On Tue, Aug 19, 2025 at 5:00 PM Sean Christopherson <seanjc@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > On Thu, Aug 07, 2025, Uros Bizjak wrote: > > Use memory operand in CMP instruction to avoid usage of a > > temporary register. Use %eax register to hold VMX_spec_ctrl > > and use it directly in the follow-up WRMSR. > > > > The new code saves a few bytes by removing two MOV insns, from: > > > > 2d: 48 8b 7c 24 10 mov 0x10(%rsp),%rdi > > 32: 8b bf 48 18 00 00 mov 0x1848(%rdi),%edi > > 38: 65 8b 35 00 00 00 00 mov %gs:0x0(%rip),%esi > > 3f: 39 fe cmp %edi,%esi > > 41: 74 0b je 4e <...> > > 43: b9 48 00 00 00 mov $0x48,%ecx > > 48: 31 d2 xor %edx,%edx > > 4a: 89 f8 mov %edi,%eax > > 4c: 0f 30 wrmsr > > > > to: > > > > 2d: 48 8b 7c 24 10 mov 0x10(%rsp),%rdi > > 32: 8b 87 48 18 00 00 mov 0x1848(%rdi),%eax > > 38: 65 3b 05 00 00 00 00 cmp %gs:0x0(%rip),%eax > > 3f: 74 09 je 4a <...> > > 41: b9 48 00 00 00 mov $0x48,%ecx > > 46: 31 d2 xor %edx,%edx > > 48: 0f 30 wrmsr > > > > No functional change intended. > > > > Signed-off-by: Uros Bizjak <ubizjak@xxxxxxxxx> > > Cc: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@xxxxxxxxxx> > > Cc: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@xxxxxxxxxx> > > Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > Cc: Ingo Molnar <mingo@xxxxxxxxxx> > > Cc: Borislav Petkov <bp@xxxxxxxxx> > > Cc: Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > Cc: "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@xxxxxxxxx> > > --- > > arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmenter.S | 6 ++---- > > 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) > > > > diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmenter.S b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmenter.S > > index 0a6cf5bff2aa..c65de5de92ab 100644 > > --- a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmenter.S > > +++ b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmenter.S > > @@ -118,13 +118,11 @@ SYM_FUNC_START(__vmx_vcpu_run) > > * and vmentry. > > */ > > mov 2*WORD_SIZE(%_ASM_SP), %_ASM_DI > > - movl VMX_spec_ctrl(%_ASM_DI), %edi > > - movl PER_CPU_VAR(x86_spec_ctrl_current), %esi > > - cmp %edi, %esi > > + movl VMX_spec_ctrl(%_ASM_DI), %eax > > + cmp PER_CPU_VAR(x86_spec_ctrl_current), %eax > > Huh. There's a pre-existing bug lurking here, and in the SVM code. SPEC_CTRL > is an MSR, i.e. a 64-bit value, but the assembly code assumes bits 63:32 are always > zero. But MSBs are zero, MSR is defined in arch/x86/include/msr-index.h as: #define MSR_IA32_SPEC_CTRL 0x00000048 /* Speculation Control */ and "movl $..., %eax" zero-extends the value to full 64-bit width. FWIW, MSR_IA32_SPEC_CTR is handled in the same way in arch/x86/entry/entry.S: movl $MSR_IA32_PRED_CMD, %ecx So, the insn is OK when MSR fits 32-bits. The insn is a bit smaller, too: movl $0x01, %ecx movq $0x01, %rcx assembles to: 0: b9 01 00 00 00 mov $0x1,%ecx 5: 48 c7 c1 01 00 00 00 mov $0x1,%rcx Rest assured that the assembler checks the immediate when 32-bit registers are involved, e.g.: mov.s: Assembler messages: mov.s:1: Warning: 0xaaaaaaaaaa shortened to 0xaaaaaaaa Uros.