psci.txt

KVM implements the PSCI (Power State Coordination Interface)
specification in order to provide services such as CPU on/off, reset
and power-off to the guest.

The PSCI specification is regularly updated to provide new features,
and KVM implements these updates if they make sense from a virtualization
point of view.

This means that a guest booted on two different versions of KVM can
observe two different "firmware" revisions. This could cause issues if
a given guest is tied to a particular PSCI revision (unlikely), or if
a migration causes a different PSCI version to be exposed out of the
blue to an unsuspecting guest.

In order to remedy this situation, KVM exposes a set of "firmware
pseudo-registers" that can be manipulated using the GET/SET_ONE_REG
interface. These registers can be saved/restored by userspace, and set
to a convenient value if required.

The following register is defined:

* KVM_REG_ARM_PSCI_VERSION:

  - Only valid if the vcpu has the KVM_ARM_VCPU_PSCI_0_2 feature set
    (and thus has already been initialized)
  - Returns the current PSCI version on GET_ONE_REG (defaulting to the
    highest PSCI version implemented by KVM and compatible with v0.2)
  - Allows any PSCI version implemented by KVM and compatible with
    v0.2 to be set with SET_ONE_REG
  - Affects the whole VM (even if the register view is per-vcpu)

* KVM_REG_ARM_SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_1:
  Holds the state of the firmware support to mitigate CVE-2017-5715, as
  offered by KVM to the guest via a HVC call. The workaround is described
  under SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_1 in [1].
  Accepted values are:
    KVM_REG_ARM_SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_1_NOT_AVAIL: KVM does not offer
      firmware support for the workaround. The mitigation status for the
      guest is unknown.
    KVM_REG_ARM_SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_1_AVAIL: The workaround HVC call is
      available to the guest and required for the mitigation.
    KVM_REG_ARM_SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_1_NOT_REQUIRED: The workaround HVC call
      is available to the guest, but it is not needed on this VCPU.

* KVM_REG_ARM_SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_2:
  Holds the state of the firmware support to mitigate CVE-2018-3639, as
  offered by KVM to the guest via a HVC call. The workaround is described
  under SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_2 in [1].
  Accepted values are:
    KVM_REG_ARM_SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_2_NOT_AVAIL: A workaround is not
      available. KVM does not offer firmware support for the workaround.
    KVM_REG_ARM_SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_2_UNKNOWN: The workaround state is
      unknown. KVM does not offer firmware support for the workaround.
    KVM_REG_ARM_SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_2_AVAIL: The workaround is available,
      and can be disabled by a vCPU. If
      KVM_REG_ARM_SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_2_ENABLED is set, it is active for
      this vCPU.
    KVM_REG_ARM_SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_2_NOT_REQUIRED: The workaround is
      always active on this vCPU or it is not needed.

[1] https://developer.arm.com/-/media/developer/pdf/ARM_DEN_0070A_Firmware_interfaces_for_mitigating_CVE-2017-5715.pdf