linux-kernel - [PATCH v2 18/59] KVM: SVM: Add a comment to explain why avic_vcpu

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Message-ID: <20250523010004.3240643-19-seanjc@google.com>
Date: Thu, 22 May 2025 17:59:23 -0700
From: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@...gle.com>
To: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@...gle.com>, Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@...hat.com>, 
	Joerg Roedel <joro@...tes.org>, David Woodhouse <dwmw2@...radead.org>, 
	Lu Baolu <baolu.lu@...ux.intel.com>
Cc: kvm@...r.kernel.org, iommu@...ts.linux.dev, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, 
	Sairaj Kodilkar <sarunkod@....com>, Vasant Hegde <vasant.hegde@....com>, 
	Maxim Levitsky <mlevitsk@...hat.com>, Joao Martins <joao.m.martins@...cle.com>, 
	Francesco Lavra <francescolavra.fl@...il.com>, David Matlack <dmatlack@...gle.com>
Subject: [PATCH v2 18/59] KVM: SVM: Add a comment to explain why
 avic_vcpu_blocking() ignores IRQ blocking

Add a comment to explain why KVM clears IsRunning when putting a vCPU,
even though leaving IsRunning=1 would be ok from a functional perspective.
Per Maxim's experiments, a misbehaving VM could spam the AVIC doorbell so
fast as to induce a 50%+ loss in performance.

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/8d7e0d0391df4efc7cb28557297eb2ec9904f1e5.camel@redhat.com
Cc: Maxim Levitsky <mlevitsk@...hat.com>
Signed-off-by: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@...gle.com>
---
 arch/x86/kvm/svm/avic.c | 31 ++++++++++++++++++-------------
 1 file changed, 18 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/avic.c b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/avic.c
index bf8b59556373..3cf929ac117f 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/avic.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/avic.c
@@ -1121,19 +1121,24 @@ void avic_vcpu_blocking(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
 	if (!kvm_vcpu_apicv_active(vcpu))
 		return;
 
-       /*
-        * Unload the AVIC when the vCPU is about to block, _before_
-        * the vCPU actually blocks.
-        *
-        * Any IRQs that arrive before IsRunning=0 will not cause an
-        * incomplete IPI vmexit on the source, therefore vIRR will also
-        * be checked by kvm_vcpu_check_block() before blocking.  The
-        * memory barrier implicit in set_current_state orders writing
-        * IsRunning=0 before reading the vIRR.  The processor needs a
-        * matching memory barrier on interrupt delivery between writing
-        * IRR and reading IsRunning; the lack of this barrier might be
-        * the cause of errata #1235).
-        */
+	/*
+	 * Unload the AVIC when the vCPU is about to block, _before_ the vCPU
+	 * actually blocks.
+	 *
+	 * Note, any IRQs that arrive before IsRunning=0 will not cause an
+	 * incomplete IPI vmexit on the source; kvm_vcpu_check_block() handles
+	 * this by checking vIRR one last time before blocking.  The memory
+	 * barrier implicit in set_current_state orders writing IsRunning=0
+	 * before reading the vIRR.  The processor needs a matching memory
+	 * barrier on interrupt delivery between writing IRR and reading
+	 * IsRunning; the lack of this barrier might be the cause of errata #1235).
+	 *
+	 * Clear IsRunning=0 even if guest IRQs are disabled, i.e. even if KVM
+	 * doesn't need to detect events for scheduling purposes.  The doorbell
+	 * used to signal running vCPUs cannot be blocked, i.e. will perturb the
+	 * CPU and cause noisy neighbor problems if the VM is sending interrupts
+	 * to the vCPU while it's scheduled out.
+	 */
 	avic_vcpu_put(vcpu);
 }
 
-- 
2.49.0.1151.ga128411c76-goog