| .. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later |
| |
| VMLAUNCHUPDATE Interface Specification |
| ###################################### |
| |
| Introduction |
| ************ |
| |
| ``VmLaunchUpdate`` is an extension to ``fw-cfg`` that allows guests to replace |
| boot state in their virtual machine using IGVM file container. Through a combination |
| of this ``fw-cfg`` hypervisor interface, an IGVM file containing specific directives |
| and with hypervisor stack knowledge, guests can deterministically replace the launch |
| state for guests. This is useful for environments like SEV-SNP where the |
| launch payload becomes the launch digest. Guests can use vm-launch-update device to |
| provide a measured, full guest payload (BIOS image, kernel, initramfs, kernel |
| command line) to the virtual machine which enables them to easily reason about |
| integrity of the resulting system. |
| It is also to be noted that this mechanism currently works only when the guest was |
| already started with an IGVM file defining its initial launch state. Subsequent |
| guest resets will use the launch state as defined in the guest provided IGVM file, |
| not the file with which the guest was initially started. If the guest was not started |
| with IGVM, writing a new bundle through the ``fw-cfg`` interface has no effect. |
| |
| For more information, please see the `KVM Forum 2024 presentation <KVMFORUM_>`__ |
| about this work. |
| |
| |
| .. _KVMFORUM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCMBxU6tAto |
| |
| Base Requirements |
| ***************** |
| |
| #. **fw-cfg**: |
| The target system must provide a ``fw-cfg`` interface. For x86 based |
| environments, this ``fw-cfg`` interface must be accessible through PIO ports |
| 0x510 and 0x511. The ``fw-cfg`` interface does not need to be announced as part |
| of system device tables such as DSDT. The ``fw-cfg`` interface must support the |
| DMA interface. It may only support the DMA interface for write operations. |
| |
| #. **IGVM support**: |
| The hypervisor must provide support for parsing and executing the IGVM file bundle. |
| |
| #. **Confidential guests**: |
| For confidential guests, the hypervisor must support guest reset. Otherwise, the new |
| boot state provided through IGVM will not be applied. |
| |
| The Fw-cfg File |
| *************** |
| |
| Guests drive vmlaunchupdate through special ``fw-cfg`` files that control its flow |
| followed by a standard system reset operation. When the ``vm-launch-update`` device |
| is available, it provides the following ``fw-cfg`` file: |
| |
| * ``etc/vmlaunchupdate`` - It exposes a structure of the following type, all in |
| little-endian format: |
| |
| .. code-block:: c |
| :linenos: |
| |
| typedef struct { |
| uint16_t version; |
| uint16_t status; |
| |
| uint32_t _padding; |
| |
| uint64_t capabilities; |
| uint64_t control; |
| |
| uint64_t fw_image_addr; |
| uint64_t fw_image_size; |
| |
| uint64_t opaque_addr; |
| uint64_t opaque_size; |
| |
| } VMLaunchUpdate; |
| |
| |
| Currently, the ``version`` number (line 2 above) is initialized to the value ``1``. |
| Only IGVM files are supported at present. The ``capabilities`` (line 7) and ``control`` (line 8) both support |
| the following single value: |
| |
| * ``VM_LAUNCHUPDATE_FORMAT_IGVM`` |
| |
| This value is used by the hypervisor to indicate that only IGVM container files are supported. |
| This is set as a part of ``capabilities`` parameter (line 7) in the above structure. This same value |
| is passed by the guest to the hypervisor in the ``control`` parameter (line 8) in the above structure |
| to indicate that the guest passed IGVM file in memory to the hypervisor. The starting guest physical |
| address of the IGVM file in memory is specified in ``fw_image_addr`` and it's length is specified in |
| ``fw_image_size`` by the guest. If any other value is passed by the guest in the ``control`` parameter, |
| the write is ignored by the hypervisor. |
| |
| Following ``control`` parameters are supported: |
| |
| * ``VM_LAUNCHUPDATE_CTL_DISABLE`` |
| |
| This value is set in the ``control`` parameter by the guest in order to disable this ``fw-cfg`` |
| hypervisor interface from further updating the guest launch state with a new IGVM file. |
| |
| * ``VM_LAUNCHUPDATE_CTL_HOST_IGVM`` |
| |
| This value is set in the ``control`` parameter by the guest in order to send request to the |
| hypervisor to initialize the guest using the original host provided IGVM file. |
| It is useful if the guest wanted to update the UKIs present in the ESP and upon |
| reset, use one of the updated UKIs present there. If the guest passed addresses in memory |
| where its own IGVM file is loaded (see below) while also setting this control value, the next |
| reset will load the guest provided IGVM file and a subsequent second reset will restore the original |
| host IGVM. If the guest did not provide any addresses of its own IGVM (the address values are |
| cleared) while setting this control parameter, the immediate next guest reset will load the |
| original host provided IGVM file. |
| |
| The combination of the above two ctl interfaces work as |
| follows: |
| |
| A) ``CTL_HOST_IGVM`` = off ``CTL_DISABLE`` = off |
| |
| Supplied IGVM file replaces the firmware permanently. Updating the |
| firmware again is possible. |
| |
| B) ``CTL_HOST_IGVM`` = off ``CTL_DISABLE`` = on |
| |
| Supplied IGVM file replaces the firmware permanently. Updating the |
| firmware again is not possible. |
| |
| C) ``CTL_HOST_IGVM`` = on ``CTL_DISABLE`` = off |
| |
| Supplied IGVM file replaces the firmware for one reset. Resetting |
| again will switch back to the original firmware. Updating the |
| firmware again is possible. |
| |
| D) ``CTL_HOST_IGVM`` = on ``CTL_DISABLE`` = on |
| |
| Supplied IGVM file replaces the firmware for one reset. Resetting |
| again will switch back to the original firmware. Updating the |
| firmware again is NOT possible. |
| |
| ``fw_image_addr`` (line 10) is the base guest physical address of the guest memory where the IGVM file of size |
| ``fw_image_size`` (line 11) is loaded. ``opaque_addr`` (line 13) and ``opaque_size`` (line 14) are used by |
| the guest for passing data across resets. The contents of this guest memory are preserved across the |
| reset. For confidential guests, this memory region must come from guest shared unencrypted memory. |
| |
| ``status`` (line 3) is written by the hypervisor and it indicates the result of the IGVM loading operation. |
| A success indicates status code 0. Otherwise a non-zero status code indicates failure. The nature of the |
| failure is indicated by the value of the code. |
| |
| Triggering the Launch State Update using IGVM |
| ********************************************* |
| |
| To initiate the launch update process, the guest issues a standard system reset |
| operation through any of the means implemented by the machine model. |
| |
| On a write to the ``etc/vmlaunchupdate`` interface, the hypervisor evaluates whether this |
| hypervisor interface is disabled. If it is, it ignores any writes to this ``fw-cfg`` file |
| by the guest. No updates to initial launch state is performed. |
| |
| If the hypervisor interface is enabled, upon write to the ``etc/vmlaunchupdate`` interface, |
| the hypervisor parses the IGVM file bundle passed to it in memory, with starting guest physical |
| address at ``fw_image_addr`` and length ``fw_image_size``. If parsing is successful, it creates |
| a context handle to the IGVM file. If parsing and context loading is successful and there are no |
| errors, ``fw_image_addr`` and ``fw_image_size`` are cleared. The guest can check this in order |
| to determine if the IGVM was successfully parsed and the new context was loaded. If not, the |
| guest can throw error and abort rebooting to new IGVM boot state. Alternatively, the guest can |
| also check the ``status`` code from the ``fw-cfg`` file. A status code of 0 indicates success |
| of the operation. Non-zero status code indicates failure. Exact nature of the failure is |
| indicated by the value of the code. Currently, only two error values are supported: |
| |
| * ``VM_LAUNCHUPDATE_LOAD_FAIL`` - defined as value 1 and is set when loading of the IGVM file failed. |
| * ``VM_LAUNCHUPDATE_NOT_IGVM_INIT`` - defined as value 2 and is set when the guest was not started with |
| IGVM file. |
| |
| Upon guest reset, the hypervisor executes the IGVM bundle using |
| the context handle, setting the initial launch state of the guest accordingly. |
| If an invalid IGVM file is passed, parsing the file fails and the hypervisor ignores it |
| when ``fw-cfg`` files are written. In this case, the initial launch state |
| is not modified. If invalid addresses are passed, the hypervisor ignores them as well and no |
| new launch state is set. |
| |
| The launch state update mechanism works both for confidential and non-confidential |
| guests. In confidential guests, as a part of the reset operation, all existing |
| guest shared memory (shared with the hypervisor) as well as the guest memory region |
| starting with ``opaque_addr`` and length ``opaque_size`` are preserved. |
| The reset causes recreation of the VM context which triggers a fresh |
| measurement of the replaced BIOS region and reset CPU state. |
| |
| For non-confidential guests, there is no concept of guest private memory and all the existing |
| guest memory is preserved (this is the default behaviour today - QEMU does not reset/clear |
| guest memory upon reset). |
| |
| In both confidential and non-confidential cases, CPU and device state are reset to |
| the reset states specified in IGVM. In confidential environments, the guest |
| always resumes operation in the highest privileged mode available to it (VMPL0 in SEV-SNP). |
| |
| Closing Remarks |
| *************** |
| The exact content of the memory region specified by starting address ``opaque_addr`` |
| and length ``opaque_size`` is guest specific and is hypervisor agnostic. The hypervisor does |
| not care about the contents of this memory region. Therefore, it is not included in this |
| specification. As of writing this document, TDX guests on QEMU does not support IGVM. |
| Therefore, this mechanism cannot be used to change launch state of TDX guests. |