[PATCH v3 1/8] x86/fpu: Check for missing AVX and AVX-512 xstate bits

From: Eric Biggers

Date: Wed Aug 12 2026 - 22:21:17 EST


If the CPU declares AVX or AVX-512 support, verify that the
corresponding xstate bits are also set. If not, warn and clear them.

This eliminates the perceived need for AVX and AVX-512 optimized code in
the kernel to call cpu_has_xfeatures(). That has never been universally
done, which strongly suggests that it has never really been needed in
practice, but this should remove any remaining doubt.

Acked-by: Christoph Hellwig <hch@xxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Eric Biggers <ebiggers@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
arch/x86/kernel/fpu/xstate.c | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++--
1 file changed, 23 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/fpu/xstate.c b/arch/x86/kernel/fpu/xstate.c
index a7b6524a9dea..97cfd4fb6cc0 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/fpu/xstate.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/fpu/xstate.c
@@ -806,7 +806,7 @@ static u64 __init guest_default_mask(void)
void __init fpu__init_system_xstate(unsigned int legacy_size)
{
unsigned int eax, ebx, ecx, edx;
- u64 xfeatures;
+ u64 xfeatures, mask;
int err;
int i;

@@ -818,6 +818,8 @@ void __init fpu__init_system_xstate(unsigned int legacy_size)
if (!boot_cpu_has(X86_FEATURE_XSAVE)) {
pr_info("x86/fpu: x87 FPU will use %s\n",
boot_cpu_has(X86_FEATURE_FXSR) ? "FXSAVE" : "FSAVE");
+ /* Disable all dependent flags too */
+ setup_clear_cpu_cap(X86_FEATURE_XSAVE);
return;
}

@@ -833,7 +835,8 @@ void __init fpu__init_system_xstate(unsigned int legacy_size)
cpuid_count(CPUID_LEAF_XSTATE, 1, &eax, &ebx, &ecx, &edx);
fpu_kernel_cfg.max_features |= ecx + ((u64)edx << 32);

- if ((fpu_kernel_cfg.max_features & XFEATURE_MASK_FPSSE) != XFEATURE_MASK_FPSSE) {
+ mask = XFEATURE_MASK_FPSSE;
+ if ((fpu_kernel_cfg.max_features & mask) != mask) {
/*
* This indicates that something really unexpected happened
* with the enumeration. Disable XSAVE and try to continue
@@ -844,6 +847,24 @@ void __init fpu__init_system_xstate(unsigned int legacy_size)
goto out_disable;
}

+ mask |= XFEATURE_MASK_YMM;
+ if (boot_cpu_has(X86_FEATURE_AVX)) {
+ if ((fpu_kernel_cfg.max_features & mask) != mask) {
+ pr_err(FW_BUG
+ "x86/fpu: Disabling AVX support due to missing xstate features\n");
+ setup_clear_cpu_cap(X86_FEATURE_AVX);
+ }
+ }
+
+ mask |= XFEATURE_MASK_AVX512;
+ if (boot_cpu_has(X86_FEATURE_AVX512F)) {
+ if ((fpu_kernel_cfg.max_features & mask) != mask) {
+ pr_err(FW_BUG
+ "x86/fpu: Disabling AVX-512 support due to missing xstate features\n");
+ setup_clear_cpu_cap(X86_FEATURE_AVX512F);
+ }
+ }
+
if (fpu_kernel_cfg.max_features & XFEATURE_MASK_APX &&
fpu_kernel_cfg.max_features & (XFEATURE_MASK_BNDREGS | XFEATURE_MASK_BNDCSR)) {
/*
--
2.55.0