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Tianyu Zhou fc1afc9de5 platform: add SlimVM platform
SlimVM is a lightweight VMX-based platform for gVisor that accelerates
sentry system calls by eliminating unnecessary user/kernel context
switches.

In a traditional gVisor + KVM setup, every guest syscall triggers a
full VM exit to userspace, then re-enters the kernel via a regular
syscall:

  gr0 -> hr0 (vm_exit) -> hr3 (ioctl return) -> hr0 (re-invoke syscall)

SlimVM eliminates this overhead. When the guest executes a VMCALL, the
VM exits into VMX root mode where SlimVM directly invokes the host
kernel's syscall handler, then immediately resumes the guest:

  gr0 -> hr0 (vmcall + direct function call)

SlimVM requires a companion kernel module that provides the /dev/slimvm
device interface. See https://github.com/antgroup/slimvm for the
kernel module and full documentation.

A sentry->host getpid microbenchmark (Xeon 6982P-C, host kernel 5.10.134)
shows the effect:

            │  ns/op  │ vs base │
  base          82.5       1.0x
  slimvm       420.9       5.1x
  kvm         3566.1      43.2x

slimvm is ~8.5x faster than the kvm platform on this path. See the issue
for details.

Updates: https://github.com/google/gvisor/issues/13330

Co-developed-by: Chenggang <[email protected]>
Co-developed-by: Robin Luk <[email protected]>
Co-developed-by: Tiwei Bie <[email protected]>
Co-developed-by: Jianfeng Tan <[email protected]>
Co-developed-by: liushi.ls <[email protected]>
Co-developed-by: Yong He <[email protected]>
Co-developed-by: Aaron Lu <[email protected]>
Co-developed-by: chris.zn <[email protected]>
Co-developed-by: Lai Jiangshan <[email protected]>
Co-developed-by: Lingfu <[email protected]>
Co-developed-by: Min Le <[email protected]>
Co-developed-by: Quan Xu <[email protected]>
Co-developed-by: Zhang Haoyu <[email protected]>
Co-developed-by: Dawei Shen <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Tianyu Zhou <[email protected]>
2026-06-25 10:27:28 +08:00

395 lines
12 KiB
Go

// Copyright 2026 The gVisor Authors.
//
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
// You may obtain a copy of the License at
//
// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
// limitations under the License.
//go:build amd64
// +build amd64
package slimvm
import (
"fmt"
"reflect"
"runtime"
"syscall"
"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/abi/linux"
"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/cpuid"
"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/hostarch"
"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/hostsyscall"
"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/ring0"
"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/ring0/pagetables"
"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/sentry/arch/fpu"
"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/sentry/platform"
)
// initArchState initializes architecture-specific state.
func (m *machine) initArchState() error {
// Set the legacy TSS address. This address is covered by the reserved
// range (up to 4GB). In fact, this is a main reason it exists.
if errno := hostsyscall.RawSyscallErrno(
unix.SYS_IOCTL,
slimvmFD,
_SLIMVM_SET_TSS_ADDR,
uintptr(reservedMemory-(3*hostarch.PageSize))); errno != 0 {
return errno
}
return nil
}
type vCPUArchState struct {
// floatingPointState is the floating point state buffer used in guest
// to host transitions. See usage in bluepill_amd64.go.
floatingPointState fpu.State
}
// dropPageTables drops cached page table entries.
func (m *machine) dropPageTables(pcid uint16) {
m.mu.Lock()
defer m.mu.Unlock()
// Clear on all vCPUs.
for _, c := range m.vCPUs {
c.activePCIDs.clear(pcid)
}
dropPCID(pcid)
}
// getMaxVCPU sets m.maxVCPUs from GOMAXPROCS and the configured application
// cores, bounded by the _SLIMVM_NR_VCPUS hard cap.
func (m *machine) getMaxVCPU() {
// Allow a CPU overcommit factor of ~3, but give explicitly-configured
// application cores their own vCPU with room to spare (factor of 2).
n := 3 * runtime.GOMAXPROCS(0)
if d := 2 * m.applicationCores; n < d {
n = d
}
if n > _SLIMVM_NR_VCPUS {
n = _SLIMVM_NR_VCPUS
}
if n < 1 {
n = 1
}
m.maxVCPUs = n
}
// initArchState initializes architecture-specific state.
func (c *vCPU) initArchState() error {
var (
kernelSystemRegs systemRegs
kernelUserRegs userRegs
)
// AMD and compatible CPUs do not support CPUID Faulting feature.
// cpuidFaultingEnable will set to 1 to avoid setting the cpuidFaulting
// function in SwitchToUser.
fs := cpuid.HostFeatureSet()
if fs.AMD() {
ring0.CPUVendor = ring0.CPUAMD
c.cpuidFaultingEnable = 1
} else {
ring0.CPUVendor = ring0.CPUIntel
c.cpuidFaultingEnable = 0
}
// Set base control registers.
kernelSystemRegs.CR0 = c.CR0()
kernelSystemRegs.CR4 = c.CR4()
kernelSystemRegs.EFER = c.EFER()
// Set the IDT & GDT in the registers.
kernelSystemRegs.IDT.base, kernelSystemRegs.IDT.limit = c.IDT()
kernelSystemRegs.GDT.base, kernelSystemRegs.GDT.limit = c.GDT()
kernelSystemRegs.CS.Load(&ring0.KernelCodeSegment, ring0.Kcode)
kernelSystemRegs.DS.Load(&ring0.UserDataSegment, ring0.Udata)
kernelSystemRegs.ES.Load(&ring0.UserDataSegment, ring0.Udata)
kernelSystemRegs.SS.Load(&ring0.KernelDataSegment, ring0.Kdata)
kernelSystemRegs.FS.Load(&ring0.UserDataSegment, ring0.Udata)
kernelSystemRegs.GS.Load(&ring0.UserDataSegment, ring0.Udata)
tssBase, tssLimit, tss := c.TSS()
kernelSystemRegs.TR.Load(tss, ring0.Tss)
kernelSystemRegs.TR.base = tssBase
kernelSystemRegs.TR.limit = uint32(tssLimit)
kernelSystemRegs.LDT.base = 0
kernelSystemRegs.LDT.limit = 0
kernelSystemRegs.LDT.selector = 0
kernelSystemRegs.LDT.typ = 0x2
kernelSystemRegs.LDT.present = 0x1
// Point to kernel page tables, with no initial PCID.
kernelSystemRegs.CR3 = c.machine.kernel.PageTables.CR3(false, 0)
if err := c.setCPUID(); err != nil {
return err
}
// Set the entrypoint for the kernel.
kernelUserRegs.RIP = uint64(ring0.AddrOfStart())
kernelUserRegs.RAX = uint64(reflect.ValueOf(&c.CPU).Pointer())
kernelUserRegs.RSP = c.StackTop()
kernelUserRegs.RFLAGS = ring0.KernelFlagsSet
// Set the system registers.
if err := c.setSystemRegisters(&kernelSystemRegs); err != nil {
return err
}
// Set the user registers.
if err := c.setUserRegisters(&kernelUserRegs); err != nil {
return err
}
// Allocate some floating point state save area for the local vCPU.
// This will be saved prior to leaving the guest, and we restore from
// this always. We cannot use the pointer in the context alone because
// we don't know how large the area there is in reality.
c.floatingPointState = fpu.NewState()
// Set the time offset to the host native time.
return c.setSystemTime()
}
// nonCanonical generates a canonical address return.
//
//go:nosplit
func nonCanonical(addr uint64, signal int32, info *linux.SignalInfo) (hostarch.AccessType, error) {
*info = linux.SignalInfo{
Signo: signal,
Code: linux.SI_KERNEL,
}
info.SetAddr(addr) // Include address.
return hostarch.NoAccess, platform.ErrContextSignal
}
// fault generates an appropriate fault return.
//
//go:nosplit
func (c *vCPU) fault(signal int32, info *linux.SignalInfo) (hostarch.AccessType, error) {
bluepill(c) // Probably no-op, but may not be.
faultAddr := ring0.ReadCR2()
code, user := c.ErrorCode()
if !user {
// The last fault serviced by this CPU was not a user
// fault, so we can't reliably trust the faultAddr or
// the code provided here. We need to re-execute.
return hostarch.NoAccess, platform.ErrContextInterrupt
}
// Reset the pointed SignalInfo.
*info = linux.SignalInfo{Signo: signal}
info.SetAddr(uint64(faultAddr))
accessType := hostarch.AccessType{}
if signal == int32(unix.SIGSEGV) {
accessType = hostarch.AccessType{
Read: code&(1<<1) == 0,
Write: code&(1<<1) != 0,
Execute: code&(1<<4) != 0,
}
}
if !accessType.Write && !accessType.Execute {
info.Code = 1 // SEGV_MAPERR.
} else {
info.Code = 2 // SEGV_ACCERR.
}
return accessType, platform.ErrContextSignal
}
// SwitchToUser unpacks architectural-details.
func (c *vCPU) SwitchToUser(switchOpts ring0.SwitchOpts, info *linux.SignalInfo) (hostarch.AccessType, error) {
// Check for canonical addresses.
if regs := switchOpts.Registers; !ring0.IsCanonical(regs.Rip) {
return nonCanonical(regs.Rip, int32(syscall.SIGSEGV), info)
} else if !ring0.IsCanonical(regs.Rsp) {
return nonCanonical(regs.Rsp, int32(syscall.SIGBUS), info)
} else if !ring0.IsCanonical(regs.Fs_base) {
return nonCanonical(regs.Fs_base, int32(syscall.SIGBUS), info)
} else if !ring0.IsCanonical(regs.Gs_base) {
return nonCanonical(regs.Gs_base, int32(syscall.SIGBUS), info)
}
localAS := c.active.get()
if hasGuestPCID && (localAS != nil) {
pcid := localAS.pcid
if pcid == 0 {
// As an optimization, we use pcidMu to protect
// the update of localAS.pcid.
//
// Note that, a snapshot of localAS.pcid is needed
// as localAS.pcid can be modified by other vCPUs
// when it is 0.
pcid = assignPCID(&localAS.pcid)
}
if pcid != 0 && !c.activePCIDs.test(pcid) {
switchOpts.Flush = true
c.activePCIDs.set(pcid)
}
switchOpts.KernelPCID = fixedKernelPCID
switchOpts.UserPCID = pcid
}
// See below.
var vector ring0.Vector
entersyscall()
bluepill(c)
// The root table physical page has to be mapped to not fault in iret
// or sysret after switching into a user address space. sysret and iret
// are in the upper half that is global and already mapped. PTEs come
// from the runtime allocator's Go heap (no mlock / memfile pinning),
// so the root page can be reclaimed under memory pressure and
// re-faulting it from inside the iret/sysret window has been observed
// to produce vCPU bounce stalls.
switchOpts.PageTables.PrefaultRootTable()
// Enable CPUID Faulting featue if the CPU supported.
if c.cpuidFaultingEnable == 0 {
ring0.SetCPUIDFaulting(true)
c.cpuidFaultingEnable = 1
}
c.PrefaultIDT()
vector = c.CPU.SwitchToUser(switchOpts)
exitsyscall()
switch vector {
case ring0.Syscall, ring0.SyscallInt80:
// Fast path: system call executed.
return hostarch.NoAccess, nil
case ring0.PageFault:
return c.fault(int32(syscall.SIGSEGV), info)
case ring0.Debug:
// Vector #DB. SlimVM does not currently expose DR6 to the sentry, so
// we can't distinguish single-step from hardware breakpoints. App-level
// PTRACE_SINGLESTEP is the only path that should hit this in practice;
// report TRAP_TRACE so ptrace observes the expected si_code.
c.FullRestore = true
*info = linux.SignalInfo{
Signo: int32(syscall.SIGTRAP),
Code: 2, // TRAP_TRACE
}
info.SetAddr(switchOpts.Registers.Rip) // Include address.
return hostarch.AccessType{}, platform.ErrContextSignal
case ring0.Breakpoint:
c.FullRestore = true
*info = linux.SignalInfo{
Signo: int32(syscall.SIGTRAP),
Code: linux.SI_KERNEL,
}
info.SetAddr(switchOpts.Registers.Rip) // Include address.
return hostarch.AccessType{}, platform.ErrContextSignal
case ring0.GeneralProtectionFault,
ring0.SegmentNotPresent,
ring0.BoundRangeExceeded,
ring0.InvalidTSS,
ring0.StackSegmentFault:
c.FullRestore = true
*info = linux.SignalInfo{
Signo: int32(syscall.SIGSEGV),
Code: linux.SI_KERNEL,
}
info.SetAddr(switchOpts.Registers.Rip) // Include address.
if vector == ring0.GeneralProtectionFault {
// When CPUID faulting is enabled, we will generate a #GP(0) when
// userspace executes a CPUID instruction. This is handled above,
// because we need to be able to map and read user memory.
return hostarch.AccessType{}, tryCPUIDError{}
}
return hostarch.AccessType{}, platform.ErrContextSignal
case ring0.InvalidOpcode:
c.FullRestore = true
*info = linux.SignalInfo{
Signo: int32(syscall.SIGILL),
Code: 1, // ILL_ILLOPC (illegal opcode).
}
info.SetAddr(switchOpts.Registers.Rip) // Include address.
return hostarch.AccessType{}, platform.ErrContextSignal
case ring0.DivideByZero:
c.FullRestore = true
*info = linux.SignalInfo{
Signo: int32(syscall.SIGFPE),
Code: 1, // FPE_INTDIV (divide by zero).
}
info.SetAddr(switchOpts.Registers.Rip) // Include address.
return hostarch.AccessType{}, platform.ErrContextSignal
case ring0.Overflow:
c.FullRestore = true
*info = linux.SignalInfo{
Signo: int32(syscall.SIGFPE),
Code: 1, // FPE_INTOVF (integer overflow).
}
info.SetAddr(switchOpts.Registers.Rip) // Include address.
return hostarch.AccessType{}, platform.ErrContextSignal
case ring0.X87FloatingPointException,
ring0.SIMDFloatingPointException:
c.FullRestore = true
*info = linux.SignalInfo{
Signo: int32(syscall.SIGFPE),
Code: 7, // FPE_FLTINV (invalid operation).
}
info.SetAddr(switchOpts.Registers.Rip) // Include address.
return hostarch.AccessType{}, platform.ErrContextSignal
case ring0.Vector(bounce): // ring0.VirtualizationException
return hostarch.NoAccess, platform.ErrContextInterrupt
case ring0.AlignmentCheck:
c.FullRestore = true
*info = linux.SignalInfo{
Signo: int32(syscall.SIGBUS),
Code: 2, // BUS_ADRERR (physical address does not exist).
}
return hostarch.NoAccess, platform.ErrContextSignal
case ring0.NMI:
// An NMI is generated only when a fault is not servicable by
// SlimVM itself, so we think some mapping is writeable but it's
// really not. This could happen, e.g. if some file is
// truncated (and would generate a SIGBUS) and we map it
// directly into the instance.
c.FullRestore = true
return c.fault(int32(syscall.SIGBUS), info)
case ring0.DeviceNotAvailable,
ring0.DoubleFault,
ring0.CoprocessorSegmentOverrun,
ring0.MachineCheck,
ring0.SecurityException:
fallthrough
default:
panic(fmt.Sprintf("unexpected vector: 0x%x", vector))
}
}
func (m *machine) mapUpperHalf(pageTable *pagetables.PageTables) {
applyPhysicalRegions(func(pr physicalRegion) bool {
pageTable.Map(
hostarch.Addr(ring0.KernelStartAddress|pr.virtual),
pr.length,
pagetables.MapOpts{AccessType: hostarch.AnyAccess},
pr.physical)
return true // Keep iterating.
})
}