[PATCH 6/8] KVM: selftests: Trigger save+restore randomly in the #PF stress test

From: Yosry Ahmed

Date: Mon May 18 2026 - 16:32:35 EST


From: Yosry Ahmed <yosryahmed@xxxxxxxxxx>

Instead of an explicit GUEST_SYNC() after each access+#PF, run another
thread that keeps sending SIGUSR to the vCPU thread, essentially
triggering exits to userspace and save+restore on random points in guest
execution. This makes the test a lot more meaningful as it opens the
door to exercising race conditions between #PF handling in the guest
and save+restore in the host.

The signals are ignored using SIG_IGN outside of __vcpu_run() to avoid
interrupting other ioctls/sysctls performed by the test.

Signed-off-by: Yosry Ahmed <yosry@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
.../kvm/x86/stress_save_restore_pf_test.c | 56 ++++++++++++++++---
1 file changed, 48 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/x86/stress_save_restore_pf_test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/x86/stress_save_restore_pf_test.c
index 12da74b4f725c..60a013e0f14fb 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/x86/stress_save_restore_pf_test.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/x86/stress_save_restore_pf_test.c
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
#include <errno.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <time.h>
+#include <pthread.h>
+#include <signal.h>
#include <unistd.h>

#include "test_util.h"
@@ -99,14 +101,40 @@ static void guest_access_memory(void *arg)
/* Clear the present bit again so it faults next time */
*guest_get_pte(vaddr) &= ~pte_present_mask;
invlpg(vaddr);
+ }
+}
+
+static void *sigusr_thread_fn(void *arg)
+{
+ pthread_t vcpu_thread = (pthread_t)arg;

- GUEST_SYNC(guest_accesses);
+ for (;;) {
+ pthread_testcancel();
+ pthread_kill(vcpu_thread, SIGUSR1);
+ usleep(100);
}
+ return NULL;
+}
+
+static void dummy_signal_handler(int signo) {}
+static struct sigaction sa;
+
+static void vcpu_sigusr_listen(void)
+{
+ sa.sa_handler = dummy_signal_handler;
+ sigaction(SIGUSR1, &sa, NULL);
+}
+
+static void vcpu_sigusr_ignore(void)
+{
+ sa.sa_handler = SIG_IGN;
+ sigaction(SIGUSR1, &sa, NULL);
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
struct kvm_x86_state *state;
+ pthread_t sigusr_thread;
struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu;
int r, i, count = 0;
struct kvm_vm *vm;
@@ -140,18 +168,28 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
/* Map the page tables so that the guest #PF handler can walk them */
virt_map_page_tables(vm);

+ /* Initialize the thread sending SIGUSR and install the handler */
+ pthread_create(&sigusr_thread, NULL, sigusr_thread_fn,
+ (void *)pthread_self());
+
while (count++ < NR_ITERATIONS) {
+ /*
+ * Only handle SIGUSR while the vCPU is running, otherwise
+ * ignore it to avoid interrupting other ioctls/syscalls.
+ */
+ vcpu_sigusr_listen();
r = __vcpu_run(vcpu);
- TEST_ASSERT(!r, "vcpu_run failed");
- TEST_ASSERT_KVM_EXIT_REASON(vcpu, KVM_EXIT_IO);
-
- get_ucall(vcpu, &uc);
- if (uc.cmd == UCALL_ABORT) {
+ if (r == -1)
+ TEST_ASSERT_EQ(errno, EINTR);
+ vcpu_sigusr_ignore();
+
+ /* The guest only exists due to a signal or failed assertion */
+ if (!r) {
+ TEST_ASSERT_KVM_EXIT_REASON(vcpu, KVM_EXIT_IO);
+ TEST_ASSERT_EQ(get_ucall(vcpu, &uc), UCALL_ABORT);
REPORT_GUEST_ASSERT(uc);
break;
}
- TEST_ASSERT_EQ(uc.cmd, UCALL_SYNC);
- TEST_ASSERT_EQ(uc.args[1], count - 1);

state = vcpu_save_state(vcpu);

@@ -166,6 +204,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
sync_global_from_guest(vm, guest_accesses);
pr_info("Guest page accesses: %lu\n", guest_accesses);

+ pthread_cancel(sigusr_thread);
+ pthread_join(sigusr_thread, NULL);
kvm_vm_free(vm);
return 0;
}
--
2.54.0.563.g4f69b47b94-goog