linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 2/2] x86/speculation: Support "Enhanced IBRS" on future CPUs

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

Date:   Tue, 13 Feb 2018 10:36:38 +0000
From:   David Woodhouse <dwmw2@...radead.org>
To:     Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@...hat.com>, tglx@...utronix.de,
        x86@...nel.org, kvm@...r.kernel.org, torvalds@...ux-foundation.org,
        linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, arjan.van.de.ven@...el.com,
        dave.hansen@...el.com
Subject: Re: [PATCH 2/2] x86/speculation: Support "Enhanced IBRS" on future
 CPUs

On Tue, 2018-02-13 at 10:21 +0000, David Woodhouse wrote:
> 
> > So the right logic is:
> > 
> > - if the VM has IBRS_ALL, pass through the MSR when it is zero and
> > intercept writes when it is one (no writes should happen)
> > 
> > - if the VM doesn't have IBRS_ALL, do as we are doing now, independent
> > of what the host spectre_v2_ibrs_all() setting is.
> 
> We end up having to turn IBRS on again on vmexit then, taking care that
> no conditional branch can go round it. So that becomes an
> *unconditional* wrmsr or lfence in the vmexit path. We really don't
> want that.

Note that being able to keep it simple in KVM was basically what made
the difference between me tolerating IBRS_ALL as Intel currently define
it, and throwing my toys out of the pram (as I had done in the first
iterations of this patch).

If we *can't* keep it nice and simple in KVM, then I think we *really*
want Intel to make the hardware bit a no-op. If not for all CPUs with
the IBRS_ALL bit, then for all *future* CPUs and they can define a new
IBRS_ALL_UNCONDITIONAL bit. Which is the only one we'd ever care about.

Download attachment "smime.p7s" of type "application/x-pkcs7-signature" (5213 bytes)