[PATCH] KVM: x86: Block TSC multiplier writes for protected guest TSC

From: Jun Miao

Date: Mon May 11 2026 - 09:33:07 EST


Commit d5a4e408e69b ("KVM: x86: Add infrastructure for secure TSC")
added the guest_tsc_protected flag to prevent KVM from changing the
TSC offset/multiplier of vCPUs whose TSC is managed by a confidential
computing module (e.g. TDX, SEV-SNP Secure TSC). However only the TSC
offset write path was guarded; kvm_vcpu_write_tsc_multiplier() was
left unprotected.

As a result, userspace can still change the TSC scaling ratio of a
TDX vCPU via the KVM_SET_TSC_KHZ ioctl path:

KVM_SET_TSC_KHZ
-> kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl()
-> kvm_set_tsc_khz()
-> set_tsc_khz()
-> kvm_vcpu_write_tsc_multiplier() <-- not guarded

and similarly during kvm_arch_vcpu_create() -> kvm_set_tsc_khz()
which can reset the multiplier to default_tsc_scaling_ratio.

Make kvm_vcpu_write_tsc_multiplier() symmetric with
kvm_vcpu_write_tsc_offset() by skipping the update when
guest_tsc_protected is set. This single chokepoint covers all
existing callers (set_tsc_khz() in both ioctl and vCPU create paths).

Fixes: d5a4e408e69b ("KVM: x86: Add infrastructure for secure TSC")
Signed-off-by: Jun Miao <jun.miao@xxxxxxxxx>
---
arch/x86/kvm/x86.c | 3 +++
1 file changed, 3 insertions(+)

diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c b/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
index 0a1b63c63d1a..e935fe33d9c2 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
@@ -2736,6 +2736,9 @@ static void kvm_vcpu_write_tsc_offset(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, u64 l1_offset)

static void kvm_vcpu_write_tsc_multiplier(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, u64 l1_multiplier)
{
+ if (vcpu->arch.guest_tsc_protected)
+ return;
+
vcpu->arch.l1_tsc_scaling_ratio = l1_multiplier;

/* Userspace is changing the multiplier while L2 is active */
--
2.43.0