linux-kernel - [PATCH v4 0/3] KVM: LAPIC: Rework lapic timer to behave more like real-hardware

lists.openwall.net		lists / announce owl-users owl-dev john-users john-dev passwdqc-users yescrypt popa3d-users / oss-security kernel-hardening musl sabotage tlsify passwords / crypt-dev xvendor / Bugtraq Full-Disclosure linux-kernel linux-netdev linux-ext4 linux-hardening linux-cve-announce PHC
Open Source and information security mailing list archives

Hash Suite: Windows password security audit tool. GUI, reports in PDF.

[<prev] [next>] [thread-next>] [day] [month] [year] [list]

Message-Id: <1507211733-22604-1-git-send-email-wanpeng.li@hotmail.com>
Date:   Thu,  5 Oct 2017 06:55:30 -0700
From:   Wanpeng Li <kernellwp@...il.com>
To:     linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, kvm@...r.kernel.org
Cc:     Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@...hat.com>,
        Radim Krčmář <rkrcmar@...hat.com>,
        Wanpeng Li <wanpeng.li@...mail.com>
Subject: [PATCH v4 0/3] KVM: LAPIC: Rework lapic timer to behave more like real-hardware

The issue is reported in xen community.

Anthony PERARD pointed out:

https://www.mail-archive.com/xen-devel@lists.xen.org/msg117283.html#

 | When developing PVH for OVMF, I've used the lapic timer. It turns out that the
 | way it is used by OVMF did not work with Xen [1]. I tried to find out how
 | real-hw behave, and write a XTF tests [2]. And this patch series tries to fix
 | the behavior of the vlapic timer.
 | 
 | 
 | The OVMF driver for the APIC timer initialize the timer like this:
 | 	write to TMICT (initial counter)
 | 	write to TMDCR (divide configuration)
 | 	enable the timer (this may change timer mode from one-shot to periodic)
 | It turns out that TMICT is set to 0 on the last step, but OVMF expect the timer
 | to run.
 | 
 | Here is some description of the APIC timer, base on observation as well as read
 | of the Intel SDM. The description is also patch of patch description
 | (reworded).
 | 
 | Maybe a way of thinking how the APIC timer is evaluated, is to think of how
 | hardward will do it. There is a counter TMCCT which always keeps counting down.
 | 
 | Setting TMICT also set TMCCT, nothing else matter.
 | Setting LVTT does not change anything right away.
 | Setting TMDCR does not change much.
 | 
 | Now TMCCT keeps counting down, by a value related to TMDCR.
 | Once, TMCCT reach 0, it is only at this time that LVTT is taken into account.
 | Is there an interrupt to deliver? Should the timer restart counting from the
 | value in TMICT?
 | 
 | In the Intel SDM, there is the word "disarm" of the timer used. I guess the
 | easier way to disarm the APIC timer (when in periodic or one-shot) is to set
 | TMICT to 0. But if we take TSC-Deadline mode out of the picture, there is
 | nothing in the manual that say that the timer is disarm or stopped when
 | changing timer mode (there is only two modes left, period and one-shot).
 | 
 | As for the TSC-deadline timer mode, observation shown that changing to it (or
 | from it) does reset and disarm both timers, so effectively TMICT and the
 | tscdeadline are set to 0.
 | 
 | [1] https://lists.xenproject.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2016-12/msg00959.html
 | [2] v1: 
 | https://lists.xenproject.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2017-03/msg02533.html
 |     v2: look for "[XTF PATCH V2 0/3] Testing vlapic timer"

v3 -> v4:
 * don't need to start_apic_timer() when write LVTT

v2 -> v3:
 * move the write 0 to APIC_TMICT logic to apic_update_lvtt()
 * skip hrtimer_cancel() in apic_update_lvtt() when either from one-shot mode to 
   periodic or vice versa.

v1 -> v2:
 * add cover-letter and collect recent lapic patches to one patchset

Wanpeng Li (3):
  KVM: LAPIC: Fix lapic timer mode transition
  KVM: LAPIC: Keep timer running when switching between one-shot and periodic mode
  KVM: LAPIC: Apply change to TDCR right away to the timer

 arch/x86/include/asm/apicdef.h |  1 +
 arch/x86/kvm/lapic.c           | 34 ++++++++++++++++++++++++----------
 2 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

-- 
2.7.4