[PATCH v2 1/5] KVM: PPC: Book3S HV: Validate arch_compat against host compatibility mode
From: Amit Machhiwal
Date: Wed May 13 2026 - 06:11:26 EST
On IBM POWER systems, newer processor generations can operate in
compatibility modes corresponding to earlier generations. This becomes
relevant for nested virtualization, where nested KVM guests may need to
run with a specific processor compatibility level.
Currently, when running a nested KVM guest (L2) inside a Power11 pSeries
logical partition (L1) booted in Power10 compatibility mode, the guest
fails to boot while setting 'arch_compat'. This happens because the CPU
class is derived from the hardware PVR (via mfspr()), which reflects the
physical processor generation (Power11), rather than the effective
compatibility mode (Power10).
As a result, userspace may request a Power11 arch_compat for the L2
guest. However, the L1 partition, running in Power10 compatibility, has
only negotiated support up to Power10 with the Power Hypervisor (L0).
When H_SET_STATE is invoked with a Power11 Logical PVR, the hypervisor
rejects the request, leading to a late guest boot failure:
KVM-NESTEDv2: couldn't set guest wide elements
[..KVM reg dump..]
This situation should be detected earlier. Rejecting unsupported
'arch_compat' values in 'kvmppc_set_arch_compat()' avoids issuing an
invalid H_SET_STATE hcall and provides a clearer failure mode.
Add a check to reject Power11 'arch_compat' requests when the host is
running in Power10 compatibility mode, returning -EINVAL early instead
of deferring the failure to the hypervisor.
Signed-off-by: Amit Machhiwal <amachhiw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
arch/powerpc/kvm/book3s_hv.c | 12 ++++++++++++
1 file changed, 12 insertions(+)
diff --git a/arch/powerpc/kvm/book3s_hv.c b/arch/powerpc/kvm/book3s_hv.c
index 61dbeea317f3..249d1f2e4e2c 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/kvm/book3s_hv.c
+++ b/arch/powerpc/kvm/book3s_hv.c
@@ -446,7 +446,19 @@ static int kvmppc_set_arch_compat(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, u32 arch_compat)
guest_pcr_bit = PCR_ARCH_300;
break;
case PVR_ARCH_31:
+ guest_pcr_bit = PCR_ARCH_31;
+ break;
case PVR_ARCH_31_P11:
+ /*
+ * Need to check this for ISA 3.1, as Power10 and
+ * Power11 share the same PCR. For any subsequent ISA
+ * versions, this will be taken care of by the guest vs
+ * host PCR comparison below.
+ */
+ if ((PVR_ARCH_31 & cur_cpu_spec->pvr_mask) ==
+ cur_cpu_spec->pvr_value) {
+ return -EINVAL;
+ }
guest_pcr_bit = PCR_ARCH_31;
break;
default:
--
2.50.1 (Apple Git-155)