[PATCH v5 5/8] KVM: nSVM: Use emulator bytes for synthesized nested #NPF
From: Tina Zhang
Date: Mon Aug 24 2026 - 08:52:57 EST
SVM DecodeAssists provides instruction bytes for data-access #NPF exits.
Hardware-reflected VM-Exits can use fresh VMCB02 bytes, but a
KVM-synthesized #NPF has no hardware byte state to propagate.
Use the emulator fetch cache when the nested #NPF is the current emulator
exception. Store the bytes in a one-shot buffer that is consumed while
constructing VMCB12 and cleared before the next nested run, preventing an
unrelated nested VM-Exit from reusing stale emulator bytes.
Signed-off-by: Tina Zhang <zhang_wei@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c | 50 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.h | 12 ++++++++++
2 files changed, 61 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c
index 2db0ec66e8dc..635ff20cc431 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c
@@ -81,11 +81,45 @@ static void nested_svm_clear_vmcb02_insn_bytes(struct vcpu_svm *svm)
svm->nested.vmcb02_insn_bytes_fresh = false;
}
+static void nested_svm_clear_synthesized_insn_bytes(struct vcpu_svm *svm)
+{
+ svm->nested.synthesized_insn_bytes.prepared = false;
+ svm->nested.synthesized_insn_bytes.insn_len = 0;
+}
+
+static void nested_svm_prepare_synthesized_insn_bytes(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
+{
+ struct vcpu_svm *svm = to_svm(vcpu);
+ struct nested_svm_insn_bytes *synthesized =
+ &svm->nested.synthesized_insn_bytes;
+ struct x86_emulate_ctxt *ctxt = vcpu->arch.emulate_ctxt;
+
+ static_assert(sizeof(synthesized->insn_bytes) >=
+ sizeof(ctxt->fetch.data));
+
+ nested_svm_clear_synthesized_insn_bytes(svm);
+
+ if (!guest_cpu_cap_has(vcpu, X86_FEATURE_DECODEASSISTS))
+ return;
+
+ if (!ctxt || ctxt->eip != kvm_rip_read(vcpu) ||
+ ctxt->fetch.end < ctxt->fetch.data ||
+ ctxt->fetch.end > ctxt->fetch.data + sizeof(ctxt->fetch.data))
+ return;
+
+ synthesized->insn_len = ctxt->fetch.end - ctxt->fetch.data;
+ memcpy(synthesized->insn_bytes, ctxt->fetch.data,
+ synthesized->insn_len);
+ synthesized->prepared = true;
+}
+
static void nested_svm_update_vmcb12_insn_bytes(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu,
struct vmcb *vmcb12,
const struct vmcb *vmcb02)
{
struct vcpu_svm *svm = to_svm(vcpu);
+ struct nested_svm_insn_bytes *synthesized =
+ &svm->nested.synthesized_insn_bytes;
nested_svm_clear_insn_bytes(vmcb12);
@@ -93,11 +127,20 @@ static void nested_svm_update_vmcb12_insn_bytes(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu,
!nested_svm_vmexit_has_insn_bytes(vmcb02))
goto out;
- if (svm->nested.vmcb02_insn_bytes_fresh)
+ if (svm->nested.vmcb02_insn_bytes_fresh) {
nested_svm_copy_insn_bytes(vmcb12, vmcb02);
+ goto out;
+ }
+
+ if (synthesized->prepared) {
+ vmcb12->control.insn_len = synthesized->insn_len;
+ memcpy(vmcb12->control.insn_bytes, synthesized->insn_bytes,
+ vmcb12->control.insn_len);
+ }
out:
svm->nested.vmcb02_insn_bytes_fresh = false;
+ nested_svm_clear_synthesized_insn_bytes(svm);
}
static void nested_svm_inject_npf_exit(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu,
@@ -106,6 +149,8 @@ static void nested_svm_inject_npf_exit(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu,
{
struct vcpu_svm *svm = to_svm(vcpu);
struct vmcb *vmcb = svm->vmcb;
+ struct x86_emulate_ctxt *ctxt = vcpu->arch.emulate_ctxt;
+ bool from_emulation = ctxt && fault == &ctxt->exception;
u64 fault_stage;
/*
@@ -134,6 +179,8 @@ static void nested_svm_inject_npf_exit(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu,
vmcb->control.exit_info_2 = fault->address;
nested_svm_set_vmcb02_insn_bytes_fresh(svm, from_hardware);
+ if (from_emulation && !(fault->error_code & PFERR_FETCH_MASK))
+ nested_svm_prepare_synthesized_insn_bytes(vcpu);
nested_svm_vmexit(svm);
}
@@ -937,6 +984,7 @@ static void nested_vmcb02_prepare_control(struct vcpu_svm *svm)
* Clear stale DecodeAssist data before L2 runs.
*/
nested_svm_clear_vmcb02_insn_bytes(svm);
+ nested_svm_clear_synthesized_insn_bytes(svm);
if (guest_cpu_cap_has(vcpu, X86_FEATURE_VGIF) &&
(vmcb12_ctrl->int_ctl & V_GIF_ENABLE_MASK))
diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.h b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.h
index 610def16f700..9344707e9ffd 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.h
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.h
@@ -209,6 +209,12 @@ struct vmcb_ctrl_area_cached {
};
};
+struct nested_svm_insn_bytes {
+ bool prepared;
+ u8 insn_len;
+ u8 insn_bytes[X86_MAX_INSTRUCTION_LENGTH];
+};
+
struct svm_nested_state {
struct kvm_vmcb_info vmcb02;
u64 hsave_msr;
@@ -245,6 +251,12 @@ struct svm_nested_state {
/* True if VMCB02 has instruction bytes from the current hardware exit. */
bool vmcb02_insn_bytes_fresh;
+
+ /*
+ * Cached instruction bytes for the current synthesized nested #NPF.
+ * Valid until the corresponding nested VM-Exit is constructed.
+ */
+ struct nested_svm_insn_bytes synthesized_insn_bytes;
};
struct vcpu_sev_es_state {
--
2.43.7