[PATCH] KVM: nSVM: Reset the virtual VMLOAD/VMSAVE bit in vmcb02 on every nested VMRUN

From: Amirmohammad Eftekhar

Date: Fri Oct 16 2026 - 20:36:37 EST


The SVM_MISC2_ENABLE_V_VMLOAD_VMSAVE (VLS) bit in
vmcb02->control.misc_ctl2 is OR-set in nested_vmcb02_prepare_control()
when L2 is allowed to use virtual VMLOAD/VMSAVE, but it is never reset.
vmcb02 is a persistent per-vCPU structure reused across nested VMRUNs,
so once one nested entry enables VLS the bit leaks into every later
entry -- including entries where vmcb12 has VLS cleared and L1 has asked
KVM to intercept VMLOAD/VMSAVE. Per AMD's APM, virtual VMLOAD/VMSAVE is
honored over the VMLOAD/VMSAVE intercepts, so with the stale bit set
L2's VMLOAD/VMSAVE are virtualized and run without a #VMEXIT, and the
intercept L1 explicitly requested is silently dropped.

misc_ctl is reset from vmcb01 a few lines earlier; misc_ctl2's VLS bit
has no equivalent reset. The only writes to misc_ctl2 are this OR-set,
the vmcb01 init OR-set, and the independent V_LBR (bit 0) set/clear, so
nothing clears bit 1 between entries. nested_vmcb02_recalc_intercepts()
sets INTERCEPT_VMLOAD/VMSAVE when nested_vmcb_needs_vls_intercept() is
true and otherwise only WARNs on the reverse condition; it never catches
the real hazard of VLS on while the intercept is also set.

Reset the VLS bit before the conditional set, mirroring misc_ctl, and
add a forward WARN so a future regression trips immediately.

This is distinct from CVE-2021-3656 (single-VMRUN under-sanitization of
a VLS bit L1 set in vmcb12 without being granted the feature); here L1
is granted VLS and uses it legitimately, and the bit goes stale across
VMRUNs.

Signed-off-by: Amirmohammad Eftekhar <amirmohammad.eftekhar@xxxxxxxx>
---
arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c | 15 +++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 15 insertions(+)

diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c
index af0ef6784..65e61b796 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c
@@ -197,6 +197,14 @@ void nested_vmcb02_recalc_intercepts(struct vcpu_svm *svm)
} else {
WARN_ON_ONCE(!(vmcb02->control.misc_ctl2 & SVM_MISC2_ENABLE_V_VMLOAD_VMSAVE));
}
+
+ /*
+ * If KVM is intercepting VMLOAD/VMSAVE, virtual VMLOAD/VMSAVE must be
+ * off, or hardware would honor the virtualization and render the
+ * intercept inert.
+ */
+ WARN_ON_ONCE(vmcb_is_intercept(&vmcb02->control, INTERCEPT_VMLOAD) &&
+ (vmcb02->control.misc_ctl2 & SVM_MISC2_ENABLE_V_VMLOAD_VMSAVE));
}

/*
@@ -994,6 +1002,13 @@ static void nested_vmcb02_prepare_control(struct vcpu_svm *svm)

/* SVM_MISC2_ENABLE_V_LBR is controlled by svm_update_lbrv() */

+ /*
+ * vmcb02 is reused across nested VMRUNs and the VLS bit below is only
+ * OR-set, so clear it first; a stale bit would let L2 run VMLOAD/VMSAVE
+ * unintercepted even on a VMRUN that asks KVM to intercept them.
+ */
+ vmcb02->control.misc_ctl2 &= ~SVM_MISC2_ENABLE_V_VMLOAD_VMSAVE;
+
if (!nested_vmcb_needs_vls_intercept(svm))
vmcb02->control.misc_ctl2 |= SVM_MISC2_ENABLE_V_VMLOAD_VMSAVE;

--
2.54.0 (Apple Git-157)