (It's the same with SET_EVENTS.)

> But the main point in favor of "smi.smm" IMO is that it doubles as
> "smi.masked".

True.  'smi.masked_as_we_are_in_smm' :)

> >   Otherwise, wouldn't GET/SET_ONE_REG be a better match for it?
> 
> Perhaps, but then smi.pending would still be a better match for
> KVM_GET_VCPU_EVENTS than for ONE_REG.  (And again, so would
> "smi.masked"---it just happens that "masked SMIs == CPU in SMM").

smi.pending makes sense in events, it would be split ...

Your original solution is a good one.  (Others aren't any better.)
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