[PATCH] KVM: VMX: remove LFENCE in vmx_spec_ctrl_restore_host()

From: Jon Kohler
Date: Wed May 31 2023 - 11:02:17 EST


Remove barrier_nospec(), which translates to LFENCE, in
vmx_spec_ctrl_restore_host() as RSB-barriers (as defined by [1])
already exist prior to this point.

This LFENCE was added on commit fc02735b14ff ("KVM: VMX: Prevent guest
RSB poisoning attacks with eIBRS") in the 5.19 timeframe; however,
commit 2b1299322016 ("x86/speculation: Add RSB VM Exit protections") in
6.0 timeframe added a LFENCE for X86_FEATURE_RSB_VMEXIT_LITE was added
directly in vmx_vmexit, prior to CALL vmx_spec_ctrl_restore_host.

For posterity, vmx_spec_ctrl_restore_host also will execute WRMSR to
IA32_SPEC_CTRL for X86_FEATURE_KERNEL_IBRS or when guest/host MSR value
does not match, which serves as an additional RSB-barrier.

[1] https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/articles/technical/software-security-guidance/advisory-guidance/post-barrier-return-stack-buffer-predictions.html

Fixes: fc02735b14ff ("KVM: VMX: Prevent guest RSB poisoning attacks with eIBRS")
Fixes: 2b1299322016 ("x86/speculation: Add RSB VM Exit protections")
Signed-off-by: Jon Kohler <jon@xxxxxxxxxxx>
CC: Andrew Cooper <andrew.cooper3@xxxxxxxxxx>
CC: Daniel Sneddon <daniel.sneddon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
CC: Josh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@xxxxxxxxxx>
CC: Pawan Gupta <pawan.kumar.gupta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
CC: Peter Zijlstra (Intel) <peterz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c | 2 --
1 file changed, 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c
index 44fb619803b8..98ca8b79aab1 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c
@@ -7130,8 +7130,6 @@ void noinstr vmx_spec_ctrl_restore_host(struct vcpu_vmx *vmx,
if (cpu_feature_enabled(X86_FEATURE_KERNEL_IBRS) ||
vmx->spec_ctrl != hostval)
native_wrmsrl(MSR_IA32_SPEC_CTRL, hostval);
-
- barrier_nospec();
}

static fastpath_t vmx_exit_handlers_fastpath(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
--
2.30.1 (Apple Git-130)