[PATCH v4 09/18] x86/msr: Make wrmsrns() a first class citizen

From: Juergen Gross

Date: Mon Jun 29 2026 - 03:04:41 EST


Today wrmsrns() is - apart from the potential use of the wrmsrns
instruction - equivalent to __wrmsrq(). Change that by supporting
MSR write trace entries and a safe variant.

wrmsrns() and wrmsrns_safe() will be the "normal" interfaces like
wrmsrq() and wrmsrq_safe(). They will call write_msrns[_safe]() and
conditionally create trace entries via do_trace_write_msr().

write_msrns[_safe]() are different between paravirt and non-paravirt
cases. For the paravirt case they will (for now) only use the wrmsr
paravirt functions, while for non-paravirt they call native_wrmsrns()
and native_wrmsrns_safe().

native_wrmsrns() is like wrmsrns() today, native_wrmsrns_safe() is just
the safe variant of it. The both rely on __wrmsrns(), which will use
the ALTERNATIVE*() macros for selecting WRMSR or WRMSRNS (with or
without an immediate operand specifying the MSR register) depending on
availability.

Switch the wrmsrns() call in fred_update_rsp0() to native_wrmsrns() in
order to avoid a change of functionality. The wrmsrns() call in
vmx_write_guest_host_msr() can be kept, as it has replaced a wrmsrq()
call, so eventually creating a trace entry is obviously fine here.

Originally-by: Xin Li (Intel) <xin@xxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Juergen Gross <jgross@xxxxxxxx>
---
V2:
- new patch, partially taken from "[RFC PATCH v2 21/34] x86/msr: Utilize
the alternatives mechanism to write MSR" by Xin Li.
V4:
- don't modify __wrmsrq(), but create __wrmsrns().
---
arch/x86/include/asm/fred.h | 2 +-
arch/x86/include/asm/msr.h | 150 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
arch/x86/include/asm/paravirt.h | 10 +++
3 files changed, 148 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/fred.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/fred.h
index 18a2f811c358..0a6773b76968 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/fred.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/fred.h
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ static __always_inline void fred_update_rsp0(void)
unsigned long rsp0 = (unsigned long) task_stack_page(current) + THREAD_SIZE;

if (cpu_feature_enabled(X86_FEATURE_FRED) && (__this_cpu_read(fred_rsp0) != rsp0)) {
- wrmsrns(MSR_IA32_FRED_RSP0, rsp0);
+ native_wrmsrns(MSR_IA32_FRED_RSP0, rsp0);
__this_cpu_write(fred_rsp0, rsp0);
}
}
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/msr.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/msr.h
index 266298b3d201..91d6f481732b 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/msr.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/msr.h
@@ -7,11 +7,11 @@
#ifndef __ASSEMBLER__

#include <asm/asm.h>
-#include <asm/errno.h>
#include <asm/cpumask.h>
#include <uapi/asm/msr.h>
#include <asm/shared/msr.h>

+#include <linux/errno.h>
#include <linux/types.h>
#include <linux/percpu.h>

@@ -56,6 +56,36 @@ static inline void do_trace_read_msr(u32 msr, u64 val, int failed) {}
static inline void do_trace_rdpmc(u32 msr, u64 val, int failed) {}
#endif

+/* The GNU Assembler (Gas) with Binutils 2.40 adds WRMSRNS support */
+#if defined(CONFIG_AS_IS_GNU) && CONFIG_AS_VERSION >= 24000
+#define ASM_WRMSRNS "wrmsrns\n\t"
+#else
+#define ASM_WRMSRNS _ASM_BYTES(0x0f,0x01,0xc6)
+#endif
+
+/* The GNU Assembler (Gas) with Binutils 2.41 adds the .insn directive support */
+#if defined(CONFIG_AS_IS_GNU) && CONFIG_AS_VERSION >= 24100
+#define ASM_WRMSRNS_IMM \
+ " .insn VEX.128.F3.M7.W0 0xf6 /0, %[val], %[msr]%{:u32}\n\t"
+#else
+/*
+ * Note, clang also doesn't support the .insn directive.
+ *
+ * The register operand is encoded as %rax because all uses of the immediate
+ * form MSR access instructions reference %rax as the register operand.
+ */
+#define ASM_WRMSRNS_IMM \
+ " .byte 0xc4,0xe7,0x7a,0xf6,0xc0; .long %c[msr]"
+#endif
+
+#define PREPARE_RDX_FOR_WRMSR \
+ "mov %%rax, %%rdx\n\t" \
+ "shr $0x20, %%rdx\n\t"
+
+#define PREPARE_RCX_RDX_FOR_WRMSR \
+ "mov %[msr], %%ecx\n\t" \
+ PREPARE_RDX_FOR_WRMSR
+
/*
* __rdmsr() and __wrmsr() are the two primitives which are the bare minimum MSR
* accessors and should not have any tracing or other functionality piggybacking
@@ -83,6 +113,78 @@ static __always_inline void __wrmsrq(u32 msr, u64 val)
: : "c" (msr), "a" ((u32)val), "d" ((u32)(val >> 32)) : "memory");
}

+static __always_inline bool __wrmsrns_variable(u32 msr, u64 val, int type)
+{
+#ifdef CONFIG_X86_64
+ BUILD_BUG_ON(__builtin_constant_p(msr));
+#endif
+
+ /*
+ * WRMSR is 2 bytes. WRMSRNS is 3 bytes. Pad WRMSR with a redundant
+ * DS prefix to avoid a trailing NOP.
+ */
+ asm_inline volatile goto(
+ "1:\n"
+ ALTERNATIVE("ds wrmsr",
+ ASM_WRMSRNS,
+ X86_FEATURE_WRMSRNS)
+ _ASM_EXTABLE_TYPE(1b, %l[badmsr], %c[type])
+
+ :
+ : "c" (msr), "a" ((u32)val), "d" ((u32)(val >> 32)), [type] "i" (type)
+ : "memory"
+ : badmsr);
+
+ return false;
+
+badmsr:
+ return true;
+}
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_X86_64
+/*
+ * Non-serializing WRMSR or its immediate form, when available.
+ *
+ * Otherwise, it falls back to a serializing WRMSR.
+ */
+static __always_inline bool __wrmsrns_constant(u32 msr, u64 val, int type)
+{
+ BUILD_BUG_ON(!__builtin_constant_p(msr));
+
+ asm_inline volatile goto(
+ "1:\n"
+ ALTERNATIVE_2(PREPARE_RCX_RDX_FOR_WRMSR
+ "2: ds wrmsr",
+ PREPARE_RCX_RDX_FOR_WRMSR
+ ASM_WRMSRNS,
+ X86_FEATURE_WRMSRNS,
+ ASM_WRMSRNS_IMM,
+ X86_FEATURE_MSR_IMM)
+ _ASM_EXTABLE_TYPE(1b, %l[badmsr], %c[type]) /* For WRMSRNS immediate */
+ _ASM_EXTABLE_TYPE(2b, %l[badmsr], %c[type]) /* For WRMSR(NS) */
+
+ :
+ : [val] "a" (val), [msr] "i" (msr), [type] "i" (type)
+ : "memory", "ecx", "rdx"
+ : badmsr);
+
+ return false;
+
+badmsr:
+ return true;
+}
+#endif
+
+static __always_inline bool __wrmsrns(u32 msr, u64 val, int type)
+{
+#ifdef CONFIG_X86_64
+ if (__builtin_constant_p(msr))
+ return __wrmsrns_constant(msr, val, type);
+#endif
+
+ return __wrmsrns_variable(msr, val, type);
+}
+
static __always_inline u64 native_rdmsrq(u32 msr)
{
return __rdmsr(msr);
@@ -134,6 +236,16 @@ static inline int notrace native_write_msr_safe(u32 msr, u64 val)
return err;
}

+static __always_inline void native_wrmsrns(u32 msr, u64 val)
+{
+ __wrmsrns(msr, val, EX_TYPE_WRMSR);
+}
+
+static __always_inline int native_wrmsrns_safe(u32 msr, u64 val)
+{
+ return __wrmsrns(msr, val, EX_TYPE_WRMSR_SAFE) ? -EIO : 0;
+}
+
extern int rdmsr_safe_regs(u32 regs[8]);
extern int wrmsr_safe_regs(u32 regs[8]);

@@ -150,7 +262,6 @@ static inline u64 native_read_pmc(int counter)
#ifdef CONFIG_PARAVIRT_XXL
#include <asm/paravirt.h>
#else
-#include <linux/errno.h>
static __always_inline u64 read_msr(u32 msr)
{
return native_read_msr(msr);
@@ -171,6 +282,16 @@ static __always_inline int write_msr_safe(u32 msr, u64 val)
return native_write_msr_safe(msr, val);
}

+static __always_inline void write_msrns(u32 msr, u64 val)
+{
+ native_wrmsrns(msr, val);
+}
+
+static __always_inline int write_msrns_safe(u32 msr, u64 val)
+{
+ return native_wrmsrns_safe(msr, val);
+}
+
static __always_inline u64 rdpmc(int counter)
{
return native_read_pmc(counter);
@@ -223,19 +344,22 @@ static inline int wrmsrq_safe(u32 msr, u64 val)
return err;
}

-/* Instruction opcode for WRMSRNS supported in binutils >= 2.40 */
-#define ASM_WRMSRNS _ASM_BYTES(0x0f,0x01,0xc6)
-
-/* Non-serializing WRMSR, when available. Falls back to a serializing WRMSR. */
static __always_inline void wrmsrns(u32 msr, u64 val)
{
- /*
- * WRMSR is 2 bytes. WRMSRNS is 3 bytes. Pad WRMSR with a redundant
- * DS prefix to avoid a trailing NOP.
- */
- asm volatile("1: " ALTERNATIVE("ds wrmsr", ASM_WRMSRNS, X86_FEATURE_WRMSRNS)
- "2: " _ASM_EXTABLE_TYPE(1b, 2b, EX_TYPE_WRMSR)
- : : "c" (msr), "a" ((u32)val), "d" ((u32)(val >> 32)));
+ write_msrns(msr, val);
+
+ if (tracepoint_enabled(write_msr))
+ do_trace_write_msr(msr, val, 0);
+}
+
+static __always_inline int wrmsrns_safe(u32 msr, u64 val)
+{
+ int err = write_msrns_safe(msr, val);
+
+ if (tracepoint_enabled(write_msr))
+ do_trace_write_msr(msr, val, err);
+
+ return err;
}

struct msr __percpu *msrs_alloc(void);
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/paravirt.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/paravirt.h
index a5a1fc4c88d1..b0c740316cf7 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/paravirt.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/paravirt.h
@@ -160,11 +160,21 @@ static inline void write_msr(u32 msr, u64 val)
paravirt_write_msr(msr, val);
}

+static __always_inline void write_msrns(u32 msr, u64 val)
+{
+ paravirt_write_msr(msr, val);
+}
+
static inline int write_msr_safe(u32 msr, u64 val)
{
return paravirt_write_msr_safe(msr, val);
}

+static __always_inline int write_msrns_safe(u32 msr, u64 val)
+{
+ return paravirt_write_msr_safe(msr, val);
+}
+
static __always_inline int read_msr_safe(u32 msr, u64 *p)
{
return paravirt_read_msr_safe(msr, p);
--
2.54.0