Re: [PATCH 08/12] KVM: MMU: do not consult levels when freeing roots

From: Paolo Bonzini
Date: Thu Feb 10 2022 - 20:08:00 EST


On 2/11/22 01:54, Sean Christopherson wrote:
On Fri, Feb 11, 2022, Sean Christopherson wrote:
On Wed, Feb 09, 2022, Paolo Bonzini wrote:
Right now, PGD caching requires a complicated dance of first computing
the MMU role and passing it to __kvm_mmu_new_pgd, and then separately calling

Nit, adding () after function names helps readers easily recognize when you're
taking about a specific function, e.g. as opposed to a concept or whatever.

kvm_init_mmu.

Part of this is due to kvm_mmu_free_roots using mmu->root_level and
mmu->shadow_root_level to distinguish whether the page table uses a single
root or 4 PAE roots. Because kvm_init_mmu can overwrite mmu->root_level,
kvm_mmu_free_roots must be called before kvm_init_mmu.

However, even after kvm_init_mmu there is a way to detect whether the page table
has a single root or four, because the pae_root does not have an associated
struct kvm_mmu_page.

Suggest a reword on the final paragraph, because there's a discrepancy with the
code (which handles 0, 1, or 4 "roots", versus just "single or four").

However, even after kvm_init_mmu() there is a way to detect whether the
page table may hold PAE roots, as root.hpa isn't backed by a shadow when
it points at PAE roots.

Signed-off-by: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c | 10 ++++++----
1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c b/arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c
index 3c3f597ea00d..95d0fa0bb876 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c
@@ -3219,12 +3219,15 @@ void kvm_mmu_free_roots(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, struct kvm_mmu *mmu,
struct kvm *kvm = vcpu->kvm;
int i;
LIST_HEAD(invalid_list);
- bool free_active_root = roots_to_free & KVM_MMU_ROOT_CURRENT;
+ bool free_active_root;
BUILD_BUG_ON(KVM_MMU_NUM_PREV_ROOTS >= BITS_PER_LONG);
/* Before acquiring the MMU lock, see if we need to do any real work. */
- if (!(free_active_root && VALID_PAGE(mmu->root.hpa))) {
+ free_active_root = (roots_to_free & KVM_MMU_ROOT_CURRENT)
+ && VALID_PAGE(mmu->root.hpa);

free_active_root = (roots_to_free & KVM_MMU_ROOT_CURRENT) &&
VALID_PAGE(mmu->root.hpa);

Isn't this a separate bug fix? E.g. call kvm_mmu_unload() without a valid current
root, but with valid previous roots? In which case we'd try to free garbage, no?

mmu_free_root_page checks VALID_PAGE(*root_hpa). If that's what you meant, then it wouldn't be a preexisting bug (and I think it'd be a fairly common case).

+
+ if (!free_active_root) {
for (i = 0; i < KVM_MMU_NUM_PREV_ROOTS; i++)
if ((roots_to_free & KVM_MMU_ROOT_PREVIOUS(i)) &&
VALID_PAGE(mmu->prev_roots[i].hpa))
@@ -3242,8 +3245,7 @@ void kvm_mmu_free_roots(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, struct kvm_mmu *mmu,
&invalid_list);
if (free_active_root) {
- if (mmu->shadow_root_level >= PT64_ROOT_4LEVEL &&
- (mmu->root_level >= PT64_ROOT_4LEVEL || mmu->direct_map)) {
+ if (to_shadow_page(mmu->root.hpa)) {
mmu_free_root_page(kvm, &mmu->root.hpa, &invalid_list);
} else if (mmu->pae_root) {

Gah, this is technically wrong. It shouldn't truly matter, but it's wrong. root.hpa
will not be backed by shadow page if the root is pml4_root or pml5_root, in which
case freeing the PAE root is wrong. They should obviously be invalid already, but
it's a little confusing because KVM wanders down a path that may not be relevant
to the current mode.

pml4_root and pml5_root are dummy, and the first "real" level of page tables is stored in pae_root for that case too, so I think that should DTRT.

That's why I also disliked the shadow_root_level/root_level/direct check: even though there's half a dozen of cases involved, they all boil down to either 4 pae_roots or a single root with a backing kvm_mmu_page.

It's even more obscure to check shadow_root_level/root_level/direct in fast_pgd_switch, where it's pretty obvious that you cannot cache 4 pae_roots in a single (hpa, pgd) pair...

Paolo