[PATCH 14/22] KVM: nVMX: advertise MBEC to nested guests

From: Paolo Bonzini

Date: Fri Mar 20 2026 - 20:16:22 EST


From: Jon Kohler <jon@xxxxxxxxxxx>

Advertise SECONDARY_EXEC_MODE_BASED_EPT_EXEC (MBEC) to userspace, which
allows userspace to expose and advertise the feature to the guest.
When MBEC is enabled by the guest, it is passed to the MMU via cr4_smep
and to the processor by the merging of vmcs12->secondary_vm_exec_control
into the VMCS02's secondary VM execution controls.

Signed-off-by: Jon Kohler <jon@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID: <20251223054806.1611168-9-jon@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
arch/x86/kvm/mmu.h | 2 +-
arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c | 7 ++++---
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c | 10 ++++++++++
3 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/mmu.h b/arch/x86/kvm/mmu.h
index 2a6caac39d40..035244ccbb5e 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/mmu.h
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/mmu.h
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ void kvm_init_shadow_npt_mmu(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, unsigned long cr0,
unsigned long cr4, u64 efer, gpa_t nested_cr3);
void kvm_init_shadow_ept_mmu(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, bool execonly,
int huge_page_level, bool accessed_dirty,
- gpa_t new_eptp);
+ bool mbec, gpa_t new_eptp);
bool kvm_can_do_async_pf(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu);
int kvm_handle_page_fault(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, u64 error_code,
u64 fault_address, char *insn, int insn_len);
diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c b/arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c
index a0b4774e405a..647dffb69d85 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c
@@ -5839,7 +5839,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(kvm_init_shadow_npt_mmu);

static union kvm_cpu_role
kvm_calc_shadow_ept_root_page_role(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, bool accessed_dirty,
- bool execonly, u8 level)
+ bool execonly, u8 level, bool mbec)
{
union kvm_cpu_role role = {0};

@@ -5849,6 +5849,7 @@ kvm_calc_shadow_ept_root_page_role(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, bool accessed_dirty,
*/
WARN_ON_ONCE(is_smm(vcpu));
role.base.level = level;
+ role.base.cr4_smep = mbec;
role.base.has_4_byte_gpte = false;
role.base.direct = false;
role.base.ad_disabled = !accessed_dirty;
@@ -5864,13 +5865,13 @@ kvm_calc_shadow_ept_root_page_role(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, bool accessed_dirty,

void kvm_init_shadow_ept_mmu(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, bool execonly,
int huge_page_level, bool accessed_dirty,
- gpa_t new_eptp)
+ bool mbec, gpa_t new_eptp)
{
struct kvm_mmu *context = &vcpu->arch.guest_mmu;
u8 level = vmx_eptp_page_walk_level(new_eptp);
union kvm_cpu_role new_mode =
kvm_calc_shadow_ept_root_page_role(vcpu, accessed_dirty,
- execonly, level);
+ execonly, level, mbec);

if (new_mode.as_u64 != context->cpu_role.as_u64) {
/* EPT, and thus nested EPT, does not consume CR0, CR4, nor EFER. */
diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c
index 7c55551a2680..7b0861d02166 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c
@@ -460,6 +460,12 @@ static void nested_ept_inject_page_fault(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu,
vmcs12->guest_physical_address = fault->address;
}

+static inline bool nested_ept_mbec_enabled(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
+{
+ struct vmcs12 *vmcs12 = get_vmcs12(vcpu);
+ return nested_cpu_has2(vmcs12, SECONDARY_EXEC_MODE_BASED_EPT_EXEC);
+}
+
static void nested_ept_new_eptp(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
{
struct vcpu_vmx *vmx = to_vmx(vcpu);
@@ -468,6 +474,7 @@ static void nested_ept_new_eptp(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)

kvm_init_shadow_ept_mmu(vcpu, execonly, ept_lpage_level,
nested_ept_ad_enabled(vcpu),
+ nested_ept_mbec_enabled(vcpu),
nested_ept_get_eptp(vcpu));
}

@@ -7145,6 +7152,9 @@ static void nested_vmx_setup_secondary_ctls(u32 ept_caps,
msrs->ept_caps |= VMX_EPT_AD_BIT;
}

+ if (cpu_has_ept_mbec())
+ msrs->secondary_ctls_high |=
+ SECONDARY_EXEC_MODE_BASED_EPT_EXEC;
/*
* Advertise EPTP switching irrespective of hardware support,
* KVM emulates it in software so long as VMFUNC is supported.
--
2.52.0