[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60
days.]
** Changed in: linux (Ubuntu)
Status: Incomplete => Expired
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1765040
Title:
Runtime microcode updates do not expose new features completely
Status in linux package in Ubuntu:
Expired
Status in linux source package in Artful:
Won't Fix
Bug description:
Unlike upstream, the artful kernel uses the scattered CPU bits
arch/x86/kernel/cpu/scattered.c to get the IBRS/IBPB CPUID bits in the
KVM CPUID ioctls(). However, these are not updated when loading new
microcode at run-time. This means that if you boot a system with
older microcode and then use late microcode loading at boot time or
later, then the new features are not exposed to guests. So even
though the host supports the SPEC_CTRL MSR, those bits are masked out
in the guest, even when passing through host CPU capabilities.
Upstream does not have this problem because it uses cpuid_count()
which does a raw cpuid when creating a guest rather than the scattered
features. Two changes are needed - updating scattered features on
microcode reload and using the runtime CPU data rather than the boot
data.
Reproduced on "4.13.0-38-generic #43-Ubuntu SMP Wed Mar 14 15:20:44
UTC 2018". Boot with original vendor microcode, apply new microcode
with "echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/microcode/reload" and then boot
a guest. With the simple test case below in the guest, see that bits
[27:26] are not set when they are in the host.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main(void)
{
unsigned int edx;
asm volatile("mov $7, %%eax\n\t"
"mov $0, %%ecx\n\t"
"cpuid\n\t"
"mov %%edx, %0" : "=r"(edx) : : "%edx", "%ecx", "%ebx");
printf("%08x\n", edx);
return 0;
}
Two compile tested patches attached, I have not yet checked other Ubuntu
releases.
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