Re: [PATCH 2/2] KVM: SVM: Raise #UD if VMMCALL instruction is not intercepted

From: Sean Christopherson

Date: Tue Jan 06 2026 - 13:57:17 EST


On Tue, Jan 06, 2026, Andrew Cooper wrote:
> > Mentioning L2 and L1 is confusing. It reads like arbitrary KVM behavior. And
> > IMO the most notable thing is what's missing: an intercept check. _That_ is
> > worth commenting, e.g.
> >
> > /*
> > * VMMCALL #UDs if it's not intercepted, and KVM reaches this point if
> > * and only if the VMCALL intercept is not set in vmcb12.
> > */
>
> Not intercepting VMMCALL is stated to be an unconditional VMRUN
> failure.  APM Vol3 15.5 Canonicalization and Consistency Checks.

Hrm, I can't find that. I see:

The VMRUN intercept bit is clear.

but I don't see anything about VMMCALL being a mandatory intercept.

>
> The "VMMCALL was not intercepted" condition is probably what the
> pipeline really checks, but really it means "in root mode".
>
> In most nested virt scenarios, L1 knows it's in a VM and can use VMMCALL
> for host facilities.
>
> ~Andrew