Re: [PATCH v3 2/2] KVM: arm64: Support BBM level 3

[Mostafa Saleh]

On Mon, Oct 05, 2026 at 04:02:06PM +0100, Vincent Donnefort wrote:
> On Fri, Sep 04, 2026 at 01:28:55PM +0000, Mostafa Saleh wrote:
> > If the system supports hardware Break-Before-Make (BBM) level 3, use it
> > to replace stage-2 PTEs directly. Otherwise, fall back to the software
> > BBM sequence.
> > 
> > For BBML3 the sequence is:
> > 1) Get a reference count on the containing table for the new PTE.
> > 2) Atomically update the PTE with the new valid descriptor.
> > 3) Invalidate the TLB for the old PTE.
> > 4) Drop the reference count holding the old PTE.
> > 
> > Add 2 helpers:
> > 1) kvm_pgtable_use_bbml3(): Checks for the architecture requirement
> >    for BBML3.
> > 
> > 2) stage2_use_bbml3(): Extra checks added by SW design (FWB and DIC)
> >    - As BBML3 will update the PTE atomically, it can only know it
> >      raced with another core at the point of the cmpxchg failing,
> >      unlike the SW implementation which locks the PTE first.
> >      And as we must issue CMOs to the new mapped page before the
> >      update, that means with BBML3 racing cores will issue redundant
> >      CMOs.
> > 
> > Signed-off-by: Mostafa Saleh <smostafa@xxxxxxxxxx>
> > ---
> >  arch/arm64/kvm/hyp/pgtable.c | 111 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------
> >  1 file changed, 90 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-)
> > 
> > diff --git a/arch/arm64/kvm/hyp/pgtable.c b/arch/arm64/kvm/hyp/pgtable.c
> > index d670da8882a5..a9ba761e9a01 100644
> > --- a/arch/arm64/kvm/hyp/pgtable.c
> > +++ b/arch/arm64/kvm/hyp/pgtable.c
> > @@ -82,6 +82,27 @@ static bool kvm_pte_table(kvm_pte_t pte, s8 level)
> >  	return FIELD_GET(KVM_PTE_TYPE, pte) == KVM_PTE_TYPE_TABLE;
> >  }
> >  
> > +/*
> > + * Check if BBML3 can be used for this PTE update.
> > + * Fallback to software break-before-make for leaf-to-leaf changes.
> > + */
> > +static bool kvm_pgtable_use_bbml3(const struct kvm_pgtable_visit_ctx *ctx,
> > +				  kvm_pte_t new)
> > +{
> > +	if (!system_supports_bbml3())
> > +		return false;
> > +
> > +	if (!kvm_pte_valid(ctx->old) || !kvm_pte_valid(new))
> > +		return false;
> > +
> > +	/* Block <-> Table is ok. */
> > +	if (kvm_pte_table(new, ctx->level) ||
> > +	    kvm_pte_table(ctx->old, ctx->level))
> > +		return true;
> > +
> > +	return false;
> > +}
> > +
> >  static kvm_pte_t *kvm_pte_follow(kvm_pte_t pte, struct kvm_pgtable_mm_ops *mm_ops)
> >  {
> >  	return mm_ops->phys_to_virt(kvm_pte_to_phys(pte));
> > @@ -835,25 +856,46 @@ static void stage2_clean_old_pte(const struct kvm_pgtable_visit_ctx *ctx,
> >  		mm_ops->put_page(ctx->ptep);
> >  }
> >  
> > +/*
> > + * Don't use bbml3 for stage-2 if FWB or DIC are not supported
> > + * as that means racing cores will issue duplicate CMOs.
> > + */
> > +static bool stage2_use_bbml3(const struct kvm_pgtable_visit_ctx *ctx,
> > +			     kvm_pte_t new)
> > +{
> > +	if (!cpus_have_final_cap(ARM64_HAS_STAGE2_FWB) ||
> > +	    !cpus_have_final_cap(ARM64_HAS_CACHE_DIC))
> > +		return false;
> > +
> > +	return kvm_pgtable_use_bbml3(ctx, new);
> > +}
> > +
> >  /**
> >   * stage2_try_break_pte() - Invalidates a pte according to the
> >   *			    'break-before-make' requirements of the
> > - *			    architecture.
> > + *			    architecture, if BBML3 is supported it
> > + *			    will be used and this function won't
> > + *			    break the PTE.
> >   *
> >   * @ctx: context of the visited pte.
> >   * @mmu: stage-2 mmu
> > + * @new: New pte installed in make.
> >   *
> > - * Returns: true if the pte was successfully broken.
> > + * Returns: true if the pte was successfully broken or BBML3 is used.
> >   *
> >   * If the removed pte was valid, performs the necessary serialization and TLB
> >   * invalidation for the old value. For counted ptes, drops the reference count
> >   * on the containing table page.
> >   */
> >  static bool stage2_try_break_pte(const struct kvm_pgtable_visit_ctx *ctx,
> > -				 struct kvm_s2_mmu *mmu)
> > +				 struct kvm_s2_mmu *mmu, kvm_pte_t new)
> >  {
> >  	kvm_pte_t locked_pte;
> >  
> > +	/* All handled in stage2_make_pte() */
> > +	if (stage2_use_bbml3(ctx, new))
> > +		return true;
> > +
> 
> Wouldn't it be easier to keep try_break_pte/make_pte to the !bbml3 case and to
> just create a make_pte_bbml3() variant to be called when stage2_use_bbml3()?
> 
>   if (!stage2_use_bbml3()) {
>       if (stage2_try_break_pte())
>           return -EAGAIN;
>       stage2_make_pte();
>   } else {
>       if (stage2_make_pte_bbml3())
>           return -EAGAIN;
>   }
> 
> I believe also, the error path would look less weird as we catch an error in
> make_pte() but without reverting the break_pte() (even if it is correct right
> now).
> 
> And perhaps you could introduce a function that does both break/make
> (stage2_update_pte()?) called by both stage2_split_walker() and
> stage2_map_walk_leaf(). This would avoid repeating the error path.

I though about that and was not sure about it at the beginning as
mentioned in the cover letter:
    Initially, I encapsulated the full logic of BBM in one function,
    which was not readable, due to different ordering and dealing with
    CMO, TLBI.

I think that can be better if we call the new helper for all sites
except for stage2_map_walker_try_leaf(). Although we would need to
open code the bbml3 check there now. I can try and see how it looks.

Thanks,
Mostafa

> 
> Otherwise, everything looks functional to me.
> 
> -- 
> Vincent
>