[PATCH RFC 00/10] KVM: Enable Clang Context Analysis

From: Marco Elver

Date: Thu Sep 10 2026 - 12:45:43 EST


Enable compiler-based static context analysis [1] for x86 KVM, along with
prerequisite lock annotations in virt/kvm.

During the initial annotation pass, context analysis uncovered a missing
SRCU read-side critical section in x86 PMU filter lookups; patch 1 fixes
this bug.

The remainder of the series is strictly non-functional: it establishes
basic function annotations, guarded_by annotations on core structs, and
straightforward refactorings in hva/gfn range walks and guest_memfd to
eliminate conditional locking patterns that cannot be tracked statically.

Annotating the MMU (mmu/mmu.c, mmu/tdp_mmu.c), i8259, and Xen requires
more invasive changes and is deferred to follow-ups.

[1] https://docs.kernel.org/next/dev-tools/context-analysis.html

Marco Elver (10):
KVM: x86/pmu: Acquire SRCU in pmc_is_event_allowed() to protect filter
lookup
KVM: Allow reading memslots while holding slots_arch_lock
KVM: guest_memfd: Avoid conditional mmu_lock acquisition
KVM: Refactor kvm_handle_hva_range() to avoid conditional mmu_lock
KVM: Refactor kvm_handle_gfn_range() to avoid conditional mmu_lock
KVM: Add basic lock context annotations
KVM: x86: Add basic lock context annotations
KVM: Add guarded_by to members in struct kvm
KVM: x86: Add guarded_by annotations for kvm_arch, kvm_hv, and ioapic
KVM: x86: Enable CONTEXT_ANALYSIS with opt-outs

arch/x86/include/asm/kvm_host.h | 32 ++--
arch/x86/kvm/Makefile | 8 +
arch/x86/kvm/debugfs.c | 1 +
arch/x86/kvm/hyperv.c | 21 +++
arch/x86/kvm/hyperv.h | 16 +-
arch/x86/kvm/ioapic.c | 28 ++-
arch/x86/kvm/ioapic.h | 16 +-
arch/x86/kvm/irq.c | 2 +
arch/x86/kvm/lapic.c | 8 +-
arch/x86/kvm/lapic.h | 15 +-
arch/x86/kvm/mmu/page_track.c | 1 +
arch/x86/kvm/mmu/page_track.h | 3 +-
arch/x86/kvm/mmu/spte.h | 3 +-
arch/x86/kvm/msrs.c | 5 +
arch/x86/kvm/msrs.h | 3 +-
arch/x86/kvm/pmu.c | 9 +-
arch/x86/kvm/regs.h | 15 +-
arch/x86/kvm/smm.c | 6 +
arch/x86/kvm/smm.h | 2 +-
arch/x86/kvm/svm/hyperv.c | 2 +
arch/x86/kvm/svm/hyperv.h | 6 +-
arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c | 30 +++-
arch/x86/kvm/svm/sev.c | 18 ++
arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c | 32 ++++
arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.h | 28 ++-
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/hyperv.h | 6 +-
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/main.c | 5 +
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c | 54 +++++-
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.h | 19 +-
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/sgx.c | 3 +
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/sgx.h | 3 +-
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/tdx.c | 9 +
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c | 11 ++
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/x86_ops.h | 24 ++-
arch/x86/kvm/x86.c | 66 ++++++-
arch/x86/kvm/x86.h | 37 ++--
include/linux/kvm_host.h | 215 ++++++++++++++++-------
scripts/context-analysis-suppression.txt | 1 +
virt/kvm/dirty_ring.c | 2 +
virt/kvm/eventfd.c | 9 +-
virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c | 21 ++-
virt/kvm/kvm_main.c | 183 +++++++++++++------
virt/kvm/pfncache.c | 3 +
43 files changed, 745 insertions(+), 236 deletions(-)

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2.55.0.1003.g10538fe699-goog