File xsa273-9.patch of Package xen.26348
x86: make "spec-ctrl=no" a global disable of all mitigations
In order to have a simple and easy to remember means to suppress all the
more or less recent workarounds for hardware vulnerabilities, force
settings not controlled by "spec-ctrl=" also to their original defaults,
unless they've been forced to specific values already by earlier command
line options.
Signed-off-by: Jan Beulich <jbeulich@suse.com>
--- a/docs/misc/xen-command-line.markdown
+++ b/docs/misc/xen-command-line.markdown
@@ -1524,10 +1524,15 @@ extreme care.**
An overall boolean value, `spec-ctrl=no`, can be specified to turn off all
mitigations, including pieces of infrastructure used to virtualise certain
-mitigation features for guests. Alternatively, a slightly more restricted
-`spec-ctrl=no-xen` can be used to turn off all of Xen's mitigations, while
-leaving the virtualisation support in place for guests to use. Use of a
-positive boolean value for either of these options is invalid.
+mitigation features for guests. This also includes settings which `xpti`,
+`smt`, `pv-l1tf` control, unless the respective option(s) have been
+specified earlier on the command line.
+
+Alternatively, a slightly more restricted `spec-ctrl=no-xen` can be used to
+turn off all of Xen's mitigations, while leaving the virtualisation support
+in place for guests to use.
+
+Use of a positive boolean value for either of these options is invalid.
The booleans `pv=`, `hvm=`, `msr-sc=` and `rsb=` offer fine grained control
over the alternative blocks used by Xen. These impact Xen's ability to
--- a/xen/arch/x86/spec_ctrl.c
+++ b/xen/arch/x86/spec_ctrl.c
@@ -116,6 +116,15 @@ static int __init parse_spec_ctrl(char *
opt_eager_fpu = 0;
+ if ( opt_xpti < 0 )
+ opt_xpti = 0;
+
+ if ( opt_smt < 0 )
+ opt_smt = 1;
+
+ if ( opt_pv_l1tf < 0 )
+ opt_pv_l1tf = 0;
+
disable_common:
opt_rsb_pv = 0;
opt_rsb_hvm = 0;