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authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2023-02-14 09:17:01 -0800
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2023-02-14 09:17:01 -0800
commit82eac0c830b7d917bd2a8806eb6ed21ef1e0f84e (patch)
treea45d72c1e4b0da2aee2cc5d92d8873f201103dd0 /Documentation
parentf6feea56f66d34259c4222fa02e8171c4f2673d1 (diff)
parent493a2c2d23ca91afba96ac32b6cbafb54382c2a3 (diff)
Merge tag 'for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/virt/kvm/kvm
Pull kvm fixes from Paolo Bonzini: "Certain AMD processors are vulnerable to a cross-thread return address predictions bug. When running in SMT mode and one of the sibling threads transitions out of C0 state, the other thread gets access to twice as many entries in the RSB, but unfortunately the predictions of the now-halted logical processor are not purged. Therefore, the executing processor could speculatively execute from locations that the now-halted processor had trained the RSB on. The Spectre v2 mitigations cover the Linux kernel, as it fills the RSB when context switching to the idle thread. However, KVM allows a VMM to prevent exiting guest mode when transitioning out of C0 using the KVM_CAP_X86_DISABLE_EXITS capability can be used by a VMM to change this behavior. To mitigate the cross-thread return address predictions bug, a VMM must not be allowed to override the default behavior to intercept C0 transitions. These patches introduce a KVM module parameter that, if set, will prevent the user from disabling the HLT, MWAIT and CSTATE exits" * tag 'for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/virt/kvm/kvm: Documentation/hw-vuln: Add documentation for Cross-Thread Return Predictions KVM: x86: Mitigate the cross-thread return address predictions bug x86/speculation: Identify processors vulnerable to SMT RSB predictions
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/cross-thread-rsb.rst92
-rw-r--r--Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst1
2 files changed, 93 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/cross-thread-rsb.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/cross-thread-rsb.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ec6e9f5bcf9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/cross-thread-rsb.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+Cross-Thread Return Address Predictions
+=======================================
+
+Certain AMD and Hygon processors are subject to a cross-thread return address
+predictions vulnerability. When running in SMT mode and one sibling thread
+transitions out of C0 state, the other sibling thread could use return target
+predictions from the sibling thread that transitioned out of C0.
+
+The Spectre v2 mitigations protect the Linux kernel, as it fills the return
+address prediction entries with safe targets when context switching to the idle
+thread. However, KVM does allow a VMM to prevent exiting guest mode when
+transitioning out of C0. This could result in a guest-controlled return target
+being consumed by the sibling thread.
+
+Affected processors
+-------------------
+
+The following CPUs are vulnerable:
+
+ - AMD Family 17h processors
+ - Hygon Family 18h processors
+
+Related CVEs
+------------
+
+The following CVE entry is related to this issue:
+
+ ============== =======================================
+ CVE-2022-27672 Cross-Thread Return Address Predictions
+ ============== =======================================
+
+Problem
+-------
+
+Affected SMT-capable processors support 1T and 2T modes of execution when SMT
+is enabled. In 2T mode, both threads in a core are executing code. For the
+processor core to enter 1T mode, it is required that one of the threads
+requests to transition out of the C0 state. This can be communicated with the
+HLT instruction or with an MWAIT instruction that requests non-C0.
+When the thread re-enters the C0 state, the processor transitions back
+to 2T mode, assuming the other thread is also still in C0 state.
+
+In affected processors, the return address predictor (RAP) is partitioned
+depending on the SMT mode. For instance, in 2T mode each thread uses a private
+16-entry RAP, but in 1T mode, the active thread uses a 32-entry RAP. Upon
+transition between 1T/2T mode, the RAP contents are not modified but the RAP
+pointers (which control the next return target to use for predictions) may
+change. This behavior may result in return targets from one SMT thread being
+used by RET predictions in the sibling thread following a 1T/2T switch. In
+particular, a RET instruction executed immediately after a transition to 1T may
+use a return target from the thread that just became idle. In theory, this
+could lead to information disclosure if the return targets used do not come
+from trustworthy code.
+
+Attack scenarios
+----------------
+
+An attack can be mounted on affected processors by performing a series of CALL
+instructions with targeted return locations and then transitioning out of C0
+state.
+
+Mitigation mechanism
+--------------------
+
+Before entering idle state, the kernel context switches to the idle thread. The
+context switch fills the RAP entries (referred to as the RSB in Linux) with safe
+targets by performing a sequence of CALL instructions.
+
+Prevent a guest VM from directly putting the processor into an idle state by
+intercepting HLT and MWAIT instructions.
+
+Both mitigations are required to fully address this issue.
+
+Mitigation control on the kernel command line
+---------------------------------------------
+
+Use existing Spectre v2 mitigations that will fill the RSB on context switch.
+
+Mitigation control for KVM - module parameter
+---------------------------------------------
+
+By default, the KVM hypervisor mitigates this issue by intercepting guest
+attempts to transition out of C0. A VMM can use the KVM_CAP_X86_DISABLE_EXITS
+capability to override those interceptions, but since this is not common, the
+mitigation that covers this path is not enabled by default.
+
+The mitigation for the KVM_CAP_X86_DISABLE_EXITS capability can be turned on
+using the boolean module parameter mitigate_smt_rsb, e.g.:
+ kvm.mitigate_smt_rsb=1
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst
index 4df436e7c417..e0614760a99e 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst
@@ -18,3 +18,4 @@ are configurable at compile, boot or run time.
core-scheduling.rst
l1d_flush.rst
processor_mmio_stale_data.rst
+ cross-thread-rsb.rst