Re: [PATCH v2 1/1] KVM: arm64: allow the VM to select DEVICE_* and NORMAL_NC for IO memory

[Marc Zyngier]

On Tue, 05 Dec 2023 16:43:18 +0000,
Jason Gunthorpe <jgg@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> On Tue, Dec 05, 2023 at 04:22:33PM +0000, Catalin Marinas wrote:

> > That's an argument to restrict this feature to PCIe. It's really about
> > fewer arguments on the behaviour of other devices. Marc did raise
> > another issue with the GIC VCPU interface (does this even have a vma in
> > the host VMM?). That's a class of devices where the mapping is
> > context-switched, so the TLBI+DSB rules don't help.

There is no vma. The CPU interface is entirely under control of KVM.
Userspace only provides the IPA for the mapping.

> 
> I don't know anything about the GIC VCPU interface, to give any
> comment unfortunately. Since it seems there is something to fix here I
> would appreciate some background..
>  
> When you say it is context switched do you mean kvm does a register
> write on every vm entry to set the proper HW context for the vCPU?

The CPU interface is mapped in every guest S2 page tables as a per-CPU
device, and under complete control of the guest. There is no KVM
register write to that frame (unless we're proxying it, but that's for
another day).

> 
> We are worrying that register write will possibly not order after
> NORMAL_NC?

Guest maps the device as Normal-NC (because it now can), which means
that there is no control over the alignment or anything like that. The
accesses could also be reordered, and/or hit after a context switch to
another guest. Which is why KVM has so far used nGnRE as the mapping
type.

	M.

-- 
Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.